[This letter was written by a long-time, pro-life, constitutional patriot, Senator Val Stevens of Washington State. Please get hold of your congressman today - use this material, or read them the letter. We must stop this travesty of the Constitution by the self-proclaimed constitutional professor, President Obama.]

Dear ___________________,

President Obama’s national health care bill is now being rammed through the U.S. House of Representatives like a freight train through a dark tunnel.

The 1,000-page document was rushed through committee hearings in just one day. Sadly, it is not a well-thought-out, bipartisan effort, but a force-feeding of the American public – and it distresses me greatly.

If passed, this legislation creating a “public health care plan,” would literally destroy the instant-access, high-quality health care that a majority of Americans have come to rely on.

Instead of continuing America’s legacy as the world’s premier destination for medical care, this legislation would create a culture of rationing and waiting lines. It would increase the size and intrusion of government into the practice of medicine.  It would increase taxes, kill jobs and ration care in a desperate attempt to put a cap on rising costs.

I agree that health care costs are unsustainable and that we need reforms. In Washington state 90 percent of the population has health insurance coverage, and the remaining 10 percent is never turned away when care is needed. We do need to find a way to cut costs and improve coverage, but President Obama’s disastrous plan is not the solution.

Daniel Hannan, member of the European Parliament from southeast England and a journalist educated at Oxford, speaks extensively about the failed socialist health care system we are being asked to embrace.  He begs the United States to avoid making Britain’s socialized medicine mistake because it is irreversible.

Just ask any Canadian or British citizen how long they are forced to wait for diagnostic tests like MRIs, treatments by a specialist and in-demand surgeries.  Talk to the Canadian woman with a brain tumor who is alive today only because she was able to get to the U.S. for treatment after being told she’d have to wait six months for an MRI in her own country.

Americans do not want a bureaucrat telling them what treatment they can get and when. They do not want government-run health care. Just look at the nightmare that is Medicare.  Already $67 trillion dollars in debt, Medicare is almost bankrupt – and we think an even larger government-run program would fare any better?

Government reimbursement for Medicare and Medicaid is so low that many providers simply refuse to see those patients.  Proponents of the so-called “public plan” say that it will increase access, but as Medicare and Medicaid patients will tell you, that is not true.  It will simply increase access to a waiting line.

The truth is President Obama’s national health insurance plan does nothing to address the ever increasing cost of care. In fact, this program will cost an additional $1 trillion over 10 years – over and above the $2.5 trillion we now spend annually on health care.

Where is this $1 trillion coming from?  Some advocate taxing the rich, but that is pathetically short-sighted.  It is the rich who create and fund new companies, which means new jobs and more U.S. productivity.  If we tax the rich to pay for the nation’s health care, that means they’ll have less to invest, which will further cripple our disintegrating economy.

Most alarming of all, experts agree that this national health plan will leach an estimated two-thirds of American families away from private insurance.  In short, it narrows the health care choices available.  American families need more health insurance options – not fewer!  We already made that mistake in Washington in 1993, when punishing health care mandates forced dozens of insurers out of the state, leaving just three companies, each offering an expensive, one-size-fits-all plan.

Government-run health care is not the answer.  The answer is to cut costs, and many creative companies and providers are carving out astounding savings, if we would only stop to listen.

Take Safeway, for example.  The company is self insured and recognized that 70 percent of health care costs are a result of behavior, so the company began to provide financial incentives for its employees to adopt healthier lifestyles.

Since 2005, Safeway has charged different health insurance premiums based on employees’ participation in lifestyle programs and a demonstration of decreased tobacco use, weight loss, blood pressure control, and cholesterol control.

While health care costs have risen nationally by 38 percent since then, Safeway has maintained its costs at its 2005 level – essentially a 40 percent savings.

In short, people will work to improve their health and cut health care costs when they have the financial incentive to do so. That’s where we should be putting our time and effort – not in building another massive, invasive, costly government bureaucracy that will add to our national debt.

I urge you to vote NO on President Obama’s “public plan.”  It’s not what Americans want. It’s not what we want here in Washington. Please do whatever it takes to keep American health care the greatest on earth. Our children are counting on you.

Sincerely,
Senator Val Stevens
[WA State]

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