Dear Mr. Crouch:
Thank you for contacting my office to share your thoughts on healthcare reform. As you are aware, Congress is currently considering numerous reform proposals, including H.R. 3200, America's Affordable Health Choices Act. H.R. 3200 is currently being considering in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and House Leadership has expressed a desire to bring the bill to the floor this week if possible. Given the importance and timely nature of this issue, I appreciate you taking the time to share your opinion with me.
In my view, comprehensive healthcare reform is necessary and long overdue. Healthcare costs have been on the rise for years, and these costs represent one of the biggest threats to our nation's fiscal health. If we fail to act and allow the status quo to continue, then healthcare inflation will continue to burden families, small businesses, and the federal government with unsustainable costs. We therefore must carefully craft legislation to expand health insurance coverage while reforming the healthcare delivery system to reduce costs and improve quality. We must also ensure that any reform proposal corrects regional inequities in the Medicare reimbursement formula that make it difficult for rural areas like Maryland's Eastern Shore to attract and retain enough skilled healthcare providers.
Healthcare reform is one of the most important legislative issues that will be considered by the 111th Congress, which is why I have been urging both the White House and Congressional leaders to take the time to develop a deficit-neutral plan to fully address the priorities of coverage expansion, cost containment, and rural access. While the process of developing this legislation is still ongoing, I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you an op-ed from Sunday's edition of the Baltimore Sun that lays out where I stand at this point of the debate.
At this time, it is not clear when H.R. 3200 will come to a vote before the full House of Representatives. Many of its key provisions are still the subject of negotiations between House Leadership and a number of my colleagues in the Blue Dog Coalition of fiscally conservative Democrats. Until the outcome of these negotiations are known, it would be premature to say whether or not I could support the final bill, but I have stated plainly that I will not support any proposal until I have had ample time to read, review, and evaluate the full text of the bill. To that end, I am also pleased to tell you that I have signed on as a co-sponsor to H.Res. 554, a resolution that would require that all Members of Congress be given a minimum of 72 hours to review any piece of legislation before the legislation could be brought to a vote.
It is imperative that we enact a strong bipartisan healthcare reform bill that works for all Americans. We must pass legislation that enjoys broad support and effectively and efficiently expands health insurance coverage, reduces costs, increases access, improves quality, and is deficit neutral. Healthcare reform must be considered with reasonable time allowed for thoughtful consideration to provide confidence in the legislation's real costs and to ensure that rural America is not left behind.
Please be assured that I will keep your views in mind and continue to communicate with you as Congress considers healthcare reform legislation. Please do not hesitate to contact me again in the future regarding issues that concern you. I believe that continuous communication with the residents of the First District is essential to helping me be an effective advocate for you in Congress. To stay informed, please visit my website at www.house.gov/kratovil.
Thank you again for contacting me and I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Frank M. Kratovil, Jr.
Member of Congress
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
16 comments:
I got this, too. It sounds a lot like he's planning on passing it in 3 days (72 hours). If he reads this for 3 days and passes it, he will have done us the biggest disservice ever.
typical b.s. political answer.
I'm not really a fan of public assistance, especially for those who won't help themselves, but something has to be done to the health insurance system.
My health insurance last year (family) was over $600/month. My husband turned 40 in September, it went to over $700/month. The first of January it went to $912/month and I just got a letter last week as of September 1, it will be $1040/month. We are self-employed and have to pay for our own health insurance. As of yesterday, I was forced to cancel my insurance because I cannot pay such an outrageous amount.
But how much you want to bet that my family can't get on any public health plan because we are citizens and actually work?
9:00 am,
This bill will directly help you and your family! It is made exactly for people like you. Please just take a step back and look at it, you will be surprised to find that it isn't that scary.
There is a group of doctors out west that started Simplecare (www.simplecare.com), where they stopped dealing with insurance companies, and give the patient a major discount up front for paying at the time of service.
The doctors can reduce their staff by 30-50% when they don't have to fight with insurance companies all day, so it costs them less, and they usually end up making more profit in the end, even with the discounts.
Our healthcare 'problem' is really all about greedy insurance companies raising rates and dodging claims, and greedy lawyers who make tons of money on lawsuits while the actual plaintiffs get pennies on the dollar.
THOSE are the problems that need to be solved.
Frank...if you really had some guts and truly believed in this healthcare "reform" you would sign the House Resolution currently be circulated. This would require ALL members of Congress to accept the same public option being offered vs. the very cushy healthcare plan yourself and all Federal Employees enjoy and would be exempt from. What's good for the goose, should be good enough for the gander, but apparently it isn't for our dubious members of Congress...HYPOCRITES!
9:00, this reform is for you. the rich have health care, and the poor have public assistance. we, the middle class, are squeezed out. we need reform now. don't listen to the corporate hype, and don't listen the republicans, paid by corporations. they make money when they deny you service.
To 9:00 -- one of the main reasons your health insurance costs are going up so much is because government mandates and regulations that drive up prices. These mandates will only get worse under the plans being discussed in Congress. In fact, it's almost certain that private health insurance plan prices will increase due to the number of new regulations and mandates being proposed.
When they tell you your cost will go down under the Obama plan, it means they don't have much knowledge of how health care regulation works.
Pure garbage.
If he is telling any truth at all, he will vote against it because it will not have bipartisan support, it will not reduce costs, it will not improve quality, and it surely will not be deficit neutral. You said it Kratovill, if it doesn't meet the requirement that you have stated, keep your word and vote against it.
Wake up, people. The reason why health insurance costs so much money is because PEOPLE BUY IT AT ANY PRICE. This is the market at work here. Until there is downward pricing pressure (ie, people stop paying), then the price will keep going up.
In the last 10 years that I paid out the rear for health insurance, only 1 year did I receive a financial benefit.
Seeing that and the rising cost of health insurance, I dropped it. At this point, it is saving me $7000 per year out of my own pocket. I bought a prepaid discount plan to help with some visits and prescriptions, and negotiated with or switched doctors to get a price similar to what the health insurance companies pay, but they get paid right away.
Over the past three years, I put nearly $20k in the bank for a rainy day. So if something really bad happens, there's a cushion to help out. If something tragic happens, well that's a small chance in life and that's what bankruptcy is for.
If more people would tell the health insurance companies to "f" off with their huge price increases, they would have to find ways to lower their costs, through improved efficiencies or even through lower profits. But until that happens, they will pick your pocket for everything they can, including the lint.
"If something tragic happens, well that's a small chance in life and that's what bankruptcy is for."
Wow. Really. Way to think: *If I have financial problems that are my own fault because I choose not to have insurance, the doctors and hospitals who took care of me get to eat the cost.*
Hospitals already eat the cost of treating people who can't pay their bills - one reason why hospital costs are so high is that for every bill you pay, you are paying into a fund to offset the cost of treating indigent people.
Personally, I like the thought that my family will be able to afford necessary treatment without going broke.
Sorry, a bit off-topic - but couldn't let that comment go by.
What 1:17 should be able to do is buy catastrophic health insurance coverage that is real insurance -- that is, it will provide coverage for a high-cost, low-probability event (like your homeowner's insurance does). Such insurance would have a high deductible and would ensure that if something really bad does happen, then the insured wouldn't need to go into bankruptcy.
Unfortunately, this type of insurance would be illegal if Pres. Obama has his way.
Thats o.k Frank, your time and term is up in 18 months so screw us and the country while you can.
Ask some Europeans in need of surgery but on a waiting list of what they think of socialized medicine! I know firsthand that a patient diagnosed with treatable cancer had to wait until the surgery became a medical emergency and by then it was too late and she sued the government. Watch for government money being poured into an account for lawsuits like they do for immunizations.
I bet Kratovil doesn't even know how many emails and phone calls he is receiving regarding Obamacare or anything else. They don't give a hoot about what we say.
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