Healthcare Letter (Secular)

The second of two connected posts. This is the secular letter I wrote for the healthcare reform group I'm collaborating with. If the religious letter isn't your cup of tea, but you agree with my message, feel free to use this letter.



It's understood—and often understated—that markets exist for communal not private benefit. In no area of business is this perhaps more true than health care. As it stands now decisions pertaining to medical access are made by private insurance companies who are more beholden to their shareholders than their policyholders.

We need a public option to not only give access to quality medical care to the poor, but as an alternative for the thousands of citizens who are often dropped by their insurers precisely when they need their policy the most. In a country where every criminal is promised a lawyer why should law-abiding citizens ever be denied access to a doctor?

This isn't just a question of morals. Preventive care lowers overall medical costs by allowing individuals to treat illnesses before they develop into something more costly and serious, but many people hold off on seeing a doctor until it's unbearable because of the cost. A reliable public insurance option could lower medical bills through preventive care, cut down on emergency room traffic, and promote a healthy national workforce, increasing productivity by keeping workers on the job and off sick leave.

With the mass retirement of the Boomer generation looming, the single biggest addition to the national debt will come from the influx of people dependent on Medicare and Medicaid. The impact of this wave can be lessened by lowering health care costs now, which a public option as a part of overall health care reform can achieve.

These are momentous times. We have a chance to protect our most valuable national asset, our workforce, and the only true inalienable right—life. I urge you to support a public insurance option and to press for health care reform now, so that our nation's greatness may carry forward into the future.