Krupa's Back Pages

Today I received the following email (see below, abridged ever so slightly) from Patty Murray, incumbent Senator from Washington State, serving her third term:

 “Dear Stephen (note:  she calls me Stephen, since that’s the name I use on the credit card I used to contribute to President Obama’s presidential campaign):

 Tomorrow, I’ll be attending the White House bipartisan summit on health care reform hosted by President Obama.

This forum, bringing together congressional leaders from both parties, will provide an opportunity to have an open and honest dialogue about what we must do to reform our health care system — this year….

As families continue to face double-digit premium increases, lost or reduced care due to unemployment, and decreased access to care, I will continue to fight to ensure that health care reform addresses these priorities.

I’m committed to protecting health insurance where it’s good, improving it where it’s not, and ensuring quality care for the millions who don’t have it at all — while preserving your choice of doctor, treatments, and insurance plans throughout it all.

Getting health care reform passed this year is not just about compassion — it’s about economic common sense.

But I want to hear from you, too. What do you think we should do about health care reform?

Some critics say we can’t afford to tackle health care reform. I say we can’t afford not to.

That’s going to be my main message in tomorrow’s summit — but I want to make sure I take your views with me, too.

Thanks in advance for letting me know what you think.

 Sincerely,

Patty Murray
U.S. Senator

She’s sounds very committed to healthcare reform, and genuinely sincere about wanting to help.  I also noted that she is running for re-election this year, so I thought I would take her up on her offer to let her know what I think, and wrote back the following: 

 “I believe both of the bills (from the house and the senate) are too extreme and loaded with expensive and unproven ideas.  While I support the idea of universal health insurance in the long-run, I am opposed to such a sudden, massive overhaul.  I would encourage a rewrite of the current bill that started off focused on measuring and reducing cost and improving quality in the current healthcare system.  After these concepts are proven then I would support using ongoing savings in the system to subsidize expansion of health insurance.  This is the logical, pragmatic approach, particularly given the size of our national debt and budget shortfall.  We should learn how to save money now to finance expanded coverage in the years to come.”

(Btw, you too can click on this or the above link (for the time being) and let Sen. Murray know what you think too – if you do, copy me too, please.)

I wonder whether she, or any other politician for that matter, believes that it’s possible to save costs in the healthcare system.  If they do, why don’t they prove it to us first, before making such a massive financial committment?