I just sent this email to Chet Edwards office:
Representative Edwards,
It was a pleasure to meet you on Tuesday in Joshua. While I disagree with the idea of congressional earmarks I appreciate you working to get some of that money into Joshua for our park project and drainage project needs while such a funding system is still in place in
I will be in attendance at a Joshua city council meeting during your telephone town hall this evening so I wanted to pass on my thoughts on the healthcare subject. Judging by your comments in the Cleburne Times Review yesterday it sounds as though you have not yet read the entire House Bill. At the risk of repeating rhetoric I do request that you read it in its entirety before it comes to the floor for a vote. I will be doing so as well to best inform my constituents.
The level of public debate on this issue is quite interesting, but now after several heated weeks it’s becoming a bit monotonous. I don’t see much getting accomplished when both sides simply repeat the same talking points over and over so I’ll try not to give you more conservative talk radio rhetoric and I would appreciate it if you would not respond with White House rhetoric.
Looking at the bill as a whole I have to agree with Representative Sessions when he said he would rather we work on the 30 million or so people that are under insured or uninsured instead of trying to change the other 250 million or so that have something in place. At least if we’re still going to attack this from a healthcare reform angle. I do recognize, however, that even the overwhelming majority who do have coverage need some help too because the costs are out of hand. I’m a self-employed individual and my wife does not work outside the home. I pay over $500 per month for coverage for us and our two boys with a $5000 deductible and I’ve done plenty of shopping to get that rate. That’s too high. We need an overall health insurance reform.
On the under insured and uninsured I think we should look at a Medicare overhaul and expansion. We already have the basis of a system there run by the government that if run well (which is the hard part) could help those in need with far less an impact on the rest of the taxpayers to fund it. Medicare could become an opt-in option for those below a certain income level, the elderly, disabled, etc. with Illegal aliens absolutely denied.
For the majority we need serious health insurance control. Health insurance needs to become as easy as car insurance to price and purchase. Any individual should be able to get the same rate as a group especially when as few as two people in a company can now be a “group”. With standardized pricing at each insurance company competition would abound. The paperwork that would be eliminated by all persons having the same rate for the level of coverage they choose and no exclusions on what is covered would drastically cut payroll costs for doctors who now have to have dedicated staff to deal with insurance companies. That reduction in cost would reduce the amount the doctors would have to charge and the whole system would come down a notch or two.
The next item to reduce costs on the doctor and insurance sides is tort reform. The costs rolled down to Americans due to frivolous and exorbitant lawsuits are huge. Doctors are no doubt calling for tests that are unnecessary to cover themselves from misdiagnosis claims. We and the insurance companies are paying for that. The doctors have to pay enormous costs for liability insurance and we are paying for that too.
Sir, there is plenty that can be done in 1000 pages of congressional paper without bringing every American’s healthcare under the wing of a government already riddled with waste, bureaucracy and over spending.
Thank you for your time and I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
A.J. Mathieu
817-426-1641
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