Millions of Americans live without healthcare coverage, missing out on crucial preventive care and screening that has been proven to lower morbidity and increase quality of life (as well as save money in the long term). Of the estimated 47 million Americans without health coverage, 20% (8.7 million) are children, according to the website of Cover the Uninsured .

While children are always guaranteed immunizations without regard to their parents’ or guardians’ ability to pay, there exists no such mandate for annual physicals and health screenings. Thus, millions of children go without regular medical attention during critical periods of physical and emotional development, with many receiving only episodic care at emergency rooms.

Even as Medicare now covers most prescription medications, low-income seniors still must often make difficult choices when money is low and prescription co-payments astronomically high. Most of us have heard tragic stories of elders having to choose between groceries, heat or medications, and anecdotal evidence demonstrates that these types of scenarios still exist today. No one can blame these seniors for their predicament, and we can all easily agree that no American should ever have to make such a lamentable choice.

Meanwhile, as billions of dollars pour into the war effort and the reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan, the presidential candidates debate how to cover Americans’ healthcare. This national conversation often appears to be a relatively fruitless process due to the inflated hyperbole of the campaign season, making it difficult for most of us to distinguish between campaign promises and realistic and attainable goals.

As nurses, our concerns clearly center on the health of our patients, and we want only the best for them and their families. Widening our vision and our circle of concern, we also see the bigger picture, hoping that the larger forces at play in our country will realize how essential healthcare is to the overall health of our country, and that a healthy and well-cared for citizenry is indeed without question in the best interest of our national security.

There is no way to parse out who is more deserving of healthcare coverage since no group---seniors, adolescents, children, adults---should really go without. No matter one’s political affiliation or party loyalty, everyone can agree on one thing: that all Americans should have free and unfettered access to preventive care, diagnostic care, urgent and emergent care, as well as life-saving medications and treatments. There are presumably many roads to arrive at 100% universal coverage, and while one can hold out hope that campaign promises will materialize into concrete results, cynicism still abounds as to our government’s ability to take the difficult steps to truly make it happen.

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NurseKeith is a nurse, consultant, writer, and blogger. Feel free to visit his blog, Digital Doorway . 

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