"No" To Public Option

A public, government run, option will force this country into a single payer system. This is no doubt what is intended. Private companies can not long compete with a government option. The playing field is not level. The government makes and enforces the rules and regulations. A public option is backed by the weight and power of the federal government. It is backed and subsidized by taxpayer dollars. How can any private company compete? It is like having the head coach of one team referee the big game.

The government would eventually completely control our health care and our lives. We had better be really good or big brother would be unhappy. This is all about power and control. It is not about improving the quality and affordability of our health care. The American people do not want this government take-over of our health care. We want our health care to be controlled by our doctors and ourselves.

I am asking you, my legislator, to not vote for any bill that places my health care in governmental hands.

Signed,
The Electorate

Health Care: Eventually The Public Gets To Vote

The House Speaker wants to call the public option the consumer option. The Senate majority leaders want a public option/opt-out plan. The name is not the problem. It is the policy we don’t like. We do not want the government to run and control our health care. We want to control our own health care.

Almost every poll I see affirms that the majority of Americans do not want the public option. The Washington Post poll puzzled me until I saw that the question didn’t mention “public option” and that nearly twice as many Democrats were polled as Republicans. This caused the abnormality.

Eventually the public will get to vote on the health care issue. We just have to wait for the next elections. Then we can vote to not reelect those who supported this bill. New legislators can then vote to reverse this legislation.

Signed,
The Electorate

Health Care: Public Option

Any legislator who supports the public option should take a long hard look at the public health care options we currently have. They are not good examples of efficient, high quality health care. Is a Medicare type plan what this country really wants?

Only half the doctors in this country accept Medicare, because of the low reimbursement rate. This rate is scheduled to be reduced even more in the future. Then even fewer doctors will accept it. It does not matter if you have health insurance if no one will accept it.

Medicare denies treatments at a higher rate than private insurance companies do. The government seeks to determine what treatments are “cost effective”. More treatments will be denied in the future.

Fraud is rampant in Medicare. Medicare pays for procedures for dead people. Dead doctors bill Medicare and are paid. Medical facilities are reimbursed for procedures that were never done. It is estimated that 75 billion dollars are wasted every year due to fraudulent claims. Medicare doesn’t seem to really care. After all it’s the taxpayers money not theirs. Private insurance companies lose far less to fraudulent claims.

Medicare frequently takes at least a year to reimburse doctors. This is not an efficient organization.

Medicare will be bankrupt in eight years – if not sooner. Is this the example Congress wishes to follow?

Medicare works for older people who are more apt to be sick. Ninety percent of health care costs occur in the last year of life. Private insurers don’t really want our older citizens. Medicare helps older citizen – just not very well.

Before Congress seeks to extend this type of option to the entire country, it needs to show the public that the government can run health care in an efficient and affordable manner. Solve the problems of Medicare first. Prove to the people that the government can provide high quality health care and not bankrupt the country. Then people will consider a government run option.

Signed,
The Electorate