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What you can do about Health Care reform

Written by: Tom Hayes on May 2, 2009 11:18 PM EDT

73% of voters want a choice of a private or public health insurance plan. Have you told your U.S. Representative and/or Senator? It's not about party, folks; this idea has phenomemally broad support, and it's totally congruent with what President Obama and his administration are trying to achieve.

Broken down by party affiliation, it's:

     77% of Democrats
     79% of Independents
     63% of Republicans

 
Write 3 letters before the Senate committee meeting on Tuesday to make sure your voice is heard in D.C. before it's all over but the earmarks. Write one to the Representative of your congressional district, and one to each of your Senators (except in Minnesota, of course, where there's only one Senator.)  Make sure your elected represenatives realize that this has overwhelming support among voters - all voters.
 

Special interests are being heard - are you?

 
"While recent polling has shown consistent broad support for comprehensive health care reform, this poll specifically addressed whether people want a choice of a public health insurance plan. 73% of voters want a choice of a private or public health insurance plan, including Democrats (77%), Independents (79%), and Republicans (63%)"

The firm also tested the insurance industry's message about public health care and paired it with a message supporting it, and found the public to be far more receptive to the pro-public health care message:

"62% of voters believe a public health insurance plan will spend less on profits and administration and force private insurers to compete while only 28% of voters believe the attack that a public health insurance plan would be a "big, government bureaucracy." 60% believe that if private insurers are really more efficient than government, then they won't have any trouble competing with a public health insurance plan. Only 23% believe a public health insurance plan would have an unfair advantage over private plans."

This polling was conducted for the pro-reform group Health Care for America Now.

More results here.

But it goes beyond polls. There are hugely authoritative, respected voices pointing out that the system as it's been allowed to evolve is inefficient.  It doesn't serve us well even though it does pay CEOs hefty bonuses and keep lobbyists busy.  Tell your Senators and Representative what the Chief Economist of the World Bank says:
"...private healthcare insurers do not know how to deliver an efficient way..."

 

World Bank Chief Economist, Joseph Stiglitz
Join DFA and MoveOn for an Emergency Online Briefing with Gov. Howard Dean M.D. Monday night at 9pm Eastern Time.People who work hard for their money deserve to have a voice in how it's spent. The insurance industry and their lobbyists have been writing rules that boost their profits not protect Americans, and tax-payers are tired of bailing them out while worrying if we'll even have jobs. We need our leaders to take control and look out for our interests, not special interests.
 
Put it in your words, and write those three emails in the next 24 hours, two or three paragraphs is all it takes, then get three more people to do the same.
 
Then use this OFA form: http://action.barackobama.com/page/speakout/dailies to send email to the newspapers in your area.  Type in your zipcode and go. It couldn't be easier, or more timely.
 
You've got all the facts you need right here - make sure D.C. knows that we know the facts, and we're tired of paying for them to ignore what's right for the rest of us.

 

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