Senator Harkin, Let's put on the brakes and stop the internal destruction of these United States of America!

Here is the most recent form letter I received from Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) in response to a number of faxes I’ve sent him.

Pay careful attention to the twisting of information in an attempt to support his and President Obama’s agendas. It is worth noting that my responses from Republicans have been more detailed and have real content with factual details instead of containing agenda driven political spin.

Dear Friend:

I appreciate you taking the time to express your interest in health care reform.   I am pleased to report that on December 24, 2009, I voted for, and the Senate passed, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), which will lower costs, guarantee affordable coverage for all Americans, improve the quality of care, and reduce our federal budget deficit.

We can no longer settle for the status quo in our health system.  Our current health care system leaves nearly 50 million Americans without insurance, including nearly 300,000 in Iowa.  People can be denied coverage because of preexisting conditions, and can be dropped from their health insurance if they get a serious illness.  They can be charged much higher rates if they are women, are older, or are sick, and can be cut from insurance entirely once they reach an annual or lifetime cap on payouts.  Even those who have insurance can find that, due to coverage limitations or sky-high deductibles, it is woefully inadequate for their medical needs.  A recent study of bankruptcy filings found that 62 percent of all bankruptcies were related to medical debt, and nearly 80 percent of those people actually had health insurance.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act contains critical reforms designed to overhaul our broken health care system.  Among its immediate benefits, the bill prohibits insurers from imposing arbitrary and excessive limits on the benefits that they will pay out; bans insurance companies from canceling your insurance policy if you get sick; requires insurance companies to cover prevention and wellness services, with no co-pays or deductibles; requires insurance companies to permit children to stay on family policies until age 26; provides small businesses with tax credits of up to 35 percent of premiums, to help reduce the cost of providing health insurance to their employees; creates a re-insurance program for early retirees (before age 65), to help ensure they don’t lose health coverage before they are Medicare eligible; reduces the size of the “donut hole” in the Medicare drug benefit, and requires insurance companies to provide rebates to their customers if their administrative costs are too high.

When the bill is fully effective, the PPACA will guarantee a choice of quality, affordable coverage for all Americans.  The bill will create new health insurance exchanges where people without access to affordable coverage will be able to easily shop and choose from a menu of quality health plans, much in the way members of Congress are able to do today.  Tax credits and reductions in cost-sharing will further reduce the premiums and out-of-pocket costs that lower-income and middle-class Americans will have to pay.  And, insurance companies will be barred from denying coverage, or charging higher premiums, because of a pre-existing conditions or gender.

Finally, of great importance to me, this legislation also places prevention and public health at the heart of our health reform efforts.  As I have often said, currently in the U.S., we don’t have a health care system, we have a sick care system.  If you’re sick, you get care. But we spend peanuts on prevention.  The system and all of the incentives are focused on pills, surgery, hospitalization, and disability. This bill will give Americans access to a 21st century health care system – one that is focused on preventing disease, and helping us to live healthy, active, productive lives.

Among other things, the bill creates a Federal-level Prevention and Public Health Council, which will improve coordination among federal agencies in incorporating wellness into national policy, and will develop a national prevention and public health strategy.  The bill includes a strong Prevention and Public Health Investment Fund, which will provide for expanded and sustained national investments in prevention and public health programs in communities across America.  Communities will tailor programs to meet health challenges unique to their area.  They can get creative; find out what works; and make a big difference.

At the clinical level, the bill will require reimbursement for proven, cost-effective preventive services such as smoking cessation, mental health screenings, cancer screenings, as well as obesity screening and counseling programs.  And for essential screenings and annual physicals, our bill will eliminate the co-pays and deductibles that currently discourage many people from doing the right things to stay healthy.

From the beginning of this debate, my colleagues in the majority party and I have been committed to passing legislation that is fully paid for and does not add to the federal budget deficit.  I am pleased to report that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that PPACA will actually reduce the federal budget deficit by $132 billion over the next ten years, and by $1.3 trillion in the ten years after that.

Currently, the Affordable Health Care for America Act and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which were passed respectively by the House and the Senate, are being melded together. Please be assured that as I continue my work on health reform, I will keep your views in mind.

To learn more about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, you can visit the Senate Democratic Policy Committee’s Website at http://dpc.senate.gov/dpcdoc-sen_health_care_bill.cfm.  To view the Affordable Health Care for America Act, please visit the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Website at http://energycommerce.house.gov/.  In addition, the White House has created a center where individuals can go to get the facts on the current reform effort.  I encourage you to visit this information page, which can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/.

Sincerely,

Tom Harkin
United States Senator