Consequences of Failing to Pass Health Care are Enormous

The consequences for failing to pass health care reform this year are serious. While it will be bad politically for Democrats, that's not nearly as important as the negative impact it will have on the American people.

The AP's Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar has an excellent piece on the consequences several key groups will face if health care reform fails:

[T]here's no doubting the consequences if lawmakers fail to address the problems of costs, coverage and quality: surging insurance premiums, more working families without coverage, bigger out-of-pocket bills, a Medicare prescription gap that grows wider and deeper, and government programs that pay when people get sick but do little to keep them healthy.

I think it is safe to say no other piece of legislation will have a direct impact on the life and death of thousands of Americans as health care reform.