Why Are So Many Members Of Congress Going Against Their Own Constituents' Demands For Health Care Reform?

Stop bothering them about health care-- our public servants are too busy with other affairs to bother about you and your family

56% of voters in Iowa favor the public option. But Chuck Grassley doesn't give a hoot. He's taken $1,927,679 from the Medical-Industrial Complex and $888,724 from Insurance companies and even though he has to face the voters next year, he's confident that he can pull the wool over their eyes once again. He's a die hard opponent of any kind of real health care reform and, as the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, he's been working assiduously with his crony, Max Baucus (D-MT), the committee's chair, to perform a late term abortion on anything that even smells remotely like a public option. When Washington was overwhelmed with demonstrators from all over America yesterday, it was obstructionists like Grassley and Baucus who drew them to the nation's capital. Everything was peaceful... for now. But if corrupt senators like Chuck Grassley and, Blanche Lincoln, Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson, Mitch McConnell, Richard Burr and Max Baucus manage to carry out orders from the Insurance Industry and wreck the bill, no telling how Americans could react-- even before election time.

And you might not guess it from multimillionaire Dianne Feinstein's tepid, grudging support for health care reform by 85% of Californians also support helath care reform that includes at least a public option-- if not single-payer. Is it possible that the 15% who favor the status quo all live in the congressional districts represented by virulently anti-reform congressmen like Dan Lungren, Darrell Issa, Brian Billbray, John Campbell, Ken Calvert, Elton Gallegly, Mary Bono Mack, Wally Herger, Duncan Hunter, Jerry Lewis, Gary Miller, Ed Royce, Dana Rohrabacher, George Radanovich, Devin Nunes, Tom McClintock, Kevin McCarthy and Buck McKeon? Actually, not. It's statistically impossible-- especially when you factor in that 55% of registered Republicans in California favor the public option! These members of Congress don't represent their constituents in the most important issue in front of the American people. They represent the campaign contributors and Insurance Industry CEOs who have pumped millions of dollars into their campaign chests. If California voters decide to withdraw support from all opponents of the public option supported overwhelmingly by Californians, 2011 will begin with a state congressional delegation clean of Republicans.

Today HHS Secretary Katherine Sebelius released a state by state report of the health care situation Americans are facing. Since Blue America is in the midst of a Campaign for Health Care Choice that starts in Arkansas, let's take a look at the situation reactionary Democrats Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor are ignoring when they accede to the demands of their donors in the Medical-Industrial Complex. Keep in mind that Blanche Lincoln has solicited and accepted the most funding from the Medical Industrial Complex ($218,850) in the current election cycle. Widely thought to be more a representative from WalMart and the Walton family than of the average families of Arkansas, Lincoln is one of the most corrupt members of Congress when it comes to taking money from CEOs and Big Business and then serving their special interests and spitting in the face of her constituents. Lincoln must have thrown a fit when she saw Sebelius' report today:

ARKANSANS CAN’T AFFORD THE STATUS QUO

Roughly 1.5 million people in Arkansas get health insurance on the job, where family premiums average $11,486, about the annual earning of a full-time minimum wage job.

Since 2000 alone, average family premiums have increased by 81 percent in Arkansas.

Household budgets are strained by high costs: 27 percent of middle-income Arkansas families spend more than 10 percent of their income on health care.

High costs block access to care: 17 percent of people in Arkansas report not visiting a doctor due to high costs.

Arkansas businesses and families shoulder a hidden health tax of roughly $1500 per year on premiums as a direct result of subsidizing the costs of the uninsured.

AFFORDABLE HEALTH COVERAGE IS INCREASINGLY OUT OF REACH IN ARKANSAS

18 percent of people in Arkansas are uninsured, and 69.5 percent of them are in families with at least one full-time worker.

The percent of Arkansans with employer coverage is declining: from 57 to 53 percent between 2000 and 2007.

Much of the decline is among workers in small businesses. While small businesses make up 75 percent of Arkansas businesses, only 29 percent of them offered health coverage benefits in 2006-- down 3 percent since 2000.

Choice of health insurance is limited in Arkansas. Blue Cross Blue Shield AR alone constitutes 75 percent of the health insurance market share in Arkansas, with the top two insurance providers accounting for 81 percent.

Choice is even more limited for people with pre-existing conditions. In Arkansas, premiums can vary based on demographic factors and health status, and coverage can exclude pre-existing conditions or even be denied completely.

ARKANSANS NEED HIGHER QUALITY, GREATER VALUE, AND MORE PREVENTATIVE CARE

The overall quality of care in Arkansas is rated as “Weak.”

Preventative measures that could keep Arkansans healthier and out of the hospital are deficient, leading to problems across the age spectrum:

20 percent of children in Arkansas are obese.

26 percent of women over the age of 50 in Arkansas have not received a mammogram in the past two years.

45 percent of men over the age of 50 in Arkansas have never had a colorectal cancer screening.

70 percent of adults over the age of 65 in Arkansas have received a flu vaccine in the past year.

Arkansas is in bad shape but they're not alone. With virtually no Republicans agreeing with their own constituents that a public option is the way to go, you can take any state in the Union (and especially in the Old Confederacy) and find a disconnect between members of Congress following a lock-step anti-family ideology and average families wanting the reasonable health insurance like the rest of the industrial world already has-- and for far, far less money than the U.S. spends on health care. Take Florida for example. Mel Martinez is retiring from the Senate, but not before he votes against a public option. The two Republicans seeking his seat-- Governor Charlie Crist and far right extremist Marco Rubio, both oppose a public option. This despite the findings in Sebelius's report:

Roughly 9.8 million people in Florida get health insurance on the job, where family premiums average $12,780, about the annual earning of a full-time minimum wage job.

Since 2000 alone, average family premiums have increased by 88 percent in Florida.

Household budgets are strained by high costs: 21 percent of middle-income Florida families spend more than 10 percent of their income on health care.

High costs block access to care: 15 percent of people in Florida report not visiting a doctor due to high costs.

Florida businesses and families shoulder a hidden health tax of roughly $1400 per year on premiums as a direct result of subsidizing the costs of the uninsured.

AFFORDABLE HEALTH COVERAGE IS INCREASINGLY OUT OF REACH IN FLORIDA

21 percent of people in Florida are uninsured, and 73 percent of them are in families with at least one full-time worker.


The percent of Floridians with employer coverage is declining: from 57 to 54 percent between 2000 and 2007.

Much of the decline is among workers in small businesses. While small businesses make up 78 percent of Florida businesses, only 39 percent of them offered health coverage benefits in 2006-- down 7 percent since 2000.

Choice of health insurance is limited in Florida. Blue Cross Blue Shield FL alone constitutes 30 percent of the health insurance market share in Florida, with the top two insurance providers accounting for 45 percent.

Choice is even more limited for people with pre-existing conditions. In Florida, premiums can vary based on demographic factors and health status, and coverage can exclude pre-existing conditions or even be denied completely in some cases.

FLORIDIANS NEED HIGHER QUALITY, GREATER VALUE, AND MORE PREVENTATIVE CARE

The overall quality of care in Florida is rated as “Weak.”

Preventative measures that could keep Floridians healthier and out of the hospital are deficient, leading to problems across the age spectrum:

18 percent of children in Florida are obese.

18 percent of women over the age of 50 in Florida have not received a mammogram in the past two years.

36 percent of men over the age of 50 in Florida have never had a colorectal cancer screening.

Take a look at this outrageous video. Lisa of Lake Worth, FL has hydrocephalus or water on the brain and several other health ailments that require regular monitoring and care. Like millions of Americans, when Lisa lost her job, she also lost her health insurance. Lisa was unable to afford COBRA, but when she called around to inquire about coverage from private insurers she was categorically denied. As soon as I told them about my situation, Lisa says, they said forget it; they absolutely wouldnt even go any further.