Healthcare Reform Now!

Healthcare in our country is on life-support. Though attempts to reform healthcare were made during the 90's, the special interests pulled out all the stops and killed it. Now it seems as though special interests are at it again, but this time they have a new ally; Connie Mack. During the last election cycle Congressmen Mack accepted over $25,000 in contributions from Political Action Committees in the healthcare industry. So as new negotiations for healthcare reform take place in Washington, who do you think he is representing?

The Republican party was in control of Congress for many years and not once did they ever offer any real healthcare reform. And why is that? It is because they want to maintain the status quo. According to them, healthcare is business and the government should leave business alone. To the people who believe that kind of neo-conservative mantra I categorically say, "No!" To those who disagree with me, I suggest they read about Christina Turner . Last year Christina went to a bar in Ft. Lauderdale and woke up the next morning along the road with cuts and bruises. As a precaution Christina's doctor prescribed her anti-AIDS medication. A few months later when she tried to get a new insurance plan the insurance companies denied her simply because she took the anti-AIDS medicine. They said they might consider covering her in a few years if she was still AIDS free. We need to stand up for people like Christina. When I go to Congress I plan to support healthcare reform that does not allow big insurance companies to act so immoral. But how does Congressman Mack feel about covering pre-existing conditions? Well he was asked about this very issue face to face, which you can read here. A Naples woman asked what she was to do about the fact that insurance companies wouldn't cover her because she was diabetic. “Who helps us? Who helps me? Where do I go?” she said. Congressman Mack told her that there were programs to help and asked her to meet with his staff after the town hall. Funny that Congressman Mack couldn't actually recall the name of the programs in front of the audience, because I'm sure there are thousands of Americans who would love to hear about them. But what Congressman Mack doesn't realize is that we can't all meet with his staff one at a time. We need a real plan to help thousands of people who are being denied for a variety of reasons from being diabetic or even because they were victims of rape. Like his Republican colleagues, Mack isn't giving us real answers.

Now Congressmen Mack might tell you that Republicans have their own plan for healthcare. You might have even seen some Republican members of Congress waving it in their hands when the President addressed Congress last year. But was that a sincere plan to reform healthcare, or just political theater? Consider this, one of the accusations that Republicans made about healthcare reform was that Democrats were going to use taxpayer's money to fund abortions. Not only did the final version of the House bill prohibit funding of abortions the in public option, but as that bill was being negotiated Politico discovered that for over 15 years the Republican National Committee was offering elective abortion coverage to their employees!

We need real leadership in Washington. That is why I'm asking you for your support in both the primary and the general election so that the people of Southwest Florida can have a Congressman they can be proud of.