Bravo to President Obama. I am really proud of him. He tried to engage Congress and the country in the televised Health Care Summit. As proud as I am of the President, I am equally frustrated and disappointed in what went on at the summit. At the end of the day, cooperation in congress continues to be impossible. I don't even know if the Democrats can get health care legislation passed. The President let Republicans know starting over is not an option and "baby steps" won't cut it. "Americans don't want us to wait," he said. Americans do not want to wait and more importantly, we cannot and must not wait. We must go for the gusto.
Think about this: If health care is provided to the 30 million-plus uninsured individuals, there will be an immediate increase in the GDP. There will be more hospitals, doctors, nurses, janitors, and other administrative and support staff. This will provide increased dollars for even the smallest communities in the country. With increased income, people can buy homes, go out to dinner, buy cars, and finally improve our economy. Also it would provide more opportunities for people to concentrate on wellness and the ability to stay healthy, once we get companies like Anthem Blue Cross to either lower their rates and play fair with us, or thrown out of California and the rest of the country.
Judging from your comments posted, most of you feel the same way. We need it now. We can't wait until 2013 or 2014 it must be completed in 2010. We cannot afford another 39% increase in our premiums next month or at anytime in the future. Angela Braly, CEO WellPoint, parent of Anthem Blue Cross, stated that "current premium increases are not their fault." (as she takes home double digit millions in salary and options and spends $2.5 million on retreats). She seems to be saying that Anthem is the victim, not the perpetrator. By the way, Anthem has been guaranteed a 30% profit over many years. Where has all that money gone? Have they invested into equities that would cushion the bad times? I do not have the answers but I sure would like to investigate all of these issues.
As I have explained to you in the past, by holding premiums for just two months starting today, we (Californians with individual policies) save conservatively close to $320 million. We need to figure out a way to maintain that savings. If there are 800,000 individual policies issued from Anthem Blue Cross in California, just think what we can do if we band together. We can have a major affect on Anthem, California legislature, and the US Congress. What are your thoughts?
The system is broken. The only way to fix it is to stand together for our future health, not the health of Anthem Blue Cross. Feel free to send this article to everyone you know. California is not unique to its concerns about Anthem. It seems that most other states are having similar problems as well. Thanks to all of you, our coalition is getting some critical media attention. Matthew Garrahan, Los Angeles Bureau Chief for the Financial Times, did a terrific article on Feb 24th, "Business Model comes under heavy fire" clearly outlining our agenda. "The doctor may have found a supporter in Barack Obama," said Garrahan, in his story about Throw The Bums Out. "In his weekly online and radio address, the US President said the bottom line is that the status quo is good for the insurance industry and bad for America." And Mr. President, we promise you, we at Throw The Bums Out are going to change that.