GO NANCY! “A public option is the best option to lower costs-improve the quality of health care..."

[kpete]

Go Nancy! House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said a health-care overhaul should include a government-run insurance program, reiterating her backing for the plan after an administration official suggested the president may back down.....Obama Needs to act Like a President Whose Got the Wind at His Back and a Billy Club in His Hand. He Needs to Stop Running for Most-Liked.

..............

Democrats Urge Obama to Keep Government-Run Health-Plan Option
By Catherine Dodge and Edwin Chen

Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama is facing pressure from fellow Democrats after a top administration official suggested the president may back down from including a federal insurance plan in a U.S. health-care overhaul.

“There is strong support in the House for a public option,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said yesterday. “A public option is the best option to lower costs, improve the quality of health care, ensure choice and expand coverage.”

Other Democrats called on the president to stand by his commitment to create the government-run plan to compete with private companies, saying they wouldn’t be able to support any health-reform measure that lacked such an option.

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more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aKNvul3nfTYg
via:
http://www.buzzflash.com/

[rockymountaindem]

1. For all the ripping we've done on her in the past, she really is the one doing the most for this

I think she's doing a fine job on the public option.

[laughingliberal]

2. It appears she is sincerely committed to this

Yay! :bounce:

[surrealAmerican]

3. I hope she's right about that "strong support".

Maybe, now that she's spoken out, we'll be hearing more of it.

[laughingliberal]

4. Sent her this email this morning

I would like to commend you for standing up for the inclusion of a public option in the health care reform package. I actually believe single payer is the best option to get costs under control and provide the best quality of care for our citizens. But the next best option is to put restrictions on the ability of private insurers to swindle us as they have done for many years now. The prospect of competing with a public option is the only way to prevent price gouging on premiums. I believe a bill that passes with a mandate for all to obtain health insurance and without an option to force the profit bloated industry to compete for customers will result in a huge giveaway to the industry and an unacceptable burden on the working class that we can ill afford. After more than 2 decades of watching our wages stagnate, due in large part to health care costs, we can't afford to subsidize this immoral, greedy industry. Please don't quit fighting for us.



I have spoken, for many years, about the effect of our health care system on workers, wages, business, and entrepreneurship to anyone who would listen. Workers have, essentially become enslaved to jobs that offer health care benefits. Unable to purchase insurance privately, whether because of denial or price, workers forgo opportunities that could benefit them and others. We don't go to work for startup companies that might better suit us and we don't start businesses. I worked as an RN from 1982 until 2007. I watched as the for profits drove our costs up and our quality of care down. No one benefits from this current system except the industry. In 1991 I was working at a hospital in Houston owned by HCA. That year administration came to us with their sad story that they had to cut our benefits to stay viable due to the possibility that Clinton would be elected and reform health care. Our percentage of coverage went down, our tuition programs were eliminated, and the company required us to sign promissory notes if admitted to the hospital so they could deduct their payments from our paychecks. Also during this time the patient loads we were carrying doubled. It was standard for my night shift on the oncology floor to be assigned 10 patients each for the shift. (Any questions why nurses have left the field in droves?) Three months later the Houston Chronicle ran an aritcle on the top ten paid CEO's in the country. Our CEO, Thomas Frist, Jr, was listed and reported to have a compensation package worth $129,000,000. This company was later found guilty of the worst Medicare fraud in the history of Medicare. We simply can't keep throwing money away on this industry.



I support you, and all other members of congress, in opposing any bill that reaches the floor without a real public option. As much as I feel we need reform and as long as I have hoped for it, I have to say I would prefer no reform to the bill with which I see the Senate finance committee trying to saddle us.



Thank you again and keep up the good fight for the people.