After witnessing President Obama’s strong presentation on the need for health care reform last night, I was left with a question that I know affects greatly the state of Maine. My concern is for our public institutions, especially schools, including the UMaine system, all of which are being hit by ever-rising premiums for the health care insurance of their employees.
When Obama explained how he would propose to use the so-called “public option,” it appeared to be available only to those people who are currently uninsured and who would, under this plan, make an effort to obtain health insurance.
My question to Senators Snowe and Collins is this: As they watch our school systems struggle mightily under overbearing health care costs, do they not see the stranglehold that the insurance giants hold over the state of Maine (and all other states trying to meet their budgets)? Why are they unwilling to push for a way to bring down EXISTING costs of premiums to our schools and public institutions? It seems a public option would be such a way.
Obama himself has said that the cost “of doing nothing would result in insurance premiums doubling for most Americans over the next decade.”
We have already watched this play out on the dwindling paychecks of Maine workers who are “lucky” enough to have any insurance at all.
In vigorous defense of the need for real reform, I plead with our members of Congress, (especially Senator Snowe with the conflicting factors of her membership on the Gang of Six now formatting legislation vs. her own receipt of insurance company campaign contributions). I plead with them to examine how this issue intersects with our state budget and to explore every means of using the public option more extensively, for we, the public.
Eileen Kreutz
Industry
Thank you Eileen. I agree with you completely.
I have no quarrel with Eileen Kreutz on this, more than with anybody else in the zillion letters and articles I have seen on the health care issue, but since nobody else is saying it I would like to say that I have no insurance and don’t want any. The issue I would like to see addressed is how to keep doctors from overcharging.
When a third party (whether private or government) is billed for a doctor’s services, the third party doesn’t see what happened in the doctor’s office. They have only the doctor’s claims (usually written in code) to go by. This makes it easy for a doctor to overcharge. Nobody complains, but the cost of health care goes up for all of us.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there were no such thing as insurance? Think of it–no malpractice insurance (which doctors buy so they won’t have to pay for their own mistakes, and then charge us for). No health insurance either. We would still need some way of relieving people who run into long-term, disabling illnesses, but not everybody does. Life would be better.
Maybe you should plead with your local representatives to allow insurance competition in the state of Maine, instead of the monopoly they give to Anthem who can charge us whatever they want. They already gave us a public option called Dirigo Health. Need I say more?
Well, I’m amazed that people would want the government take over health care. It seems so strange.
Let’s see:
Amtrack a financial disaster (government run)
Medicaid financial failure (government run)
Dirigo Health in Maine a flat at fiasco and failure (Maine Government run)
LD 1 in Maine failed to cut property taxes (Maine Government run)
The greatest swindle in human history, the Madoff ponzi scheme, undetected by the SEC (a government agency) even after 5 notices and investigations!!!!
Social Security, a legal ponzi scheme, which MUST go belly, like Madoff’s, sometime in the future and must now be constantly propped up by the government.
The Post Office a financial failure and often a performance failure (Note: I sent a PRIORITY mailing of some important papers to Manhattan three weeks ago it arrived 8 days later!!!)
Medicare a financial failure (government run)
The cash for clunkers program, poorly executed and a moral outrage. (government run)
10 or so trillion dollars we are in debt, which will take generations to pay off even if the government stops overspending today. (A government failure)
20 or so million illegal aliens in the country , i.e. a failure to secure our borders! (A government responsibility and failure)
The Walter Reed Army Hospital scandal, a government run medical facility.
The FSLIC scandal which cost the taxpayers billions because of a government failure to properly supervise savings banks.
I could go on with more accounts of government malfeasance and nonfeasance, but what good would it do to convince you all that it would be foolhardy (really dumb) to give one sixth of the GNP over to the government which has a reliable record of doing things very poorly. Those in favor of , hypnotized really, by the dazzling prospect and promise of government run health care are suffering from a serious case of cognitive dissonance.
GREAT JOB ,BILL But they dont listen , they’re so far up they can’t smell the Stench. WE need to keep standing up for what’s right . They wont win this battle . America is not ready for SOCIALISM. I cant believe America elected a man who said our CONSTITUTION is out dated ! My father in law said ” IF ITS NOT BROKE DONT FIX IT ! ” I THINK HE WAS VERY WISE. Its worked for over 200 years . EVERY LAW PASSED IS ONE LESS FREEDOM WE HAVE . WAKE UP AMERICA !!!!!