It appears that the U.S. Senate will vote to close debate on its version of federal health care reform as early as this weekend. Whether or not you have contacted your senators previously, now is the time for you to consider contacting both of your senators and encourage them to continue debate and to improve the legislation.
It is difficult to overstate the negative implications of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) proposal. According to the Congressional Budget Office, this legislation – if enacted – will have a significant, negative impact on the cost and nature of coverage. The administration’s chief actuary for Medicare and Medicaid Services has determined that if the Senate health care bill became law, it would increase national health care spending more than if we did nothing (which is simply not an option). Additional analysis concurs with these assessments and further indicates that Sen. Reid’s proposal will likely lead to higher premiums without reducing the growth in underlying health care costs.
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll indicates that 53% of Americans understand that their personal costs will increase under this proposal and only 37% believe that their personal health care will improve under this legislation. The Senate needs to set aside this version of health care reform and construct a proposal that has broad and deep public support.
The current legislation does not meet the goals of responsible, sustainable reform that lowers costs and increases access and Congress needs to hear from individuals who are concerned about the consequences of well-intended but flawed reforms.
While I continue to support health care reform, I cannot support reform that fails to address the cost and quality issues in our health care delivery system and undermines the bipartisan consensus for responsible and sustainable reform.
The holiday season is a busy time for all.
Now is the time to get involved today.
The Senate needs to hear from you and time is short. (faxing is a great option)
Senator Richard Lugar
http://lugar.senate.gov/contact/
senator_lugar@lugar.senate.gov
306 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-1401
(202) 224-4814
(202) 228-0360 fax
Senator Evan Bayh
http://bayh.senate.gov/contact/
131 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-5623
(202) 228-1377 fax
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
This is another victory for the plutocracy, the Republican party and Joe Liebermann. There will never be, in our lifetime, reasonable health care in this country. We had better face the nasty facts. Ours is not a government “of the people, by the people, for the people”. We’re just kidding ourselves.
Tom Degan
The Democrats’ dirty deeds done under cover of darkness — 1 a.m. on a Monday morning — will come back to haunt them in 2010.