No one has to tell working people that the cost of health care is stretching family budgets past the breaking point. But few are aware of the true scale of the crisis.

Incredibly, more than 47 million people across America -- almost 9 million of them children -- have no health insurance at all: that's more than twice as many people as live in the state of New York!  And what about those lucky enough to have health insurance? They're getting less and paying more for it.

The average annual premium for family health coverage today is $12,000 -- at this rate it's expected to soar to more than $24,000 in just seven years.

In fact, given the surge in health care costs it should come as no surprise that one out of every four families, two-thirds of them insured, had a problem paying for their heath care last year. The price of coverage has climbed so high that someone files for bankruptcy every 30 seconds because of their health care bills.

A Problem That Touches Us All

It used to be that members of strong unions like the RWDSU didn't have to worry about problems like these. After all, our union has always helped set the pace when it comes to winning good health insurance. But with health care costs taking a bigger bite out employer profits, our union, like others, has faced one battle after another to protect health insurance benefits we fought years to win.

Thankfully, we finally have a president who has pledged to do something to clean up America's health care mess ... and the RWDSU is going to help him.

President Obama has laid out a set of clear, common sense principles for ending the health care crisis. He's said that, to win his support, Congress must pass a plan that does the following:

Reduce Costs - Rising health care costs are crushing workers and employers alike and must be brought under control.

Guarantee Choice - People must have the freedom to keep whatever doctor and health care plan they have, or to select a new doctor or health care plan if they choose.

Ensure Affordable Care for All - Everyone must have quality and affordable health care.

Most people would agree that these are goals all Americans can get behind. And they are ... unless they are people who happen to have a stake in keeping things the way they are.

Drug and Insurance Industries Fight Reform One group that's promising to stand in the way of President Obama's efforts is the drug industry. The big drug companies warn that any effort to hold down the cost of prescription medicine would make it too costly to develop new drugs to fight cancer and other diseases. They make a very convincing case until you look at the fact that the average annual earnings of the top executives of America's pharmaceutical companies is $4.4 million per person!

The health insurance industry is even worse. Over the past five years, health insurance company profits have soared by 1,000 percent while health care premiums for working families have risen five times faster than wages. But insurance company executives don't have to worry about their wages: In 2007 alone, the CEOs at seven biggest for-profit, private insurance companies pocketed an average of $14.2 million.

It's clear that the people who run the health insurance companies are doing pretty darn well the way things are. That's why it should come as no surprise that they've pledged to wage war against any attempt by President Obama to create alternatives for workers people who can't afford the cost of the insurance they're selling. The problem isn't that a publicly operated health insurance operation wouldn't be as good as the companies they run: They're against the idea because if the government offers health insurance at a lower cost they'll have to lower their prices to compete.

RWDSU members and their families have a lot riding on the success of President Obama's health care initiative. After all, holding down employer health care costs will free up more of their money and enable the union to win better wages at the bargaining table. That's why we have to make it our personal business to tell Congress to hang tough against the health insurance and drug companies.

It's time America had a health care system that works for working people. If President Obama has his way we finally will.