Congress is just protecting its donors

Letter to the editor
Concord Monitor (NH)
September 29, 2009

Health insurance companies are simply private, for-profit, investor-owned (think hedge and mutual funds) companies that profit from the processing of payments to health care providers. Too much benefit payout lowers their profits and stock price. That fact drives these companies to lower benefits paid by canceling coverage of the seriously ill, raising premiums on small businesses to unaffordable levels when an employee becomes a financial burden due to an illness, capping chronic illness coverage, not covering mental health treatment, continuously raising rates and delaying payment, to name a few.

Much of the health care reform debate in Congress, however, is centered on keeping these for-profit health insurance companies as the payment processors, not because it is best for you but because it is best for many senators and representatives whose campaign funds directly or indirectly receive a significant portion of your health insurance premiums. Corruption and conflict of interest grips the Senate, the House and even the administration on an unprecedented level.

What you can do is to stand up, get active and work for honest government. Vote our current representatives out, replacing them with those who will represent the people and who will give us real health care reform rather than protecting campaign donors.

What’s real health care reform? I suggest looking at the U.S. Health Care Act, H.R. 676. It puts in place a professionally administered health care system, has great benefits, and is affordable and sustainable. However, our legislators’ campaign funds won’t get a penny of it.

John R Swartz
Wilmot NH