Have you ever faced the choice of paying your mortgage or paying for a visit to the doctor? This is a decision that no person should ever have to make. Unfortunately, more families in our state will be facing such a dilemma. Even if you are currently blessed with good health and medical insurance, the consequences of recent state budget decisions will impact you.

Last month, our state legislature cut our state’s Basic Health insurance program almost in half. This program offers subsidized health insurance to uninsured, low-income Washington residents making less than $36,620 per year for a family of three. Every enrollee pays premiums based on their income, plus co-pays and deductibles. But beginning in 2010, there will only be 65,000 Basic Health slots for the more than 600,000 Washingtonians who qualify. Basic Health has been a safety net for everyone in Washington who has had to ponder these tough questions. Unfortunately, that safety net has been yanked out from under us.

Rising unemployment, combined with these unprecedented cuts, will swell the total number of uninsured people in Washington to 900,000 by 2010. This is not just someone else’s problem.

Cuts to public insurance programs are a hidden tax on already struggling taxpayers, workers and employers. When people become uninsured, their health-care costs do not disappear — they are simply shifted to other parts of the health-care system. Individuals put off getting treatment and emergency-room visits increase, resulting in sicker patients and higher costs.

Patient who can’t afford these expenses go into debt or bankruptcy trying to pay their bills, and then hospitals must turn around and charge their private pay patients more to cover what is unpaid. According to Families USA, annual health-insurance premiums in Washington for a family with private, employer-sponsored coverage include about $2,000 to cover the unpaid cost of health care for the uninsured.

As more families face potential layoffs, we realize that tomorrow it could be any of us. Let the “what-if” scenarios play out in your mind. What if the health insurance that covers my entire family was suddenly gone? What if I lose coverage while I’m in the middle of expensive treatment? How will I pay for the prescriptions for my chronic illness? What if my daughter breaks her ankle playing soccer? Where will I go for care without insurance or a way to pay the full cost?

At HealthPoint we are dedicated to providing primary and preventive care to all those who need it, regardless of their ability to pay. If you need our services, please contact us.

The programs upon which our patients and our clinics rely have taken a serious hit in the state budget. If you are in a position to help, please give us a call at (425) 203-0447 or go to www.healthpointchc.org.

There are several other opportunities to take action to improve access to health care. You can sign up to receive occasional opportunities to make easy contact with your legislators through www.savehealthcareinwa.org. You can also join thousands of others at the Health Care for All in 2009 march on May 30. The march starts at 12:30 p.m. at Pratt Park in Seattle’s Central District.

Judy Featherstone, MD, FAAFP, is medical director at HealthPoint.

HealthPoint has provided medical and dental care, as well as complementary and alternative services, at 12 King County locations for 38 years. HealthPoint also works beyond its clinics to promote healthy communities — including some that are among the most culturally and economically diverse in King County.