A Model Letter for Healthcare Reform

This model letter on health care reform is being proposed by our friend David E. McClean, Ph.D. who writes:

While many Senators and Representatives are back home discussing health care reform with voters, now is the time to pressure them to pass health care reform legislation. You probably have already bookmarked the contact information for your elected officials but, just in case, here are some links to the House and Senate.

Here, also, is a model letter to cut and paste, but it is just some suggested language. What ever language you would use, use it NOW.

Dear [Senator] [Representative]

The crazy health care system that we have in this country needs to be fixed without delay. The iron is hot and it is time to strike a blow for what is right. We are all citizens of a rich and powerful nation. We owe each other more than allowing certain of us to die or suffer for lack of money to pay for medical care. And we owe each other more than financial ruin as the price for receiving medical treatment simply because we are or were unable to get insurance from a for-profit insurance company.

As my [Senator] [Representative], I am asking you to push and push hard to get health care reform through the [Senate] [House] before the end of this calendar year (and sooner, if at all possible), and to support President Obama in his efforts to “sell” health care reform to the country and counter the disinformation campaign that has been launched by the Republican Party. The President is in a battle against powerful interests, and he needs your help. Go down in history as one who fought for major reform of our system of health care! There will not be a better time to act.

And remember, watered-down reform is not the goal. The goal is first-class health insurance for all Americans, with a robust public option that assures the provision of services, ease of payment, and that drives down the costs associated with medical care – – even if that comes at the expense of the insurance companies in the long run. Health care is unlike most other services that are provided by for-profit companies in the marketplace.

Health care is about lives. The social good that health care institutions provide should never be compared to the goods and services other private companies provide. So I urge you to reject the radical free market arguments of know-nothing market fundamentalists, and do what is right for your fellow citizens. For there would be no “free market” if government (that is, the people) did not provide the framework for its success. Life and health must come before profit.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]