You can find an e-mail submission form for Maine Senator Olympia Snowe by clicking here.
Snowe is the key vote on the Senate Finance Committee because she is the only Republican on the Committee who might vote in favor of the non-Bill markup language. If Snowe votes in favor, it will give political cover to moderate Democrats, both on the Committee and generally.
So please contact Senator Snowe. Be polite. Here is the message I submitted:
Dear Senator Snowe,
Please vote No on the Senate Finance Committee health care mark-up. There is no legislative language, and I feel it is wrong for a Senator to vote on mere concepts, not legislation, on such an important subject. Additionally, the CBO estimate makes clear that many of the financial assumptions are not realistic and may never be implemented, leading the seemingly deficit-neutral scoring to result in huge deficits.
Thank you for your consideration, and please vote No.
Just do it. It only takes a few minutes, and it could make a difference.
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Comments
Just wrote her at the contact address. A good friend of mine is a liberal Democrat from Waterville, ME. He's always spoken of Snowe with regard and respect — but I don't know if that's a good sign for our side or not. 😉
Here's hoping she sticks to her guns about waiting for the final legislative language.
William, I just sent her a note, also. In addition to cut-&-pasting your verbage, I added that my voice was that of a cancer survivor without insurance, and a plea to withdraw the current interstate restrictions (and employment restrictions) toward marketing insurance coverage.
Done. I wrote:
"I urge you to end our current structure that resembles corporate communism, and allow health care reform to move forward by providing some competition and reducing costs through a government option."
You may want to view this link to get direct emails for our Senators.
http://www.lipstickelephants.com/2009/09/health-care-grassroots-made-easy.html
Done. I submitted the following:
Dear Senator Snowe:
Would you purchase a car with a blank contract? If you wanted to purchase a home, and the real estate agent presented you with a blank contract and "don't worry about the details, just sign here", would you do that? I feel certain that you would not, as it would most certainly not be in your best interest.
As a Senator, it is your responsibility to represent the views of your constituents……and to carry out those responsibilities with the best interest of your constituents in mind. Please do not sign off on a bill that has no language in it. Please vote No on the Senate Finance Committee health care mark-up. There is no legislative language, and I feel it is wrong for a Senator to vote on mere concepts, not legislation, on such an important subject.
Thank you for your consideration and I pray that you will heed your conscience.
Julia Brown
Timothy,
I am perplexed. Why do you think there is no competition between insurers unless there is a government option? The last I checked, there are quite a number of private healthcare companies from which to choose. A government option, while likely to drive prices up instead of down (taxes go up, postage stamps go up, Medicare premiums go up)is the best way I can think of to court inefficiency and incompetence as opposed to fair market competition. It is not the lack of competition that is driving premiums skyward: you can thank litigators, corporate greed, and a desire from the general public to own a healthplan that offers first dollar coverage as opposed to being a safety net for catastrophic expenses (as insurance was originally intended). This is the cause of our recent exorbitant premiums. It is the greed of the general population that drives insurance companies to design plans that pay for all of us to run to the doctor every time we have a sniffle. It is the greed exhibited by many Americans when they file a lawsuit every time they think they can make a financial haul because a doctor made a judgement call that didn't work out. Cutting services to people who need them and cutting payments to doctors will not remedy the problem of Americans trying to get something for nothing. It will only result in our having reduced care.
Done. Thanks for the suggestion.
Done. I'm not one for brevity. This is what I wrote:
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Dear Senator Snowe,
The current Congressional attempts at Healthcare Reform has brought our Nation to a crossroad of consequences.
As a key member of the Senate Finance Committee, you are in the unique position to steer and guide your Democratic Peers and Health Policy to an economically sound and enlightened path. We are also counting on you to be the vanguard of the Greater Citizenry who OPPOSE any BILL that is hastily constructed and surreptitiously drafted to evade objective scrutiny.
We are offended by the cavalier manner in which the CBO presents the "mere" $826 Billion cost of the Baucus proposal. The assertion that this will not add to the deficit is not only false, but mocks the intelligence of every tax-paying Citizen. We are all well AWARE that the Federal Treasury is BROKE and that the government is has been subsisting on Foreign Credit. We are AWARE of the government's $12 Trillion (and escalating) debt. Just as we are AWARE that the same CBO has also projected the INSOLVENCY of Medicare and Social Security by 2017 and 2047 because it has been paying out more than it can collect in taxes.
Given these abject realities, it is beyond us that anyone can say the Baucus Proposal or its ilk will NOT add to the deficit or erode our economy.
Senator Snowe, please rise to the occasion to which you were elected for. Take a courageous stand against the Baucus Proposal. Vote No. And I promise you and your party that you will have the Faith and Goodwill of the Greater Citizenry in 2010.
Mary Ann,
In 21 states, one insurance company controls half of the market, and in 39 states, two insurance companies control 75% of the market. This is why there is no competition.
Litigators are not to blame for the steep rise in insurance – corporate monopoly is. Malpractice insurance accounts for 1% of the cost of healthcare, while insurance company profits have risen more than 300% a year this decade. Meanwhile, the post office can still take a letter from my house and take it all the way to Hawaii and put it in the mailbox of a house in Oahu for only 43 cents. That's way cheaper than FedEx.
"…while insurance company profits have risen more than 300% a year this decade…"
"…Litigators are not to blame for the steep rise in insurance…"
You want to tell that to a Gynecologist who's malpractice premium is at $150,000?! You seriously think the money trail ENDS with the HMO? Want to know who is really at the apex of this COMPLEX food chain?
• The gaping mouths of lotto-seeking malpractice litigators
• Hypochondriacs who exceed the rate of utilization
• Medical device companies
• Drug companies
• And, surprise, surprise,…idiosyncratic state legislators who executes retroactive taxes.
And oh yeah. For every '43 cents' it takes to mail a letter, how much of your NON-optional taxes do you think it takes to support the USPS salaries, benefits and pension?
Give me a freakin' break, Timothy!
Aucturian,
It is interesting that you agree with Obama that there should be tort reform. It is also interesting that you agree with Michael Moore that "greedy" companies such as medical device and drug companies, are responsible for high costs.
But the CBO agrees with me that tort reform can only have a "small impact" on health care costs because it accounts for less than 2% of healthcare. http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/49xx/doc4968/01-08-MedicalMalpractice.pdf.
As to the Post Office, you do know that it is run as an independent corporation…don't you?