29th Street Ballroom
Health Insurance Is a Question of Fairness
RECEIVED Wed., Oct. 3, 2007
Dear Editor,
Of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program legislation passed recently in the House of Representatives, Mike McCaul said, "This legislation goes too far toward federalizing health care and turns a program meant to help low-income children into one that covers adults and children in some households with incomes of up to $83,000." I seriously question his numbers, but I don’t know much about the cost of living on Manhattan Island. He makes more than $83,000 a year, yet his kids are all covered by federal health insurance! He doesn't think $190 billion is too much for another year of a failed war, but an additional $7 billion a year to cover millions of uninsured children is too much!
Congressman McCaul recently discussed his commitment to urgently find a cure for childhood cancer. The question should be: Why does a child have to get cancer for Mike McCaul to be committed to his or her health?
I’m not claiming that Michael McCaul hates American children. He’s just too rich and isolated from regular Americans to understand how big a problem children's health care is, or maybe he doesn't particularly care. Whether he’s trying to please his rich buddies, or because he's totally immersed in the "private enterprise is wonderful and government action is evil" mindset, or simply because he's an absolutely loyal Bush supporter, he can't bring himself to vote for SCHIP. He and his five children get top-quality government-sponsored health care, but millions of families watch helplessly when their kids get sick.
Why can't we "the people" join together and develop better forms of health-insurance coverage for ourselves and one another? To me, Medicare for everyone simply means that 300 million of us get together and form the ultimate insurance pool while cutting out the rich middleman who takes 20% to 30% off the top!
Both of McCaul's Democratic opponents have called on Mr. McCaul to forgo his special government-provided insurance coverage until his constituents have access to similar coverage. It’s a question of fairness, and I for one am sick of always being a have-not!
Of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program legislation passed recently in the House of Representatives, Mike McCaul said, "This legislation goes too far toward federalizing health care and turns a program meant to help low-income children into one that covers adults and children in some households with incomes of up to $83,000." I seriously question his numbers, but I don’t know much about the cost of living on Manhattan Island. He makes more than $83,000 a year, yet his kids are all covered by federal health insurance! He doesn't think $190 billion is too much for another year of a failed war, but an additional $7 billion a year to cover millions of uninsured children is too much!
Congressman McCaul recently discussed his commitment to urgently find a cure for childhood cancer. The question should be: Why does a child have to get cancer for Mike McCaul to be committed to his or her health?
I’m not claiming that Michael McCaul hates American children. He’s just too rich and isolated from regular Americans to understand how big a problem children's health care is, or maybe he doesn't particularly care. Whether he’s trying to please his rich buddies, or because he's totally immersed in the "private enterprise is wonderful and government action is evil" mindset, or simply because he's an absolutely loyal Bush supporter, he can't bring himself to vote for SCHIP. He and his five children get top-quality government-sponsored health care, but millions of families watch helplessly when their kids get sick.
Why can't we "the people" join together and develop better forms of health-insurance coverage for ourselves and one another? To me, Medicare for everyone simply means that 300 million of us get together and form the ultimate insurance pool while cutting out the rich middleman who takes 20% to 30% off the top!
Both of McCaul's Democratic opponents have called on Mr. McCaul to forgo his special government-provided insurance coverage until his constituents have access to similar coverage. It’s a question of fairness, and I for one am sick of always being a have-not!
Ron Coldiron