BALTIMORE, MD - U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) today held a roundtable discussion with patients, providers and Marylanders who are uninsured or struggling to afford health care to discuss the urgent need for health care reform now. Roundtable participants discussed their first-hand experience grappling with skyrocketing health care costs– and its personal and financial toll.

“Every day I hear from Marylanders who have lost their health care coverage when they lost their jobs and have no means to get it back. Every day I hear from people who have been bankrupted by medical bills. Every day I hear stories of parents who cannot take their child to the doctor because insurance is too expensive,” Senator Mikulski said. “This stagnant quo is unacceptable. It’s time to write a new prescription for what’s ailing America’s health care system. Health care reform cannot wait another year.”

America currently has the most expensive health care system in the world, spending more than 50 percent more per person on health care than the next most costly nation. Despite all that spending, families and businesses across America are being crushed by rising costs. Health care costs have doubled over the last decade. They are projected to keep rising if the current health care system doesn’t change. Debt related to health expenses is now one of the leading causes of personal bankruptcies. Approximately 46 million Americans have no health insurance.

Senate Democrats recently introduced landmark health care legislation, called the Affordable Health Choices Act, which will reduce costs, protect choice and guarantee quality, affordable health care for all Americans. Senator Mikulski is one of three Democrats on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee tapped by Chairman Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) to lead a health care reform work group. She is responsible for the quality title in the landmark health care bill, which will provide solutions to some the biggest problems with the current health care system: medical errors, preventable hospital readmissions and failure to manage chronic diseases. The bill is currently being marked-up in Committee.

“Emphasizing quality in health care improves lives, saves lives and helps pay for reform by saving money,” Senator Mikulski said. “A national health care quality strategy will provide solutions to some of the biggest problems and costs in our health care system today, helping us pay for reform, while fixing problems in our current system that severely impact people’s lives and checkbooks.”