Over the past few months, we've been reminding folks that the "the cost of doing nothing is too high." How high, exactly? Glad you asked.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a nonprofit group working to improve the health and health care of all Americans, decided to look into that. Their recently published report, "The Cost of Failure to Enact Reform: Implications for States," shows the price that states would bear if Congress fails to pass reform.

The report shows that under the worst-case scenario, within 10 years:

• The number of people without insurance would increase by more than 30 percent in 29 states. In every state, the number of uninsured would increase by at least 10 percent.


• Businesses would see their premiums increase - more than doubling in 27 states. Even in the best case scenario, employers in 46 states would see premiums increase by more than 60 percent.


• Every state would see a smaller share of its population getting health care through their job. Half of the states would see the number of people with employer-sponsored insurance fall by more than 10 percent.


• Every state would see spending for Medicaid/Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) rise by more than 75 percent.

Of course, that's only the worst case scenario, which may not happen at all. In fact, our health care system could magically cure itself, making reform pointless. While that seems to be what the Republicans are banking on, it's clear to the rest of us that we have a lot of work ahead of us.