| Healthcare reform is not about socializing medical care. It is about building accountability back into a system that is broken, and providing basic healthcare access to every American. Without health security, every other aspect of a person’s life is adversely affected. Rich or poor, young or old, regardless of race, creed or color, no one wants healthcare access compromised or denied.There was a time when people paid for healthcare out of their own pockets. When I was born, the bill to my parents from the hospital was $200. My dad was making about $300 a month at the time, so the economic impact was significant, yet manageable. They weren’t wealthy. They didn’t have insurance, but they controlled their healthcare decisions.
After the health insurance industry stepped in and began decades of shifting accountabilities, we’ve been brought to the unsustainable place we now find ourselves. A healthcare system that is driven by the profit motives of insurance companies rather than the well-being of patients. A system in which people have been reduced to profiles, statistics and actuarial projections. A system in which even those with insurance benefits often pay thousands of dollars a year in cost-sharing, co-payments and deductibles just for access to catastrophic care. That is simply wrong.
Ironically, those who have been whipped into a frenzy, disrupting Town Hall meetings to create the false perception of grassroots opposition to healthcare reform, may stand to benefit the most from the enhanced healthcare access it will provide. It would not be the first time political strategy has been employed to get people to vote against their own interests. Without change, those who can afford healthcare access will have it, those whose health access is tied to employment may lose it, and those without health benefits through an employer will continue to be at the mercy of insurance companies who can deny coverage at will.
If you care about this issue, I urge you to become engaged and educate yourself with non-partisan resources such as FactCheck.org.
Your dollars are already on the table. It is time to reclaim your seat at that table. Nearly nine million Americans have lost their health insurance since 2000. One in six Americans have no healthcare insurance at all. With more than $2.2 trillion spent on health care in America this year, we deserve a better return on our investment.
Basic health access for all Americans is in our national interest. That is why I support meaningful reform that makes healthcare accessible for all. |
