countdowntohealthcare.com

Four weeks ago, Representative John Boenher said he hasn’t met anyone who supported the public option.  You responded to let him know that you did.  All 60,000 of you.

Today, it is because of your response that the American people won a round against two of the most powerful forces in Washington: the health insurance lobby and the status quo.

A few weeks ago, the public option had been left for dead.  But you refused to let the idea of choice, competition and lower cost die.  You made your voices heard and created the space for a real debate on how to control costs and improve the quality of care.

And you prevailed.

The bad news is that I believe Congress should have gone further.  Although this is far more than most thought we’d get, I still question why we can’t have a stronger public option.  We’ve heard from experts, from some of my colleague in Congress, and from the American people why a strong public option will save taxpayer dollars and bring down health care costs.

Who is the advocate for a public option that saves taxpayers and enrollees less? Why would anyone but an insurance company want that?

I trust that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pressed for the strongest public option possible. She clearly understands that the more a public option holds down costs, the more it will be real choice. She gets it.

This bill isn’t everything I would like, but it’s further than anyone expected and a victory for all of you who would not be silenced.  Thank you for signing the petition and sending a message to Congress about how democracy is supposed to work.

Anthony

I confess that CountdowntoHealthCare.com began as a way to demonstrate to Republicans like John Boehner that the polls showing a majority of Americans support the option don’t lie.  You might remember that back on October 1, he claimed he hadn’t met “anyone” who supported the public option.

The more than 60,000 people who have signed my petition respectfully beg to disagree.

But it is now clear that the real obstacle to a public option isn’t people like Boehner who are simply misinformed.  It’s a Republican, an Independent, and some of my Democratic colleagues in the Senate who say they have real reservations about a public option.  The Independent, Senator Joe Lieberman, went so far as to say that he would support a Republican filibuster of the bill.

Send a message to these stragglers that it’s time to end the obstruction and deliver on the public option.  It’s what the majority of Americans want.  It’s what the President wants.  And it’s what most Democrats in Congress want.

The case is clear.  We can put a dent in the endless cycle of rising health care costs–but only with a public option that has a chance to succeed.

If you think the fight is over, it’s not. We’re close to the finish line, but your voice matters now more than ever.

Anthony

The public option lives!  Or does it?

Under the proposal of Senator Reid, individual states will be able to decide.  But which comes first?  The public option or the option to deny it to the public?

Here is the rub.  If a public option is created and permitted to operate in all 50 states, I am convinced it will be a success and that it will attract customers who want competition, choice and lower costs.  There is no way that any governor – no matter how red the state – will shut down a program that is serving tens of thousands of his or her constituents.

On the other hand, if any governor that wants to appeal to the rabid right can kill the public option before it has a chance to take flight, then this is destined to create a public plan with more holes than swiss cheese.

I’ll keep you posted.

It becomes clearer by the day that the big insurance companies need competition if we are to have any hope of containing skyrocketing costs.

First came the brazen proclamation by insurance companies themselves that rates would rise 111 percent without a public option in the reform bill.  This week, we’ve learned that small business will endure an average increase of 15 percent to their premiums this year.

This is not only the sharpest increase small businesses have suffered in years.  It’s not only double the increase they saw last year.  But it couldn’t come at a worse time, when many of these small businesses are doing everything they can to stay afloat.

We’re in the middle of a heated debate about what the public option could look like.  This news makes it more urgent than ever that we fight to ensure we have a real public option—one that has a genuine impact on costs.

Anthony

Thanks to your support, the public option gained real momentum in recent weeks.  But now the battle has really begun.  Some are beginning to doubt whether there is enough support to pass a bill that has a real public option.

I have no doubts.  More than 50,000 of you, from around the country, have already signed my petition.  This week’s Washington Post poll, which found that 57 percent of Americans support a public option, means there are literally millions more out there who know that we won’t have real competition and real choice without a public option.

The stakes are high.  Congress is busy debating over what a public option would look like and how it would be implemented.  We must let Congress know that it can’t pass just any public option, but must enact a plan that will succeed.  This means a plan that gives people choices and contains costs now, not 10 years from now.

Americans must make their voices heard if we are going to win.  Only you can erase Congress’s doubts by loudly demanding a real public option that creates genuine competition and puts an end to the billions we spend to cover health insurance company overhead each year.

Call the last two months the pre-season.  Now it’s game time.

Anthony

Almost unbelievably, many of the senators and representatives who are opposing the public option actually benefit from one.  I released a study today that found 151 Members of Congress are already on a single-payer, public option form of health care: Medicare.

55 of these are Republicans who are steadfastly opposed to a public option.  There should be a new term for the kind of hypocrisy embodied by Members of Congress who want to deny to Americans something they receive.

Let’s not let 55 of my colleagues decide the public option is ok for them, but not for everyone else.  Tell my Democratic and Republican colleagues on Medicare that they should either support the public option or give up their coverage.

Anthony

Now we are getting somewhere.

Today’s Capitol Hill newspaper “The Hill”  carries the headline “Medicare for Everyone“.  It describes a turn in the discussions about how we reform health care to something that many of us have been talking about for some time.

As my Republican colleagues (and sadly some of my Democratic friends) have tried to confuse the debate about the public option, I have been saying that the best model for what America might expect from the public option is right under our nose – it’s called Medicare.  It’s efficient, it’s patient-friendly and it’s government-run.

Call it “Medicare Part E” for “everyone” or call it the single-payer alternative—the idea is the same.  Only with the public option will we get competition, choice and cost containment.

I am convinced that we have made this breakthrough in part because of the more than 50,000 who have signed our petition.  So keep spreading the word.

Anthony