Congress: structure, roles, and legislative functions

Letter to Senator Clinton

The Honorable Senator Hillary Clinton

Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions

Senate

Dear Senator Hilary Clinton:

I would like to address an issue of personal significance to you, and to every American -- the issue of health care. Long ago, during the former President Clinton's administration, to much unjust derision, you suggested that a single-payer system, a system into which every American 'pays' for health care through their taxes, might be superior to the current system of healthcare financing. Since your proposal, as recently chronicled in the popular film documentary created by Michael Moore called "Sicko," the costs and abuses of the healthcare system have spiraled out of control. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 54.5 million people were uninsured for at least part of 2006, while even Cuba, as chronicled in the film, boasts full coverage for all of its citizens. A lack of health insurance causes roughly 18,000 unnecessary deaths every year in the United States.

However, the film also depicted, fairly or unfairly, the fact that you have chosen to abandon the single-payer plan and to accept campaign donations from health insurance companies and private healthcare lobbying organization. My letter to you is twofold -- as a candidate for president, you are no doubt well aware that your core supporters hope that you will realize your dream of creating an America where all individuals are covered, just like our neighbors across the Canadian border. Secondly, I would beg that you cease to take money from private healthcare lobbying organizations, as a show of good faith to your most ardent supporters. In America, no one should have to decide between their health and their finances. Your husband did not when he suffered heart problems recently. Yet millions of people are forced to make such a terrible choice, even people who have 'good' health insurance, but are beholden to companies that seek to profit from patient's ailments and deny Americans coverage, rather than provide people in need with the coverage they deserve. And I do not need to remind you that ultimately, a healthier America is a stronger America.

Yours truly,

A Concerned Citizen

The facts about healthcare

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 54.5 million people were uninsured last year. The number of uninsured increased by 1.3 million from 2004 to 2005 and by 6 million during from 2001-2005. One look at a bill from any emergency room across the nation will show how terrifying it is to be in need of health care, and to have no insurance. What is so surprising is that the Institute of Medicine reports that America actually leads the world in spending on health care, yet allocates these resources so ineffectually that a lack of health insurance causes roughly 18,000 unnecessary deaths every year in the United States. The United States, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) ranks 37 of all nations by every standard of quality of care ("Sicko: Checkup on the Facts," 2007, Michael Moore "Sicko" Companion Website, 2007).

Although one of the common fears cited about creating a single-payer system is that it will result in increased taxes, it is worth remembering that most Americans already pay a considerable 'tax' on their care, in the form of extravagant co-pays, in the time and effort devoted to finding and traveling to an in-network specialist, as well as the costs to their health and pocketbooks when they are denied coverage for the treatment their doctor recommends. Businesses, especially small businesses, must often pay for benefits for their employees, and budding American entrepreneurs would not have this additional expense to worry about when starting an enterprise, under a single-payer system. Even huge companies like General Motors and Ford are suffering because of the lack of universal coverage for all Americans. One of the greatest drains upon both automotive companies' finances has been the extravagant benefits they promised to retired as well as its current workers, a drain upon profits that no corporation based in a country with 'socialized medicine' will have to suffer. Ironically, many companies that represent American capitalism are seeking to expand their operations in nations with single-payer healthcare systems to reduce labor costs, even if wages and taxes may be higher some of in nations, such as Canada.

While it is true there are frustrating delays in terms of accessing care in the United Kingdom, Canada, and other nations with single-payer nations, it is also worthy of reflection that both anecdotally and statistically, Americans must wait for a long time, for approval for payment from their insurance companies for procedures, and in the waiting rooms of many Emergency Rooms that are filled to the brim of individuals who use the facility as a site of primary care, because they cannot afford a regular physician. Americans may even find their coverage denied after the fact, if their condition is deemed a 'preexisting' condition not covered by the insurance policy they possess.