Open Letter to the Speaker of the House re: Inadequacies of the present health care bill

Written by: T Nuspl on Nov 3, 2009 12:54 PM EST

to:

Office of the Speaker
H-232, US Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-0100
http://speaker.house.gov/contact/

I write to you as a member of Oklahomans for Health Care Reform, a grassroots organization with a local chapter in Tulsa formed over the summer.

I am astounded with the corporate giveaways in the House bill that you announced this week, and the corporate governance you are willing to countenance over Americans' health care, when the private health insurance companies have proven to be thoroughly untrustworthy, and therefore completely unworthy as partners in any health care reform. BigHealth has used a plethora of dirty tricks to ruin people's health: denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing coverage, higher premiums for women, dropping coverage when people get sick, etc. In California alone, Aetna has denied 6 million people access to health care, on whimsical grounds.

Rather, the public option is what is needed, and by that, the consensus is a robust plan, such as a single-payer government-run insurance plan.

I respectfully request that you :
1) allow a vote on Rep. Anthony Weiner's (D-N.Y.) single-payer amendment to the health care bill; and
2) reinstate the Kucinich Amendment, which protects the right of states to pursue single-payer health care initiatives, to help hold down costs against behemoth corporations with virtual monopolies over health care insurance.

If Congress and/or the Federal government is unable or unwilling to enact single-payer, not-for-profit health care on behalf of all Americans, in order to achieve UNIVERSAL coverage, then the 50 states should be free to pursue such coverage for their respective citizens.

I see no chance that the present bill will succeed in pressuring the insurance companies to keep premiums low, or provide better coverage.

Your stated preference is for single-payer, as is President Obama's. Please make sure that single-payer appears in the bill and that the amendment in favor of HR 676 is given a historic up-or-down vote.

Democrats are watching what you do.

Best regards,

from Tulsa

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Location: Tulsa, OK 74112