[Oe List ...] Health Care reform

Tue Sep 1 23:23:49 CDT 2009

Here is the letter I have written to my conservative congressman. I have not
sent it. I thought I would take it or something like it to the town meeting
and present it verbally if possible or at least hand it to one of his aids
if I can't get to the mike. I have used a lot of information from the debate
on this list serve - that is, a lot of different people's ideas from the
listserve, some verbatim. So first, I hope that what I have said if you said
it first is okay. Second, any comments or advice would be great. Third,
Congressman Conaway is hoping that we will ask him questions at the town
meeting. What could I ask him? Thanks. Ann Shafer

Dear Representative Conaway,

I am an eight year resident of Fredericksburg, born and raised in San
Antonio. I am hoping to attend and speak at the town meeting you are kind
enough to hold in Fredericksburg Thursday, September 3. I decided to write
this letter to you to have a way to communicate my opinion in case for some
reason I do not get the chance at the town meeting.

First, I want to thank you for holding the town meeting and also I want to
thank you for holding public office and serving this district. I imagine
there are times when you wonder why you took this job on and I imagine that
the job is often stressful. So I appreciate all your efforts and your
commitment.

Here are some things I believe:

I think that all people should have the same freedoms and opportunities.

I believe that each of us has the responsibility to protect these freedoms
and opportunities for all of us.

We individuals and our public and private organizations should take care of
ourselves the best we can so we are not a burden on others and we should
also have compassion and assist others who have fewer freedoms and
opportunities than the rest of us.

To me, the health care system in this country is broken. It works well for a
privileged few but for many it does not work well. To me, it is not fair
when parents in a family both work full-time but neither is able to get
health insurance through their employers and they cannot afford to procure
health insurance privately. Then, if some serious health problem happens to
one of them or to a child in the family, all of that family's resources get
swallowed up and even then they may not receive the appropriate care for the
problem. I know that you have been told many stories where this kind of
scenario plays out. To me it also is not fair that some cannot obtain health
insurance because of a pre-existing condition. And to me, these inequities
do not just affect the person who is experiencing them. If the children my
grandchildren attend school with are sick then my grandchildren are exposed.
If my co-worker or employee cannot get health care at the beginning of their
health problem, then their extended absence on the job affects my job and my
company. 

For these reasons I support health coverage for all people in our country. I
know that the insurance carriers are lobbying against a public option being
offered. But I think that people should have the choice of a public option.
And according to a poll by NBC/WallStreet Journal in June and another poll
by SurveyUSA in August, I am not alone - 76 or 77% of the people asked were
for the public option choice. [The question asked by each of these groups
was exactly the same: "In any health care proposal, how important do you
feel it is to give people a choice of both a public plan administered by the
federal government and a private plan for their health insurance--extremely
important, quite important, not that important, or not at all important?"]

I agree with what Senator Ted Kennedy said as he was quoted by Newsweek
magazine: "This [the public option] will foster competition in pricing and
services. It will be a safety net, giving Americans a place to go when they
can't find or afford private insurance, and it's critical to holding costs
down for everyone."

It has been said that with a public health care option health care might be
rationed or withheld to the detriment of the patient. I would like to point
out that that is exactly what is happening now with our current system. If a
person cannot get private health insurance, and they cannot pay, then health
care is withheld. If a person has a pre-existing condition, then health
insurance is withheld and without private resources to pay, that person will
not be receiving the appropriate health care. 

To reduce the cost of public health insurance I would like to see the
following:

*      A low-cost single payer administrative system, monitored to prevent
fraud

*      Bargaining with health care providers to create appropriate prices

*      Payment for health outcomes instead of procedures, including
preventive, chronic and hospice care

*      Various local, state and national strategies to stimulate healthier
lifestyles (such as
<http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-07-27-costofobesity_N.htm>
dieting, exercise, addiction prevention and treatment)

*      Coordinated care beginning with a primary care physician, including
shared electronic patient charts

*      Evidence-based care, based on recommendations by health care
specialist committees or based upon
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106828530> comparative
effectiveness health care research. 

*      Eliminating payment disparities between regions. A non-political
commission should decide payment rates.  

The HELP (Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) committee has released
their final version of a health care bill which would cover 97 per cent of
Americans and would, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO),
cost 600 billion dollars. A previous proposed HELP bill without the public
option or shared responsibility was said by the CBO to carry a price tag of
1 trillion dollars so this bill represents a 40% lower cost. This final
version will give Americans the public option choice that they want.

So I want to ask you, Congressman Conaway, to support real health care
reform, including the choice of a public health insurance option. Please
support the final version of the HELP committee's health care bill. 

Thank you for your time and service.

Sincerely,

Ann C. Shafer

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