Health Care Reform

So instead of sitting around and complaining about what I think the people in Washington DC should be doing, I felt prompted to express my opinions to my representatives, so that maybe it could do some good. I sent this letter to my state's two senators and also to my Congress representative:



October 3, 2009

Dear Senator,

My name is Debra Needles. I am a registered nurse and reside in West Jordan, Utah. I wish to express my opinion on the health care debate.

The current system has some obvious problems:
Insurance companies are allowed to exclude people from coverage based on their health conditions, or charge them exorbitant rates for sinfully poor coverage.
Malpractice litigation is way out of hand. I believe that arbitration needs to be mandated, with an appropriate appeals process in place for those not satisfied with their outcome.
Pharmaceutical companies spend ridiculous amounts of money bringing meals to doctors offices (I work in one…I see it all the time). This drives up the costs of marketing medications, which in turn makes the drugs more expensive.
Emergency rooms are frequently used as urgent care clinics. This drives up the cost of health care. Medicaid should have some sort of ER visit deductible to minimize this problem.
The military insurance, Tricare, doesn’t even allow people to utilize urgent care clinics (at least my daughters’ policy does not)-they must go to the ER instead. That is incredibly wasteful spending.

I am on the fence regarding whether the government should sponsor a health plan per se, however, I do feel our government has an obligation to make legislation to correct the problems listed above. I also feel it would be worthwhile for the government to assist in the establishment of a non-profit, independently run healthcare co-op so that those that are self-employed or have other difficulties obtaining reasonably priced health care have another option. This would also provide competition for the for-profit insurance companies.

Thank you for all that you do to serve our area.

Sincerely,

Debra Needles RN