The following is an open letter I sent to Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. Feel free to share with your own officials in DC.
"Senator Toomey.
"You will find no one more invested in
ridding this country of Obamacare (or as is more PC, the Affordable
Care Act). When Rep. Pelosi said “you must pass it to find out
whats in it”, I immediately went on the defensive. As a veteran, a
citizen and a journalist, this is NOT what our country is supposed to
be about. Our elected officials are beholden to US, the voter. Not
the other way around.
"So, I read the proposed legislation.
All nearly 2000 pages. I nodded off on numerous occasions from all
the legalese, but I re-read the sections and plowed on.
"Once finished, I realized that only
about 25% of the bill had any impact on healthcare, most all of it
revolved around insurance and not around caring for the health of the
nation, and much of it had to do with how to pay for and tax the
people.
"I also realized that most of the things
that would actually work at making healthcare affordable to the
average American were purposefully left out. TORT reform would have
limited the expenses by our doctors and health institutions on such
things as compensation and malpractice insurance. These cost savings
would have been seen by the average American in their medical bills.
Any idea of holding pharmaceutical companies to accountability by
limiting how long they can hold patent on a new drug before generic
ones can become available, and also limiting how much they can
recompense for “research” as other countries do, would be a
tremendous boon to those who need these often life saving drugs. Just
two examples of things LEFT OUT of the bill.
"Having said all that, having written a
book with all of this included, having written many articles and many
Opinion pieces on the subject, I am imploring you NOT to go through
with any “repeal and replace” attempts.
"Repeal and Replace might be a good
election rhetoric line, but the reality is that it is an
irresponsible action to take as a legislator.
"Isolate and repair might be a more
responsible strategy. Find the bad parts of the legislation.
Institute corrective actions and make the “Health Care” of
Americans the decisive driver for all you do.
"Yours is a position of responsibility.
You are responsible to the American public. Your job is to not only
“do what is best” but it is to listen to us. We are, in more than
essence, your boss. SO I implore you to listen to the majority of
Americans, not the political fringes.
"Repeal and Replace is NOT the way to
go. Fix the problem, don't create a new one with legislation that
just makes different problems."
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