[Oe List ...] Health Care reform

Wed Sep 2 20:21:49 CDT 2009

Ann, in the middle of our very robust discussion of health care -  I appreciate your letter to your congressman.   It is informed, and heart-felt, and appreciates his service in an authentic way.  Everyone would not agree with all you say, but they don't need to!  This is what you think, and well-stated.  Good for you.  Hope you do get to speak at his town meeting. 
Best wishes,
Janice Ulangca
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Ann Shafer 
  To: 'Order Ecumenical Community' 
  Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 2009 12:23 AM
  Subject: [Oe List ...] Health Care reform

  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 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 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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