The Healthcare Debate Goes On

This is my most recent email to Barbara Boxer (D-CA), posted on July 25th, in her "Join the Healtcare Debate" web page. Unfortunately, I personally think it will be trashed because it does not follow her very liberal and wasteful spending views.

I like and am very satisfied with my insurance coverage. I don't want any changes to it nor do I want a public/government run health care program that WILL inevitably create an unsustainable deficit, increase our taxes, CROWD OUT PRIVATE INSURERS FROM THE MARKET, encourage employers to stop providing coverage because it would be cheaper to pay the penalty than to provide private insurance, and quite possibly will lure employees from private insurance to the cheaper government option. A public option will make it even more difficult for many of us who already pay for private insurance to keep that insurance, which as your should know (with your Cadillac health care plan), provides far better benefits and less interference by a bureaucratic paper pusher than a government run public plan would do. A public plan would also inevitably lead to health care rationing in order to keep costs down, lead to someone other than the insured or family members making life and death decisions, and pay for unnecessary procedures such as abortion, which pro-life taxpayers DO NOT support unless a mother's life is at risk. We are a democratic nation but our voices are being ignored and drowned out by politicians making decisions that will only benefit the small minority of people in the uninsured category. You put at risk millions of peoples' current insurance coverage to cover a few (in comparison to the hundreds of millions that do have coverage) that do not have insurance, which by the way includes illegal immigrants and those that can afford their own insurance but choose not to obtain or opt out. Why do you act irrationally when there are other ways to achieve healthcare reform that do not put the majority of insured at risk or do not cost taxpayers or businesses trillions of tax dollars your current plans will incur? You could make changes to tort reform so mal-practice insurance cost for doctors can be lowered; you could change laws to allow small businesses to reach out of state for employees health insurance at a lower and more competitive cost; you could offer a capped refundable tax credit or a debit card system for basic health care to the uninsured; the government could compete and obtain contracts with over 1000 private health insurance companies to get the best price for insuring the true 20 million uninsured people (not including illegal aliens, those that qualify under MediCare, Medicaid, SCHIP or other current program, and those that can afford insurance). You are not rationalizing the effect of your legislation; you cannot see the forest for the trees.

Please vote smartly, not like you did on the stimulus plan. Thoroughly read and review the current plans and discuss all alternatives before making any decisions. And DO discuss all new recommendations and amendments in the Senate and the House--there ARE many better ideas out there that you have obviously rejected by voting down party lines. Stop this irrational and irresponsible behavior of voting down party lines and your grandstanding (I’ve seen you do this on C-Span) and consider our current economic health, the predictable ramifications of a public insurance option on our great private insurance system, and do not levy a burdensome tax to already strained wages and businesses that are struggling to survive and keep our economy going. Stop the incessant direction toward socializing our nation; this is not what our forefathers intended for our nation.