"Let me be clear: if we do not control these costs, we will not be able to control our deficit. If we do not reform health care, your premiums and out-of-pocket costs will continue to skyrocket. If we do not act, 14,000 Americans will continue to lose their health insurance every single day. These are the consequences of inaction. These are the stakes of the debate we're having right now."

That was President Obama on Wednesday. And the Des Moines Register agrees: delaying reform is not a solution to our health care crisis. We need action, and we need it soon. Today, we got further proof of the cost of doing nothing. Just look at the table released this morning by the Center for American Progress.

Within ten years, if we fail to address the rising cost of health care in America, the average health insurance premiums paid by families will nearly double, from $13,500 today to $22,400 in 2019. Oh but it gets worse - because in addition to rising premiums, Americans lucky enough to have health insurance still face increasingly burdensome co-payments and out-of-pocket costs - the kinds of costs that you can't haggle away when you're in severe pain.

In Iowa, our premiums will increase from $12,190 in 2009 to $20,801 in 2019. Given that Iowa faces additional hurdles, with 800 adults who died between 2000 and 2006 due to lack of health insurance, inaction in the face of economic danger is something we can ill afford - and yet, that's exactly what happens every day that we fail to act on this.

Here's the thing: it doesn't have to be this way! The projections that CAP outlined don't have to come true. We can write a different story. We know how to "bend the curve" of increasing health costs. We can reform our health care system so that all Americans have access to quality, affordable health care.

One way we're keeping the focus on reform is by joining with our friends at Fire Dog Lake in asking Iowa's Representatives in Congress to stay and work on passing health care legislation like HR 3200, "America's Affordable Health Choices Act," over the August recess. You can sign their petition here. Congress shouldn't take a three-week vacation when 14,000 Americans are losing their insurance coverage every day. That's 34% of the population of Des Moines.

Let's make this happen. Iowa can't afford the cost of doing nothing any longer.