Letter to the leaders: health care reform

Sent this to President Obama, the legislative leadership and my Congressional representatives. It's something all of us who support national health care reform should do; we need to push back against the right-wing demagogues and their lies.
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It might seem I would have little interest in supporting or funding national health care reform. I have good health care coverage coverage through my employer, in six years I will be eligible for Medicare, and my family income is about $200,000 so the sort of tax increases which might become necessary would hit me fairly significantly.

Far more important, however, I am a citizen who cares about his fellow Americans, tens of millions of whom lack health insurance, tens of millions more of whom lack truly adequate coverage. This is appalling. The United States is the richest country in the world, yet we are the only affluent nation which does not insure that its citizens have proper health care. The consequence is that most of our key health indicators compare unfavorably to those of other modern nations, and that translates out into shorter lives and lower quality of life for millions of Americans. We should be ashamed! Ironically, it also means that our national health care costs are significantly higher than in countries which provide a humane level of care.

We need health care reform. And a key part of the necessary reform is what is commonly being called the "public option." The public option will insure coverage at reasonable rates for all Americans, will bring health care costs down, will improve our quality of life, and will keep insurance plans competitive.

Of course, one must be concerned about costs. Yet good health care reform, which must include the public option, will go a long way towards constraining costs. Better health care, and especially more effective early intervention and preventative health care, will improve American productivity, making us an even richer nation ... with higher tax receipts. If funding cuts elsewhere need to be made, winding down our futile war in Afghanistan and accelerating our withdrawal from Iraq would provide billions in savings. And if higher taxes on the affluent are necessary, so be it; I am more than willing to see my tax bill go up if if means that all of my fellow citizens will have ready access to the health care they need.

Note: this was originally posted on ketches, yaks & hawks 5 September 2009