my letter on H.R. 676 printed TODAY!please DU!! [View All]

[w8liftinglady]

My editor has never printed 2 letters in the same week..
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http://www.thedailylight.com/articles/2009/01/01/opinion/doc495d426911647280308142.txt
To the Editor,

Thirteen billion dollars. This is the sum profits for the top 13 health insurers in the U.S. in 2007. Despite this, the United States ranks 19th in the world for deaths by preventable diseases. The United States spends roughly $7,126 per capita in heath costs, and yet has one of the poorest performance in the organized world. This can be attributed to several things. Private insurers waste up to one-third of their costs on things that have nothing to do with healthcare: overhead, underwriting, billing, sales and marketing departments as well as huge profits and exorbitant executive pay. Doctors and hospitals must maintain huge staffs to deal with this bureaucracy. Combined, this needless administration consumes one-third of America’s healthcare dollars. Add to that the fact that 47 million Americans are uninsured (with that number sure to grow), and you have a crisis.

H.R. 676 is a bill that is before the House that offers a viable solution to this crisis. Some of the benefits of H.R. 676 are:

• Every resident of the US will be covered from birth to death.

• No more pre-existing conditions to be excluded from coverage.

• No more expensive deductibles or co-pays.

• All prescription medications will be covered.

• All dental and eye care will be included.

• Mental health and substance abuse care will be fully covered.

• Long-term and nursing home services will be included.

• You will always choose your own doctors and hospitals.

• Costs of coverage will be assessed on a sliding scale basis.

• Tremendously simplified system of medical administration

• Total portability — your coverage not tied to any job or location.

• Existing Medicare benefits for those over 65 will remain the same or be vastly improved in many cases.

• No corporate bureaucrat will ever come between you and your doctor to deny your care

This bill is endorsed by Physicians for a National Health Plan, an evergrowing group of doctors who have seen first-hand the effects of our poor health system on their patients.

Sadly, only three Texas Congressmen have co-sponored this. If you believe this should be the future of our healthcare, please write or call Congressman Joe Barton and ask that he support this legislation.

Beth Dawson,

Red Oak