Brian Prows

Social Issues and Debatable Topics

  • Home
  • MobileBeyond
  • Brian on Twitter
You are here: Home / health / Health Care Benefits for Congress?

Health Care Benefits for Congress?

To the Congress of the United States regarding your health care benefits:

Over the weekend with the Senate’s narrow but passing vote to “debate” health care legislation, it’s become crystal clear that some members of Congress don’t care about the health care crisis.

With a few exceptions, the Republican leadership is unwilling to debate the legislation passed by the House. Worse yet, you have no alternative proposals to reduce the high costs of medical care or save the 38 million Americans who lack health insurance from financial ruin. You’re ignoring your responsibilities as representatives of the people in the United States.

Since you are unwilling to accept the responsibilities for which you were elected, I have a proposal to force the debate. As of January 1, 2010 if you haven’t passed legislation to help remedy the health care needs of Americans, you lose your health care coverage.

As members of Congress, you have one of the best health care plans in the country with 75% of your premiums paid for by taxpayers. Your health coverage includes a variety of plans covering medical, dental, vision, flexible spending accounts and dependent care.

Clearly, if you oppose health care reform or are unwilling to debate proposed legislation, you must believe that medical care for the American public is not a debatable issue. Guess what, you’re wrong.

To force you to debate and remedy the health care issue, let’s push the envelope. If you’are unwilling to debate and pass legislation by the first of the year, you enter the world of the medically uninsured.

Become ill and need a doctor? You pay the entire bill. End up in the hospital for an operation?  You pay the $30,000 charge out of your own pockets. Need a pair of glasses or a tooth filled? The bill is yours.

Why? Because you don’t deserve health care benefits. You haven’t earned it by showing social responsibility. You’ve broken your promise to your constituents and the American people to resolve an ongoing nightmare faced by every individual and family in this country.

And I’m not only referring to those without health insurance coverage. I’m talking about those who work, pay high health care premiums, co-pays and deductibles. I’m speaking of taxpayers who pay your salaries and health care benefits.

Your non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, which provides you with best estimates on legislative costs, now estimates that H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act,  would reduce the Federal deficit by $138 billion dollars a year.

Here is the first page of the the CBO’s letter to Congress:

“The Congressional Budget Office has revised its estimate of the net budgetary impact— transmitted on November 6, 2009—of H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act. In that November 6 letter, CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimated that changes in direct spending and revenues from enacting H.R. 3962 would yield a net reduction in federal budget deficits of $109 billion over the 2010-2019 period. CBO and JCT now estimate that the legislation would yield a net reduction in deficits of $138 billion over the 10-year period, correcting a mistake that CBO made in its earlier assessment of the impact of section 2581 of the legislation, which would establish the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) program.”

Ignoring the CBO analysis and failing to act responsibly is a dereliction of your duties as elected representatives.

Act now or face the consequences.

Share

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: health, Politics Tagged With: health costs, health insurance, health legislation

Categories

Health Care Benefits for Congress?

To the Congress of the United States regarding your health care benefits: Over the weekend with the Senate's narrow but passing vote to "debate" health care legislation, it's become crystal clear that some members of Congress don't care about the health care crisis. With a few exceptions, the … [Read More...]

Bridges Connect People in the Bay Area? Drain the Bay

Residents in the San Francisco Bay Area awoke again today not knowing how to quickly commutel from one side of the Bay to the other. The Bay Bridge, connecting Oakland/East Bay with San Francisco, was shut down again due to safety issues. (On Labor Day, the bridge was also closed to fix a dangerous … [Read More...]

Living in Silicon Valley: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

Something is terribly, terribly wrong in Silicon Valley. Probably the rest of the nation too. But, as they say, everything starts in California then heads east. So whatever's happening here will soon hit your home town if it hasn't already. Yes, living in Silicon Valley takes its toll on incomes and … [Read More...]

Dictionaries for Kids at Hayward’s Park Elementary School

How many of you remember dictionaries when you were a kid? I'm not sure the year a dictionary and my eyeballs connected (probably early in my education), but I do remember the Webster's dictionary my Aunt and Uncle gave me as a high school gift--the most useful and lasting gift I've ever … [Read More...]

Great White Sharks Return to Golden Gate Bridge

Great White Sharks Return to Bay Area Californian's are a strange lot, no doubt, but neither earthquakes nor floods nor swine flu nor collapsing bridges bring us to our knees. And that goes for sharks too. We're a hardy bunch here in the Bay Area and we treat recent reports of great whites poking … [Read More...]

Contracting Universes and the Law of Abundance

Before I begin, let me flatly state I'm not a physicist, an economist nor a guru on the lecture circuit telling people how to get wealthy. Neither am I a religious zealot, a Republican or Democrat. That should allay any concerns that I have an agenda to push or answers to ultimate questions of the … [Read More...]

Fort Hood Reminds Us of Veterans and the Ultimate Sacrifice

And we still remember Ford Hood a year later. The incident reminds us of veterans and the ultimate sacrifice.  Written and performed by Jeanie JaeCie Cunningham. 1. How can we look in your eyes, and not feel the pain of empty broken hearts… Aching with hope for another day, for one more hour. In … [Read More...]

California Broke :Send Your Coupons to Sacramento

California Broke: Clip & Mail Your Coupons to Sacramento

  (Updated October 7, 2012) California broke? Around two years ago I proposed in a blog post that citizens and non-citizens of the State of California donate their unused gift cards to balance California's budget. Yes, I know others have claimed they were the first to come up with … [Read More...]

Are Retailers Killing Off their Customers?

The news in this morning's paper--front page--is the same. Retailers are hysterically worried about another "bad Christmas." Consumers have tightened their belts, hidden their credit cards and won't even walk into a retail store unless there's a big "70% off" sign in the window. What's going on? I … [Read More...]

Health Care Reform Stifled by Drug Companies

The Washington Post reported two unrelated stories that, considered together, demonstrate a concerted effort by large drug companies and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to kill health care reform. The reports are disturbing and reveal two major challenges to controlling health care costs in the … [Read More...]

Smart Meters Invade Northern California

Over the past two years, so-called wireless "smart meters" to measure electricity have been installed in millions of  Northern California homes by PG&E, our utility company. The company claims with great fervor that smart meters are accurate to a nano-kilowatt; home owners beg to differ, … [Read More...]

Copyright © 2021 - Brian Prows - All Rights Reserved