Health Care Reform...Know The Facts

SENATOR RANDY WHITE SUPPORTS HEALTH CARE REFORM, BASED ON FACTS...NOT ON MISINFORMATION

Over the next several months we are going to be bombarded by advertising to defeat meaningful health care reform. The insurance industry, along with other powerful special interest groups will try once again to defeat any real change in health care and protect the status quo and their profits.

There are 245,000 uninsured West Virginians and 46 million Americans without health insurance. Every week, thousands file for bankruptcy because of health care bills from medical necessary injuries and disease. These are not the poor, but your average American, the family next door because of their inability to afford a health care plan.

American businesses each year find it more and more difficult to afford the cost of providing a health insurance plan for their employees. The cost of health care makes them less competitive in the global marketplace.

We all pay for the uninsured through higher insurance premiums to cover the costs of uncompensated expenses in the health care industry. However, we can reduce the increasing costs of health care through modernizing medical records , preventive care, and increase productivity. We can provide affordable health care for every American.

Affordable health care for every man, woman, and child in this country is possible without eliminating your choice as to which doctor, medical procedure, or hospital facility. Don't be fooled by slick TV ad's poised to mislead and distort the truth.

The following links will help you in West Virginia to join the debate and increase your understanding of the issue:

http://www.wvahc.org/ West Virginians for Affordable Health Care

http://institute.ourfuture.org/files/Jacob_Hacker_Public_Plan_Choice.pdf Our Future.org

These links along with the following two posted blogs/articles on this website will help you understand the powerful forces for and against health care for all. Please learn all you can. This is the greatest opportunity in a generation to provide affordable health care for ALL.



5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT OBAMA'S PUBLIC HEALTH INSURANCE OPTION

The choice of a public health insurance plan is crucial to real health care reform. But right now, it's being smeared by conservatives and insurance-industry front groups. Here's what you really need to know:

1. Choice, choice, choice. If the public health insurance option passes, Americans will be able to choose between their current insurance and a high-quality, government-run plan similar to Medicare. If you like your current care, you can keep it. If you don't--or don't have any--you can get the public insurance plan.2

2. It will be high-quality coverage with a choice of doctors. Government-run plans have a track record of innovating to improve quality, because they're not just focused on short-term profits. And if you choose the public plan, you'll still get to choose your doctor and hospital.3

3. We'll all save a bunch of money. The public health insurance option won't have to spend money on things like CEO bonuses, shareholder dividends, or excessive advertising, so it'll cost a lot less. Plus, the private plans will have to lower their rates and provide better value to compete, so people who keep their current insurance will save, too.4

4. It will always be there for you and your family. A for-profit insurer can close, move out of the area, or just kick you off their insurance rolls. The public health insurance option will always be available to provide you with the health security you need.5

5. And it's a key part of universal health care. No longer will sick people or folks in rural communities, or low-income Americans be forced to go without coverage. The public health insurance plan will be available and accessible to everyone. And for those struggling to make ends meet, the premiums will be subsidized by the government.