I get asked about a lot of issues on the campaign trail, but one that comes up over and over is health care, and how we can fix a health care system that is in crisis. So let's jump right in and talk about what we need.
We need a comprehensive plan that provides full medical coverage for every man, woman and child in America! Right now we have over 100 million Americans who are underinsured for health coverage, 44 million Americans who do not have health care coverage at any given time, and at least 20 million who do not have it permanently. I'm one of the them. I don't have any health care coverage.
Almost two years ago I donated a kidney to my sister in law because it was the right thing to do. Now I'm considered to have a pre-existing condition and health care coverage costs more. I can't afford it. That's wrong on many levels, the most obvious being that we shouldn't punish people for being organ donors.
But health care is a crisis in a much larger sense and the republican party has no answers. Health care premiums for the average family in America increased by an average of 9.5 percent in 2005. That growth is more than three times the growth in the average American worker's earnings. People look at CO-06 and think everyone here is wealthy, and it's true that this is, per capita, one of the wealthiest Congressional districts in the entire country.
But the truth is that many people in this district are struggling in this economy. They have mortgages, and kids in college, and younger kids, and they have to pay for gas, and their heating bills are going through the roof. And on top of all that, the money they pay for health care keeps going up. Diane Swonk, chief economist for Mesirow Financial Corporation (mesirowfinancial.com), says "if you're rich, this is a great economy to be in, but other than that, it's not great."
I did not give ten years of my life to the Marine Corps and the Navy to build an America where the richest 3% of Americans have it great while the rest of us struggle as best we can!
I believe we owe it to ourselves and our children to come up with a comprehensive, government backed plan that provides health care for all Americans. The simple truth is that we are already paying for health care for uninsured Americans, but we are paying for it in emergency room visits, where it costs substantially more, rather than in preventive care, which costs substantially less! And on top of that, health care costs are making it more and more difficult for American companies to compete with their counterparts in other countries, who don't have to provide health care benefits. So it's an economic and national security issue as well.
But ultimately it's a human rights issue! My opponent, Tom Tancredo, likes to cite "his deeply held conviction that abortion violates the sanctity of life." It's too bad that his "deeply held convictions" only apply to fetuses. He doesn't seem to care about how much those fetuses suffer and struggle once they become actual human beings. I do care and that's what makes me different from Tancredo.
We need an answer to our health care crisis and I will work hard to find one!
And finally, beware of the "market based" proposals that we hear from Bush and the republican leaders. Just as the primary purpose of his Social Security reforms, based on private accounts and market based reforms, was to put a lot of money in the pockets of New York investment firms that support him, so the primary purpose of these health care reforms will be to further enrich a subset of his supporters. Whenever you hear something is market based, look to see who is going to make the profit before you decide to support it!
We need to get serious about a lot of problems facing America today, and health care is right at the top of the list. I'm tired of candidates and politicians who tell me what can't be done. I'm looking for leaders who will show us what CAN be done. I intend to be one of those leaders!
Bill Winter
http://winterforcongress.com/