Well, I just got my medical/dental insurance renewal notice in the mail. And like most Americans I see my premiums are going up. But I have a choice: either I can pay a 50% higher deductible, more out-of-pocket expenses, and pay a small premium increase, or I can bite the bullet and take a whopping 13% premium hike.
According to a recent health care survey, premiums across the country rose by more than twice the rate of inflation, hitting working families the most, especially workers who have seen their employers cut their benefits or who just don't get any benefits.
I suppose my other choice is to not seek treatment for what ails me at all. My insurance company was even kind of enough to send me a brochure on how to avoid going to the doctor, eating more vitamins, and doing breathing exercises to reduce stress. Thanks guys!
And because I am new to the plan, the few medical expenses I incurred over the past year were either only partially covered or not covered at all due to an extensive waiting period.
You can pay thousands of dollars for health insurance, but when you actually need it the company really sticks it to you by raising your premiums. That's the "free" market for you.
Thanks to the free market – for most of us it costs and arm and a leg -– there is no end in sight for skyrocketing insurance premiums. Thanks to George W. Bush and the do-nothing Republicans, there is no plan on the legislative agenda to aid working families with their health care needs.
But with Democrats in control of Congress after the November 7 election, a plan like Rep. John Conyers' Medicare-for-all bill (H.R. 676) would be up for serious consideration. With this bill, at a minimal cost to individuals and employers, all medical needs would be covered. Medicare could use its bargaining power to keep prescription drug prices under control, and the size of the insurance pool would help control rising medical costs. According to some estimates, for less than half of the cost of an unnecessary war in Iraq, every person in the country could receive low-cost, quality health care coverage. Learn more at www.healthcare-now.org.
For their part, Democrats tried to make the common sense idea of giving Medicare the power to bargain for better prices part of the Medicare Part D prescription drug program, but the Republicans blocked it 4 times this year alone.
So when you are at your polling place this November 7 thinking about how your Republican congressperson or Senator isn't so bad or crazy like some of those extremists in Washington, ask yourself, can I afford another two years with this person who has blocked real efforts to provide me with affordable health care coverage?
I know I can't.
Or, maybe you're one of those people who has been disappointed by the performance of your Democratic representative or Senator. Sometimes he or she just doesn't seem to be putting up much fight against the Bush/Republican agenda.
I have similar feelings about mine, but I relish the chance to vote for a disappointing Democrat in order to see a real health care agenda brought up by a Democratic majority for public discussion, congressional debate, and an actual vote in Congress that is being squashed by the extremists who currently control Congress.
In other words, if your are disenchanted with your Democrat, don’t vote for the individual. Cast your vote for a new majority and the chance for real change a Democratic Congress has the potential to bring.
I'm not advocating voting on Tuesday, November 7 and then sleeping until 2008. I don’t believe that a Democratic win in Congress will automatically give working families a better health care agenda. When the Dems take charge of Congress, they are going to have to be prodded, cajoled, pressured, urged, even browbeat into doing the right things on health care. But they can be moved, and real reform could be around the corner.
No one but us can take the first step. Let’s do it on November 7th.
