I am writing because I feel a public option is an essential part of the current effort to draft health care reform legislation, and as my representative, I ask that you work to be sure a bill that includes this becomes law.
Some background. I am a self-employed computer programmer. When I was looking for an individual health policy, my applications to several companies were all rejected due to "build", or a nice way of saying I weigh too much for them to want to do business with me. I then found that Connecticut has a health reinsurance risk pool I could join to get coverage. Its expensive coverage with a large deductible. I hope it will be there for me should there be a large emergency, but in terms of preventative care, it doesn't do much. My biggest issue though is that in my situation I have no other choices.
The plan is operated by United Healthcare, and in many ways resembles the sort of "alternatives" that are being floated to a public option. If I want any health insurance, I have no choice but to pay high premiums for low service to a company that uses some of my money to work against my own best interest. I hate that in order to be protected in case of an emergency, I am funding lobbyists, lawyers, and executives that manipulate government to be sure I cannot get anything better. To add insult to injury, the state sponsors this privatized plan, directing money to a company that is working against the interests of the state’s citizens. I worry some of the proposed alternatives for the federal health care bill will do just that, but on an even larger scale, being essentially a "gift" to those that continue to manipulate the system, making any chance for real change that much harder.
I want a way I can opt-out of the current system and get health insurance without paying for lobbyists or executives that work against me getting the best care I can. I understand a public option isn't free. I make good money, so I wouldn't be surprised to pay more than others that cannot afford as much. What I want is a choice that gives me a voice as an individual. With government I have a voice and I have a vote. That I am writing this letter exemplifies that.
Lets start to turn back the sham of privatization that forces people to be invested against their own best interests and is leading this country on a race to the bottom. Health care is just one area where this needs to happen, and its a big first step to realigning power back to individuals. This country is greatest when individuals can shape the system according to their own best interests, and the so called conservative forces that purport to do that have sold us a false bill of goods in unethical, established corporate systems we cannot escape or effect. It is up to our representatives to give choice and power back to the individuals of this nation when the systems that have propped themselves up artificially have failed us.
Please vote for and support a health care reform bill that includes a public option.
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