Form Letters for Health Reform

[teaberryblue]

fannyanns asked me to post letters that could be easily sent to representatives.



Dear Senator Baucus,

I was extremely disheartened to see that the health care plan you proposed last week would require all Americans to pay up to 13% of their income directly to health insurance companies without offering any kind of public option to control the marketplace and provide competition.

I believe that a public option is necessary to police the health insurance market. Health premiums have risen at a rate of three times that of general inflation, and are prohibitive for a huge number of Americans. We can't depend on the same companies that have been exploiting us for years to do right by us now. The government needs to step in.

Your proposal to allow non-profits to offer health insurance is not enough. It will be easy for a huge industry like private health care to squash non-profits before they have a chance. A real option must be government-run and must be big enough to both compete with private companies and to insure everyone who is currently uninsured or underinsured.

[Use this if it applies:

My monthly take-home pay is $X. $X of that goes directly into rent. $X pays my bills. $X goes to food and other necessities like soap, toothpaste, lightbulbs and shoes. That leaves me $X a month. To pay my own healthcare out of pocket, your plan requires that a health insurance company will be able to charge up to 13% of my take-home pay. That's $X. As you can see, under your plan, I won't be able to afford to pay the health care premiums that your plan will require me to pay. I can pay up to $X in health care premiums, but what happens if I get sick? I won't be able to pay anything toward a deductible or my medical expenses that aren't covered by my insurance.
]

I am extremely disappointed that you seem to be putting insurance companies before American citizens like me. We deserve better. Please look past your pocketbook to reconsider in favor of a public option.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]




Dear Senator Baucus,

I was extremely disheartened to see that the health care plan you proposed last week would require all Americans to pay up to 13% of their income directly to health insurance companies without offering any kind of public option to control the marketplace and provide competition.

I believe that it is time to finally institute single payer health care in the US. Health premiums have risen at a rate of three times that of general inflation, and are prohibitive for a huge number of Americans. We can't depend on the same companies that have been exploiting us for years to do right by us now. The government needs to step in.

Your proposal to allow non-profits to offer health insurance is not enough. It will be easy for a huge industry like private health care to squash non-profits before they have a chance. If we want to fix health care, we need a single-payer system that is government-run and not for profit.

[Use this if it applies:

My monthly take-home pay is $X. $X of that goes directly into rent. $X pays my bills. $X goes to food and other necessities like soap, toothpaste, lightbulbs and shoes. That leaves me $X a month. To pay my own healthcare out of pocket, your plan requires that a health insurance company will be able to charge up to 13% of my take-home pay. That's $X. As you can see, under your plan, I won't be able to afford to pay the health care premiums that your plan will require me to pay. I can pay up to $X in health care premiums, but what happens if I get sick? I won't be able to pay anything toward a deductible or my medical expenses that aren't covered by my insurance.
]

I am extremely disappointed that you seem to be putting insurance companies before American citizens like me. We deserve better. PleasePlease look past your pocketbook in favor of a single payer plan like HR 676.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]




Dear [],

As your constituent, I am delighted to hear that you are in favor of a health care solution that includes a public option for health care. We can't be exploited by the private health care industry any longer. Please continue to support a plan that includes a public option that is both large enough to compete with private insurance companies and to cover all Americans who are currently uninsured or underinsured, or consider supporting a plan that proposes a single payer system, like HR 676.

[If you have a personal story, share it here.]

I would ask you not to support a plan that mandates private citizens to purchase health insurance from private companies: without a public option, this plan becomes nothing but a way to line the pockets of an already-wealthy industry and does little to curtail the skyrocketing costs of health care. A mandate does not work unless the government is willing and able to step in to significantly cut costs and offer options to people who can't afford to pay a health care premium.

Thank you,

[Your Name Here]





Dear [],

As your constituent, I am disappointed to hear that you do not support a public option for health care. We can't be exploited by the private health care industry any longer. Please consider supporting a plan that includes a public option that is both large enough to compete with private insurance companies and to cover all Americans who are currently uninsured or underinsured, or consider supporting a plan that proposes a single payer system, like HR 676.

The health care industry has proven to us that they are unwilling to act on behalf of their customers to provide health care when people are sick or dying. They have had their chance, and as long as they remain a powerful monopoly in this country, no amount of regulation is going to make a change. The government needs to step in.

[If you have a personal story, share it here.]

I would ask you not to support a plan that mandates private citizens to purchase health insurance from private companies: without a public option, this plan becomes nothing but a way to line the pockets of an already-wealthy industry and does little to curtail the skyrocketing costs of health care. A mandate does not work unless the government is willing and able to step in to significantly cut costs and offer options to people who can't afford to pay a health care premium.

Thank you,

[Your Name Here]



Places to mail letters:
Max Baucus, Head of the Senate Finance Committee, is not in favor of any kind of public health care.
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, is strongly in favor of a public option and has pledged that any bill that passes the House will have one.
Contact Your Senator
Contact Your Representative

If anyone knows of a quick and easy link to see who has pledged support and who has pledged no support for health care reform, let me know and I'll add it in.

Comments

[smammers.livejournal.com]

Thanks for doing this! It can be really hard for me to sum up my ideas succinctly, so this made it very easy for me to just add a personal bit and send a few off. I kind of doubt any amount of letters to Senator Lieberman will get him on board, but I guess I've got to try!

[zia-narratora.livejournal.com]

Hey, it is always worth sending! Lieberman is treading on thin ice as far as getting his treacherous ass re-elected, so you never know.

[smammers.livejournal.com]

This is part of the form letter I got back from Lieberman:

I will continue to work with my colleagues on a bipartisan basis to resolve the remaining issues that are key to reaching a comprehensive final proposal. A broad coalition is needed when addressing an issue as large, and as important for our nation's citizens, as health care reform. While, in general, I would prefer not to see a public plan option because of cost concerns and the possibility that it could potentially prevent the formation of the coalition that will be necessary to pass reform, I am very open to all options that have been laid on the table. I am hopeful that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will come together to achieve meaningful health care reform that expands coverage, reduces costs, and improves the quality of care in our nation.

That's just the bit about the public option, since that's what I'm most concerned with. It sounds like he's willing to change his mind and support the public option if it will get him re-elected! Ha. That's Lieberman for you, I guess. Always worried about his own ass.

[zia-narratora.livejournal.com]

Aw, man. If it were me, I would write again and point out that since a public option is a budgetary bill, it only needs 51 senators to pass since it can't be filibustered, so if he's worried about it passing Congress, having the public option in the bill actually makes it easier because it can't be blocked :-P