The big guns are out to derail health care reform, and women and Latinos are at the end of the barrel.

As groups that stand to lose or gain much with the outcome of health care reform legislation, women and Latinos must take an active part in this conversation. The stakes are high: health care stability and security for all Americans.

We must enact health insurance reform that includes a public option to ensure quality care for all Americans and contain costs, which are crushing family, business and government budgets.

Latinos are by far the largest group of uninsured: More than one-third of us lack health insurance. We are disproportionately affected by chronic conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure, workplace injuries and certain cancers, and we are much less likely than other groups to have a regular health care provider.

Women are also at greater risk of being uninsured and more vulnerable to high health care costs. We are more likely than men to report fair or poor health, and women’s reproductive health requires more regular contact with health care providers. Women are less likely than men to be employed full time and thus less likely to be eligible for employer-based health benefits. When employer-based coverage is not an option, women must either remain uninsured or turn to the individual insurance market, where we are vulnerable to discrimination due to age and gender. Women are charged higher premiums than men during our reproductive years, a barrier to obtaining coverage at a time when we need care most.

We need health insurance reform to address the rapidly escalating cost of health care. Insurance premiums have doubled in the last nine years, three times faster than wages, and out-of-pocket costs have risen more than 30 percent in the last five years as deductibles and co-pays have increased. Some 14,000 Americans daily lose their health insurance when they lose or change jobs or become seriously ill.

Opponents of insurance reform say a majority of Americans are happy with their health care, and we should leave well enough alone.

But who is happy with rising premiums, co-payments and deductibles? Who is content with denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions, the threat of being kicked out of your plan if you have major medical needs and become “too costly” or of losing your coverage if you change jobs?

A public option would offer a solution to these problems. It would guarantee health insurance to people, and that would be a huge gain for Latinos and women.

Options are good, and the more options we consumers have, the better for us.

Cristina Lopez is president of the National Hispana Leadership Institute, a national leadership development organization focused on Latina leaders (www.nhli.org). She can be reached at pmproj [at] progressive [dot] org.