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October 7, 2009
Senator Bill Nelson
716 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510
xxxx xxxxxxx
xxxx xxxxxxxxxx xx
Holiday, Florida 34690
Dear Senator Nelson,
I nearly regained my respect for you, while watching your exchange with Senator Rockefeller during the hearings on his amendment to the healthcare bill. I said to myself, “He’s finally starting to get it”. People are suffering and dying needlessly at the hands of the real death panels. The health insurance industry. Then, the vote came and you had to go and blow it.
What part of “Most of your constituents cannot afford to buy ANY health insurance “ do you not understand? The only people who support the current system are healthy people, and people whose insurance is paid for by someone else, e.g., their employer. And the latter group is dwindling fast.
I’ll use myself as an example. I worked for 31 years on a railroad owned by LTV Steel. Our contract included a generous health insurance program. All through the ‘90s we couldn’t get an increase in wages, because health insurance premiums were skyrocketing. We also deferred some of our wages for retiree health care. Something that I should have now, but When LTV ran itself into the ground, we lost not only most of our pensions, but also ALL of our healthcare benefits.
As a Vietnam era veteran, I was always told that no matter what, I’d always have the VA to rely on for health care. Then in 2002, you guys in Washington decided to change that policy to exclude those of us that make a pittance. I applied for benefits in 2002, before the cut-off, and never heard back from the VA. I reapplied in 2005, and was denied, because my Railroad Retirement disability pension was slightly above the maximum allowable for benefits.
My wife works, and pays nearly 30% of her salary to keep us insured. I don’t know why, because United Healthcare doesn’t want to pay for anything. Or they find a way to deny coverage. Three years ago I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, and the doctor ordered a c-pap nighttime breathing device. United Healthcare would not approve his vendor, but told me to contact another vendor for a more expensive model in Kentucky. After I ordered it, they denied payment! More recently, I had a colonoscopy performed. They told me I had to pay for the anesthesia out of my own pocket. Then after a year of fighting with them, they denied payment for the colonoscopy.
My wife’s employer recently switched to Blue Cross-Blue Shield. And due to previous experience with them, I know that they are even worse. Our only option is the Republican healthcare plan. Role over and die if we get sick. This is the protection racket that you guys want to subsidize with our taxes.
I could tell you many horror stories, much worse than the ones that Senator Rockefeller told you that day, from your constituents that I talk to every day in Florida.
And, the best solution is sitting right in front of you. It’s been there for years. It’s called H.R. 676 in the House, and the late Senator Kennedy’s “Medicare for all” in the Senate. We would all happily pay an additional 4% payroll tax for universal coverage. It would be cheaper, more efficient, and more effective than anything else currently under consideration.
In the mean time, I’m enclosing the bill for my colonoscopy. You pay it. Or find someone else who will, because I’m tired of dealing with crooked insurance companies.
Sincerely,
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