I am sending letters to my NY Congressional representatives (Schumer, Gillibrand and Velazquez), hoping it matters in some way.
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Dear Senator Schumer:
I am writing to express my deeply held conviction that the health care reform effort currently underway must contain a public insurance option, and I encourage you to support only legislation that includes one. Furthermore, given your role on the key Finance Committee where much of the dithering over what is happening with this effort is taking place, I encourage you to take an active and visible role to ensure that the Senate’s version of legislation does not fail to live up to President Obama’s and the public’s expectations.
Continued after the jump...
Achieving comprehensive and meaningful health care reform should really not be that difficult. Yes, it is a complex and complicated issue; however, poll after poll makes clear that the majority of Americans support health care reform with a public option. (See http://citizenactionny.org/... where a summary of nine polls shows a minimum support level of 62% in favor.) Moreover, this type of reform was one of President Obama’s key campaign promises, and a major reason that many of us voted for him. We expect support for his agenda from our Democratic New York Senators.
Working at a large financial firm, I am lucky enough to have terrific insurance coverage – so long as I remain employed. Those colleagues caught up in the three rounds of layoffs my company has had in the last year might have a different perspective. The reason a public option is so important to me, and evidently large majorities of the American people, is that private insurance companies are incapable of offering insurance to all of those who need it – their profit motive makes is inalterably so. The truth is health insurance cannot be delivered to all in a market-based system because of a glaring market failure that the government can and should step in to solve. As noted by Paul Krugman in his New York Times blog: "There are, however, no examples of successful health care based on the principles of the free market, for one simple reason: in health care, the free market just doesn’t work. And people who say that the market is the answer are flying in the face of both theory and overwhelming evidence."
Howard Dean recently said on the Today show, "You can't really do health care reform without [a public health option]." That is rather obvious to most of us. But for some reason Senator Max Baucus (D-Aetna/Blue Cross) is not understanding it. I hope that as a member of the Finance Committee, you will make sure he does. As for Senator Grassley, his endorsement of the "death panel" lies should result in his having his seat at the negotiating table unceremoniously snatched from under him.
I am sending an equivalent letter to Senator Gillibrand, and a letter of support (and a campaign donation) to my Congresswoman, Nydia Velazquez, for having the courage to sign the letter to the House leadership stating that she will not support legislation that does not have a public plan. I hope I can count on you to fight for real health care reform and also preserve a public insurance option, without which you will have failed to achieve reform of any significance.
Sincerely,