Organizing for America | Karima's Blog: How can we get a Public Option?

How can we get a Public Option?

By Karima from Vienna, VA - Sep 29th, 2009 at 2:08 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

Comments | Mail to a Friend | Report Objectionable Content

Please CALL your SENATORS and CONGRESSMEN and ASK them to VOTE for the PUBLIC HEALTH INSURANCE OPTION!
Call the Congress Switchboard to direct you to your public official: 202-224-3121

We worked hard to get our representatives to begin working on reforming the health care system. DO NOT GIVE UP now!
Don't let anyone stop us or discourage us from getting the reform that so many people need! Please act right now, so our collective voice can be heard inside every chamber of Congress!
Here are some articles that you can look at and share within your community:

Learn more about health care reform:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/health_care/plan/
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/index.php

Tell Your Members of Congress to Support President Obama's Plan for Health Reform by SIGNING this LETTER:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/hcsignon?source=issuespage

The Only Alternative is the Status Quo:
http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2009093925/only-alternative-status-quo

Cheers,
Karima Hijane

Reader Comments

Too much emphasis on the public option | Report to Admin

By The Bard of Wilmette Sep 29th 2009 at 9:12 pm EDT (Updated Sep 29th 2009 at 9:12 pm EDT)

I realize that I am not on the same side as most people if OFA, but I do not support the "public option," or at least I do not believe that it is of critical importance in 2009. It bothers me when I see a blowhard like Howard Dean, or an idealistic senator like Jay Rockefeller, pontificate on how healthcare reform without the public option is no reform at all. With all due respect, I disagree. I appreciate their good intentions, but I am also concerned that they are, in effect, the true enemies of healthcare reform. Does that sound counterintuitive?

Whether it is a good idea or not, the votes for the public option are not there in the Senate. We have the opportunity to pass significant healthcare reform this year, and if Congress fails to get it done this year, I think that (as we saw with the failure of 15 years ago) the cause will be set back for a very long time.

What we can get this year is legislation that would force health insurance companies to take on all applicants, and that none can have their health insurance denied or revoked due to personal health conditions. We can get legislation that would eliminate dollar limits to health coverage, and which would set reasonable limits on out of pocket cost limits and annual premium increases.

Getting these things would be a major achievement. They do not require the public option. Some senators have suggested that a 5 year delay on a public option, which would be triggered if the private sector failed to achieve certain desired goals, would be appropriate. That might be more palatable to senators who object to an immediate public option. At any rate, getting some reform this year makes possible additional reforms in the near future.
Conversely, failure to get anything this year practically assures no reform for many years to come. Mr. Dean and Mr. Rockefeller, among others, are way off base.

Content on blogs in My.BarackObama represents the opinions of community members and in no way should be interpreted as endorsed or approved by the campaign.