Urgent: Obama and Health Care Reform

Dear President Obama,

In today’s New York Times (online) I found the best opinion piece yet about what is wrong with your approach to getting the health care reform we all want.

“Mr. Obama should declare himself in favor of covering as many of the uninsured as possible in the near future; should insist that insurers grant and renew coverage without regard to health status; and should insist on new insurance exchanges in which people without group coverage and those working for the smallest employers could buy insurance at large-group rates.” He should insist,...that a strong public plan be introduced if private insurers fail to hold costs down in the future.”

Declare, insist, push are strong words that echo what the American people

are waiting for you to do, Mr. Obama. You are way too diplomatic. We are no longer

sure of what you believe. There are “reports that the price for winning over Republicans and conservative Democrats” will get us a “drastically scaled-down” plan. We have been

very clear. We want every American to have basic health care coverage. Cutting costs

to please Republicans would be a huge mistake. Democrats need to take advantage of the number of their colleagues in Congress and the Senate at this time and have the

guts to push through a comprehensive health care reform bill that will provide what all Americans want: universal coverage.

Finally, the editorial says, to get through the Republican blockade, “Democrats ought to resort to a parliamentary maneuver known as “budget reconciliation,” which would allow them to push through most reforms by majority vote.” Absolutely right,

Mr. President. This is the time to push hard, use every way possible to do this for our country. If you, President Obama, never achieve anything else while you are in office,

this would be enough of an accomplishment to make you a hero forever in American

history.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Brady Woods