| We must all work together to fix the problems that Washington has ignored for far to long. It's scary to think that those who are working hard and playing by the rules still have to worry about losing their insurance or not being able to afford their premiums. I was proud to stand alongside the AFL-CIO in shining a light on the negative impact the system can have on working people. We all know the problems that plague health care - skyrocketing costs, unaffordable plans and inconsistent quality of care. But, we can never forget the human face of this crisis.
One story that stuck out from my Statehouse visit was from Evelyn Rodriguez - whose youngest daughter has epilepsy. For the past 13 years, Evelyn has worked at Bally's Casino down in Atlantic City. Two years ago, her payments shot up, making coverage too expensive for her and her daughter and leaving her husband as the only one with coverage. Sadly, Evelyn's story is not a unique one. In these tough economic times, many families are just one injury or one illness away from complete economic ruin. Health policies often include annual or lifetime caps, which leave people shouldering the burden of catastrophic health care costs if one of them should fall very ill. As a result, medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy for American families.
With NJ AFL-CIO President Charlie Wowkanech and Evelyn Rodriguez
While on the subject of economics and healthcare, I was also back in Trenton last Friday, when Rutgers released a report about the economic impact of investments made by New Jersey's biopharmaceutical and medical technology industry. It's clear that smart investments in health care are good for not only our health care system, but also our financial future. Last year alone, the industry invested nearly $1.5 billion in capital construction in New Jersey - creating jobs and adding to the state's tax base. The immediate benefits are jobs and an economic ripple effect that is desperately needed as we work our way out of the recession. The long-term benefits go to a pharmaceutical and bio-tech industry that is crucial to New Jersey's economy and our working families.
As we work on a reform plan in the House, we are striving to meet the principles President Obama has laid out. Most of all, we'll fight for the progressive goal of providing access to affordable health coverage for everyone and lower the cost of health care services by improving quality and making our health system more efficient. We plan on delivering healthcare reform by the end of the year.
But we have our work cut out for us. I can see the lines being drawn in the sand as we begin to drill down into the details. The main battle will likely be over whether we will be able to choose between a public health insurance plan or a private plan. Unfortunately, there are those who want to limit our choice and only want Americans to have private health insurance plans at their disposal. They say having a public health insurance plan is one step closer to a single payer/government run health care system. That's utter nonsense. A public plan option simply gives those in need of insurance more choice. To those who say that a public plan can't compete on a level playing field with private plans, I again say that is nonsense. We can level the playing field to make competition fair. What's important is making sure we fix a broken health care system that allows far too many people like Evelyn Rodriguez fall through the cracks.
Now is our time to make real, lasting change. I know we can bring about health care reform this year. And I am counting on your support to help make this a reality! As always, please continue to share your stories at our website.
Also, I just wanted to mention that I recently started twittering. You can follow me as I travel across new Jersey advocating for health care reform or keep up with some of our work down in D.C. I look forward to sharing with you my observations from the road and from the capitol - in 140 characters or less.
(Cross-posted at Daily Kos) |
