Unless you simply pay no attention to politics at all, you know that this is the make-or-break week in Congress for health care reform. The president is on the campaign trail, urging voters to contact their representatives and senators. “Make your voice louder than the health industry lobbyists” who are trying to stop reform, Obama says. Here’s why it’s a good idea for you to follow the Prez’s lead here: Health insurance lobbyists, including our good friends at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, are spending more than a million dollars per day to kill health care reform. These, of course, are the same health insurance companies that are raising rates in the middle of a recession, denying coverage to Americans with pre-existing conditions, dumping customers when they have the nerve to actually use their insurance, all while paying their CEOs outrageous bonuses.
This is the week: Call your reps. If you’re in the Charlotte area, your House members are firmly committed to their positions (Watt is for reform, Myrick thinks it’s a terrorist plot or something). Sen. Burr is also opposed. The most useful phone call or e-mail you can make in favor of health care reform is to Sen. Kay Hagan, who has supported reform in the past, but is still an uncertain vote in the current debate. Call Sen. Hagan’s office at 202-224-6342 in Washington, D.C.; 704-334-2448 in Charlotte; or e-mail her at http://hagan.senate.gov.
This article appears in Mar 16-22, 2010.
If government takes over healthcare, HALF of the physicians in America may quit:
http://www.themedicusfirm.com/pages/medicus-media-survey-reveals-impact-health-reform
People, please do not let Frank Griffin incite you with his rhetoric and gibberish. He responds like this to EVERY article, has been warned by the staff of Creative Loafing, and has been reported to authorities becauase of some of his abusive statements on here. He is the father of lies and wouldn’t know the truth if it hit him in the damn head.
His goal is to bash everything written here. He is a hateful, sad, and pathetic human being with absolutely no life. He is here daily and does nothing but just what you see here. He hates gays, democrats, the President, the Mayor, minorities in general, and anything that may be contrary to the BS of the likes of Glenn Beck and Fox news.
He thinks everything is a debate and he is the winner. Sadly, people are stating the facts, don’t care to debate, and certainly don’t feel a loss towards this sad excuse for a man.
If you take the bait, he will go on and on and on, and will always try to get the last word, even if it’s a pathetic, childish one.
Thanks for the notice, I figured Hagan as a firm supporter. I wrote Burr asking him to at least stop the partisan delaying tactics, and now I will write Hagan now and encourage her to continue supporting reform.
It is responsible and just what we need. Only right wing fools would think differently. Par for the course. Thank the Lord God that you are not representing us. We are just fine with our President and Mayor. They ARE doing a good job.
I am a nurse and have to agree with Frank. We need reform-but we DON’T need the government take over healthcare. The fact that there is SO much pressure put on our politicians to commit to a yes vote-shows that even they know this is a bad deal all around both fiscally and for the medical profession.
This bill has nothing to do with any government “taking over” health care. Its actual content has more to do with establishing an insurance exchange open to the public similar to the stock exchange.
Remember basic history and economics about the manipulation of stock prices through misinformation before that exchange was established? That is how insurance companies operate now, basically defrauding their customers/investors.
Insurance companies are free to sell outside of it, but either way are also bound by certain requirements (honoring support agreements with the people who pay into them instead of running off with the money for one).