A Letter to Arlen Specter (and whoever else is kind enough to listen)
Although I’m not sure that it is an effective use of my time, I’ve written another letter to Arlen Specter concerning health legislation.
Dear Senator Arlen Specter:
I writing to express my concerns about some of the proposals put forward as part of health reform legislation. While I’m not against true health reform, I have reason to believe that the bills currently being considered will have a negative impact on my family’s budget. I have two particular concerns:
1. I will not be allowed to keep my existing plan. Although we’ve been promised by many in the government that we’ll be able to keep our current health coverage, it appears that my current plan will not be included in this promise. I take part in a large church-based health sharing plan. It provides the comparable coverage to insurance, allows for complete doctor choice, and has a low deductible. However, it is not insurance. I send my “premium” directly to the member who has a health need. I love this system – it has provided very well for thousands of citizens for many years. And the cost is less that $300 per month for the entire family. Unless special language is placed in the health reform legislation, I’ll be forced to buy expensive insurance that I neither want nor need. While it is possible a “religious exemption” will appear in the bill, this will not help me since opposition to insurance is not a religious conviction of mine, nor the unified position of our church.
2. The legislation will require plans to have a low deductible. Many families I associate with use high deductible ($10,000+) plans to save cost. These are people who have the emergency funds available to cover the deductible. Any health reform plan should ensure that consumers have the freedom to choose a high-deductible plan, especially if they can demonstrate the ability to pay the deductible if needed. In addition, contributions to health savings accounts should be tax-deductible as they have been in the past. Congress should be rewarding, not punishing, families who responsibly manage finances.
In summary, if one or both of these concerns are not addressed, I will be forced to add my family to my employer’s plan, which will cost my family much more than I’m paying now, even after a generous contribution to the plan by my employer.
We are a middle class family with combined income of $55,000, and a religious conviction against taking part in a government-subsidized plan. Please don’t break our budget by taking away our choices. I look forward to a specific response to these concerns. I would be glad to provide more information if you need it in order to ensure that myself and thousands of others don’t pay dearly.
Sincerely,
Eldon Martin
P.S. This is similar to a message I sent to you several months ago. In response to that request, I got a “canned” response that did not answer either of my concerns. I live in McConnellsburg, PA – part of the district that you represent. I look forward to your response.
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After submitting the email on his web site, I got the following message:
Thank you for contacting our office. Someone will be in contact with you soon.
I won’t be holding my breath.
bernardo
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:01 pm #
A follow-up:
Just now, I also sent the above message to Bill Shuster, the congressman who represents my area. Of course, I omitted the scolding message at the end since I had not contacted him before.
I’ll be posting the response from either of these lawmakers on my blog.