I'm too afraid to go to my congressman's townhall, so I wrote to him instead...

I wanted to come to the town hall, but given the hysterics, drama, and outright hostility, I believe my position would be unwelcome to the degree I would not be allowed to voice my opinion. In other words, I was scared to attend.

You are a physician. I would have thought that would give you more than enough experience and understanding to see that tax credits aren't going to solve the problems with health care.

I worked as an aide for two years in a nursing home. I went in the Army, became a medic and spent four years working in three different clinics and one major military hospital. Afterwards, I was a flight medic in the reserves. I also spent several years working as an EMT and an ER Tech. Oh, and I also was a CNA in neurosurgery, rehab, and in general as well.

We're lucky. We currently have insurance. It's not that great because of the high deductible and the copays. The out-pocket-expenses continue to plague us and we can barely pay the outstanding bills.

I went into A-Fib and spent two days at Wellmont. With the VA hospital 30 minutes away, I was afraid to make the drive when another hospital was closer. The follow-up care and the tests are so high that it's nearly impossible to pay them despite having insurance. We still owe over $800 to the cardiologist for the two times I saw him.

My husband was recently injured on the job and despite the doctor saying he needed more done to get him well, nothing can be done until some desk jockey in Nebraska says so. It's not the government interfering. It's the insurance company interfering.

Surely, you've heard horror stories about patients getting dropped from their medical care. In a five year period Blue Cross/Blue Shield dropped 20,000 people from their rolls.

A woman testified in D.C. who was told she needed a mammogram to determine if her lump was breast cancer. Her insurance denied the claim because of a visit to a dermatologist for acne.

The horror stories of insurance companies denying claims which have cost lives never end. One man with cancer was denied life-saving drugs by his insurance company. Without them, he was given less than a year.

My grandmother is on Medicare and a supplemental. She has no worries about bills. There are no copays or deductibles.

My husband and I are both vets. The VA in Mountain Home has given us fantastic care. The best medical care we ever got was during our time in the Army.

60% of all bankruptcies are because of medical bills. 16% of our GDP goes to health care...the highest in the world. We're ranked 37th in the world for quality health care.

Costa Rica is ranked 36th. Can you believe it? Costa Rica has better health care than the United States of America.

Compared to the rest of the world, the US is less healthy than countries like Canada, England, Germany, France and others. Our infant mortality rate is higher, too.

Let's be honest here...just between two former health care workers...tax credits are NOT going to solve these problems.

You are an intelligent man and I know that following the party line is what will keep you in office with an area like NE Tennessee. I can understand that.

Most people around here think Obama's not a citizen. You and I know differently. Of course, he is. But, you've got to give a different impression. Completely understandable.

But when it comes to health care...that's different. These are people's lives we're talking about here. People have died in ER waiting rooms. People walk in with illnesses that could've been seen in a doctor's office, but they didn't have the money.

Please, sir. Don't be like the rest of the republicans. Tax credits will not work with our broken system. You have to see that.

Ideally, a medicare-for-all system is best. Insurance companies can provide supplementals for elective procedures and other expenses not covered. It's a system that would make sense and more people would support. Insurance companies would remain in business and people won't lose their jobs.

It's an effective system that would save lives. Medicare has saved lives and seniors are living longer with unfettered access to health care. Without the worries of medical bills burdening them, they get great care. It's the same with vets such as myself.
Towing the party-line has to stop and really helping people has got to start.

We're all Americans. Why not work to cover EVERYONE with a system that makes sense.

Thank you for your time.

Great tone, well written and full of reasoned arguments. That deserves to be read by your congressman, several times. It's the kind of thing that, in the absence of frothing mobs, would change a man's mind.

:applause:

I've never contacted him before so I thought I'd be nice. He seems reasonable so we'll see how it goes.

Thanks for posting

Then I believe people would begin to understand that we need this Health Care Reform and we need it now. Stop with all this nonsense to just slow everything down and then have it forgotten.

I also urged him to consider single payer.

We don't have a story to tell, really, only that my husband's raises over the last decade or so have gone to line the pockets of the health insurance companies. We have not had a real wage increase in that time. In the meantime, our copays have increased and coverage has decreased.

It's downright criminal that a company that supposedly pays for health care is allowed to make record, astronomical profits during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

:kick:

Your post is pure win from start to end - one of the best this year. If I could rec it twice, I would.