I just read this article and also saw the Bill Moyers interview of Wendell Potter, and I am so upset right now about our health care predicament that I'm seeting.
I decided to address this letter to our former Commerce Secretary Appointee, New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg, but it is intended for any one of our Senators or Representatives who fail to understand the absolute imperative of the moment and the need to pass real health care reform now.
Dear Senator Judd Gregg,
You are not the only person to say this, but I just saw you quoted as saying that we cannot afford an overhaul of our health care system in the United States.
Just what exactly can we afford, sir? Why don't you tell me?
Last I checked, you supported this godawful war in Iraq that in 6 years has already cost us more than any 10-year estimate for providing universal health care. Last I checked, not only are nearly 50 million Americans uninsured, that's 1 in every 6, but a large number of those with insurance can't get coverage for basic needs or are paying more and more out of pocket. Last I checked, the big bad government is already the largest provider of health care, with Medicare, and what's on the table is simply an expansion of a successful program by removing the means-test that restricts it to the elderly and few others.
I don't think that I can't afford to pay for your health care any more, Senator Gregg. You or anyone else on Capitol Hill who have your own public health care and then won’t offer it to anyone else. How dare you? Why don't you swap out your current healthcare to join the myriad others using systems like Cigna or Aetna – even just for a year or two – and then tell the rest of us that we can’t afford universal health care? I don't doubt for a moment that after that first phone call denying you coverage for a basic treatment or knocking your wife off the rolls because of a pre-existing condition that perhaps you would finally get how horrifying it is to have our health - our most basic need - left to the whims of profit-seeking industries whose ultimate goal is satisfying their shareholders.
It is sickening to see you and so many others fail to see or even begin to understand the desperation that thousands of your own constituents feel (let alone the sheer throngs nationwide), who are delaying treatments because of cost, literally attempting to cheat death, or clinging to jobs that demand more and more time and energy in this terrible economy, just so that they can keep their precious, employer-provided healthcare.
Two more of my friends were laid off this week alone. That brings the number to over two dozen in a few short months. All of these people no longer have health care. Should they encounter any potential health issues, what are they supposed to do? They're looking for work. They'd take a job if they could – as would I – but perhaps you haven't noticed that our economy is in shambles, with near double-digit unemployment. See, unlike in Europe where the unemployment rate simply means that these people don't have a job, but still have the support they need otherwise, in America being unemployed means you not only aren’t earning a living, but should anything (god forbid) happen to you, you very well could be in financial ruin. For life.
And you say we can’t afford universal health care? You, sir, are insane.
Sincerely,
Fed. Up.