A Thank You Message from Russ
Posted by Melissa Ryan on August 7, 2009
Categories: On the Trail ; Issues
Recently Russ teamed up with Democracy for America to thank Senator Kennedy and his colleagues on the H.E.L.P. Committee for their commitment to passing health care reform, including a strong public option. Over 35,000 of you signed the petition, standing with Russ in support of real reform, not a bill in name-only. This week Russ recorded a video thanking everyone for their continued work and support.
On health care, and so many other important issues, we know that Russ will stand with us. He isn't going to waffle or back down. He's going to do everything he can to make sure Americans finally get the health care reform that our country so desperately needs. Continue to show your support for Russ, and help us spread the word by following him on Facebook and Twitter.
I agree with all the comments here. It is sad that the United States is the only country in the industrialized world that doesn't have a national health plan. I talked to a cousin who worked in Ireland as a nurse and she couldn't believe that we were still debating health reform. Ireland has had universal care for decades. We the people deserve better than what we have now. I hope you succeed this time Senator and thank you for your efforts.
Submitted by bulldog on August 11, 2009why not call it a public plan with a private option. Reverse the emphasis which will put the reform in a better light and a more understandable form. The Obama message on healthcare is not sufficiently focused which allows opponents to attack minor attributes such as we are seeing with living wills. Whomever is in charge of getting the message out should be replaced and the argument simplified even if the subject is complex. as with the Iraq war. the simple objective was to get out and not to get lost in the military and political tactical aspects of the undertaking. So too with healthcare, make it simple if you expect support from the vast majority of citizens,
Submitted by Don Rettmann on August 10, 2009The public health insurance option must be included in reform legislation. Opponents of the public option whine that it will result in rationing of care. Well, currently, the for-profit health insurance companies ration out care. The opponents also whine that the public option will be bureaucratic and inefficient. Well, I just had an annual physical exam given by my primary care provider, and my insurance plan, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, denied covering it, claiming...get this...that I failed to get referral from my primary care provider! That's awfully bureaucratic, inefficient, and also dishonest. One more thing...my doctor, who is contracted to Blue Cross/Blue Shield, decided it was wise to administer an EKG test, since I'm 61 years old, and have rising blood pressure. Blue Cross/Blue Shield denied covering the EKG, because...get this...the test results showed nothing wrong. I'm paying $70 per week as my share of the premium, the balance being paid by my employer. What am I paying for, pray tell?
Submitted by Vivien on August 9, 2009Yes, please keep working to bring about a reformed health care system where everyone has an equal opportunity to buy affordable health care insurance regardless of their gender, pre-existing conditions, being self-employed, etc.. I also would prefer a single payer system but in the absence of that I would settle for the opportunity to participate in the health care system without discrimination. The health of this nation's greatest resource, our citizens, is at risk and the for-profit health industry continues to enjoy record profits by denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions and rejecting claims for those whom they do cover.
Submitted by Hira on August 8, 2009Dear Senator, I understand the White House negotiated with the Drug Industry a rebate of $80B. Is it enough to plug the doughnut hole. If not, why negotiate and shackle American seniors with Drug Industry rules? When will our Congress act like a co-equal branch?
Submitted by Bill on August 8, 2009I have friends from countries that have universal health care. They understand the problem in a different way. They talk about how liberating to the spirit it is to know that no matter what bad accident or misfortune may befall you, family, or friends that good quality health care will be available.
Submitted by seaheidi on August 8, 2009This conversation reassures me that there are caring people all across the United States who believe in equality. It will unite and strengthen us all.
Submitted by merryb on August 7, 2009I'm a health care professional. I feel so helpless when patients can't afford to address their health. It's a shame that "the wealthyest, most powerful country in the world" can't afford health care for the citizens that create the wealth. Let's demand health care reform and avoid any pitfalls that other countries have fallen into. Yes, we can!
Submitted by wfleet on August 7, 2009In a sea of Profiles in Jellyfishism, you have always been a Profile in Courage. Progressives are grateful. I'm amazed that people in these town brawls are so violently eager to use their premiums to pay CEO Ron Williams of Aetna's $24 million dollar annual compensation. I'm happy for them to do that, but I'd like the choice, the public option, not to buy the gold-rimmed luncheon plates on the Aetna jet. I'm amazed that people are so vehemently eager to have Wall Street between them and their doctor. The medical-industrial-complex insurance corporations are only rewarded for collecting your premiums and then *not* paying your claims. It's called medical-loss-ratio. If a health-scam corporation starts paying too great a ratio of medical losses (aka patient claims), its stock gets punished. I think if people knew more and weren't responding to fortune-cookie propaganda, there'd be no question that they'd demand a public option to at least slow the juggernaut of the built-in rapacious greed-for-profit of the current gold-rimmed-plates Let's Dupe the Sheeple arrangement. President Lyndon Johnson said, "I will fight to my last breath for Medicare." We need this passion in the current Democrats.
Submitted by Suze O on August 7, 2009I can't understand why the Republicans don't see that this country needs to rein in costs for the benefit of businesses as well as people. If small and medium businesses are the biggest employers of Americans, why not offer a lower-cost health insurance plan for people that quit their current jobs in order to start their own businesses? It takes at least 3 years (maybe more in this economy) for a new business to break even or make a profit. It shouldn't cost entrepreneurs their health insurance (or insurance for their families) when they want to try working for themselves. With the high price of individually-purchased plans - not to mention the risk of having all those premiums go to waste if expensive treatment suddenly becomes necessary - these people are discouraged from taking the leap. The GOP (and the Blue Dogs) claim to be "pro-business" but in actuality they are "pro-MONOPOLY." They are trying to protect companies that want to hang on to their lucrative corner of the market without being challenged by competition. Competition is good for an economy - it encourages innovation, lowers costs, and makes companies work to please their customers - otherwise they lose their customer base.
Submitted by Bill B. on August 7, 2009I have just one question. Why are there no single-payer advocates attending the closed-door meetings that congressional leaders are holding with lobbyists and pharmaceutical industries? Does this mean that it is more important for Congress to protect the profits of the insurance industry rather than provide quality health care to all Americans?
Submitted by HawgJohn on August 7, 2009Thanks for your good work. I remember in 1965 when Medicare was going through the Congress. The right said all the same thing they're saying now, none of which came through. It's time that everyone had access to health care...at reasonable rates.
Submitted by Bruce on August 7, 2009I viewed Michael Moore's Sicko last night and I sincerely hope that this country can institute a health care plan where CEO's pocket books are not the determining factor in deciding who is and who is not treated for illness. Canada, France, Great Britain, Spain, and Italy manage to provide more than adecuate care to all their citizens with no cost to the patient. Yet the fear of socialized medicine has spread in this country so that a national universal option may not be available. Medical Directors at Insurance companies and HMOs are paid bonuses when they deny service to the insured. What could be worse than profiteering from people's in desperate need?
Submitted by Geri on August 7, 2009I attended the town hall meeting in Philadelphia last weekend... a real eye opener. It was filled with angry, boorish, obnoxious and stupid protesters screaming and booing and not allowing any responses from Specter or Sebelius. First and foremost, we need to find a way to stop these mobs from spreading lies and from preventing the real information to get out.
Submitted by Mother Lode on August 7, 2009I've been working for the Obama health care plan in another state. Today I went to a meeting with a panel of 6 or 7 people. The idea was to tell our health care story. Some of that happened, but mostly it was sort of taken over by a group of folks who are against anything but Single Payer. I wish for that, too, but feel that with the animosity in Congress and the opposition of the "Blue Dog Dems", the chances for that are none too good. I hope it's possible to get there. Whether it's this year or not, I have no clue. But feel very certain if we don't work together, we are going to blow yet another chance at health care reform. As it is, it is a given that our fractured health care system could truly bankrupt our country. For those who say, "What's the rush?", our country's solvency is at stake, whether you want to believe it or not. Americans have come to expect everything they want just the way they want it, and this attitude is responsible for so much strife. Thanks.
Submitted by Mary on August 7, 2009I'm not sure what all this health reform is about, but something must be done. One pay is my preference and insurance companies and health costs must be reigned in. It is so sad that there is so much profit being made from illlnesses and death. We democrats must take charge now! It's our one great chance!
Submitted by Joanne on August 7, 2009As a family practitioner in a rural area, I know about the dispair that many rural uninsured people feel. In my county three of the major insurers have stopped offering any coverage at all. These are private companies: they may be mandated to not discrimate on the basis of disease, but they may select areas to make no offering at all, and that will include my county. Since it is full of old and disabled people and full of those working at high risk lumbering jobs, this county is unattractive to these companies. Without a public offering they will be lost. Thank you for continuing your battle in Washington.
Submitted by FredFromNC on August 7, 2009I'm not sure what is making its way through Congress is what I voted for this past November. This chilling article in Business Week explains why we haven't heard the massive protest form the big insurers. Read the article at http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_33/b4143034820260.htm?chan=magazine%20channel_top%20stories. Basically, the insurance companies are thrilled because the bills under consideration will result in a windfall for them. And the public option we've all been so enthusiastic about? That may be available only to those who can qualify as a beneficiary of an expanded form of Medicaid. In other words, the middle class may not be able to choose to sign up for a government insurance option. We may still be forced to get ours through private insurers. As an individual who pays for my own BCBS health insurance, I'd much rather give the government that money and let them administer the plan than give it to BCBS. No one in the government will profit from denying benefits. So I'm a little concerned that what's going through Congress is nothing like what I had in mind, and I don't think it's what Obama had in mind when he was campaigning, though perhaps I did read too much into whether he was saying.
Submitted by daniel on August 7, 2009Thanks for your constant efforts to do wha is in the best inerests of the country, of folk like us. These days those against needed change pay thugs to disrupt meetings. That shows how intellectually bankrupt they are. But we are going to come out of this victorious, and it will, in no small measure, be due to your efforts together with your colleagues.
Submitted by afantastic on August 7, 2009Someone above wrote that they don't understand why Republicans aren't supporting healthcare. That person and others should understand that Republicans are not for people's well being, and are robotic in their beliefs, following ideologues who don't want to see President Obama or Democrats succeed so that Republicans can come back into power and continue to destroy what is left of the country after the last administration. There is no rhyme or reason or even intelligent dialogue permitted because they can't handle the truth. Thank you Senator Feingold for always defending the people and the Constitution.