Letter to the President

After reading one too many articles about the public option nearly removal from health care reform, I decide to vent my outrage through my computer instead of hunting down the first Tea Bagger I could find and beating said person to a pulp. My blood pressure's still a little elevated, though.

I need to understand why a public option is being taken off of the table. I have been fuming about this all afternoon. I know my blood pressure's elevated right now, and I'm hoping that what I've heard is just the media needing a news blitz for the day.

Let me rephrase the question.

What safeguards are in place to ensure that Americans get fair, affordable access to health insurance? I need a better sense of what Congress is willing to do in order to keep insurance companies in life -- to increase the percentage of cases covered, to open access to people with preexisting conditions, to improve the appeals process, etc. What laws are being put in place to protect us?

I ask this because I thought a government-run plan would have taken care of all that stuff. Side by side, let the people decide what's a better deal. Now that that is being taken off the table, we're left with "co-ops" that have hardly the size or the buying power as the big insurance companies. Even if you got a sizeable co-op to form, we're still left with the same problems: no buying power regarding what gets in a customized health insurance plan, no control over rate fluctuations, no negotiations, no appeals.

In short, the American people are sold this half-hearted benevolent promise that the insurance companies will "do right by us," when they have largely failed to do so in the number of years they've been running. And the individuals protesting nothing about health care reform, but rather building an incoherent case of why you're a Stalinist, socialist, Marxist, or whatever misinterpreted code word of the week, these fools are getting duped by politicians who want to keep their campaign contributions.

President Obama, WE elected you to do a job, not the drug companies and the pharmaceuticals and insurance tycoons. We know that it's not easy, and we want to give you time. We also want to feel like we're actually making real REFORM, not being sold empty promises. Cynicism is very tough to crack in this country. We gravitated toward your message of hope during the campaign because, while we were well aware of making less money and scraping to get by and feeling like our efforts were for naught, we felt like you would get it. You would fight for us.

I'm not willing to count you out yet. I support you, but it's hinged upon people keeping their promises. Please don't throw away this golden opportunity.

I'm still young and (relatively) healthy. I can dope myself up with OTC meds if I get sick, and I can tolerate not breathing well. But millions of Americans don't have that time or vitality. Please don't let us down.

If you have a story to share or a question regarding health care reform, visit the White House "Reality Check" page and write it there.