LETTER: Baucus Bill Won’t Provide Affordable Health Care

As a citizen of the United States, I cannot help but be concerned by the current health care situation. Every citizen of this country deserves good benefits without the fear of bankruptcy. The Baucus Framework does not provide a guarantee of good, affordable coverage, but could make health care worse for many people. It doesn’t deliver what President Obama proposed including affordable coverage, good benefits, an end to medical bankruptcy, employer responsibility, and a public option to compete with insurance companies. The Baucus Framework must be repaired!

The Baucus Framework includes no employer responsibility, unlike the House and Senate HELP bills. Employers would not have to pay for health care. The plan creates incentives for employers to shift premium costs to employees and offer poor coverage that would continue to cause medical bankruptcy. Senate Finance Committee members need to insist on passing a bill that establishes employer responsibility. They must insist the bill guarantees good benefits that are affordable, protects people from medical bankruptcy, and doesn’t levy high fines on people who cannot afford coverage. The bill must a public health insurance option. State co-ops are designed to fail and insurance companies will keep their monopoly. In addition, the Senate Finance Committee must ensure there is no high excise tax on high cost plans which forces higher costs and lower benefits on businesses and workers that currently have good benefits, live in high cost states or have older work forces. The Baucus Framework must be repaired!
Tristen James
Billings