Reply #13: Not single payer or nothing,

[Ms. Toad]

but any proposal I support must make access to health care available to those whose illnesses make traditional insurance unaffordable. There are many options short of single payer that could accomplish this - what Dean is calling for does not. It makes government managed insurance available at prices competitive with the current market.

Shaving a fraction of the cost by competition does not provide my daughter (diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder that generally requires a liver transplant 12-18 years from diagnosis), and others like her, with access to health care. My 18 year old daughter has two chronic illnesses; the most recently diagnosed one will likely prevent her from holding a full time job (she currently cannot manage a full time college courseload - and she is in the early years of waiting until her condition is bad enough that the cure - a transplant - is worse than the illness). The cost for competitive insurance, as of two weeks ago, is $14,000 a year. With government competition, it may stay stable for few years or even decrease modestly. This does NOTHING to help her - or the countless others with diabetes, cancer, multiple sclerosis, or any number of other illnesses which make nearly impossible steady full time work that might otherwise provide access to health insurance.

I could support making a Medicare-like option - even one with a sliding scale that requires payment from the recipient on a sliding scale - available to anyone diagnosed with a condition that is traditionally considered unaffordable. Access to health care for people with chronic illnesses CANNOT depend on their ability to pay for that care. I cannot support mere competition with the current private companies - in my opinion, it is not even a step in the right direction - and we cannot afford to waste our political capital on a plan that does not provide meaningful change for those most severely impacted by the current health care system.

So - I am not one of the 342,000 people signing the petition -BUT I am not in the single payer or nothing camp. I will support meaningful change; I do not want my voice used to support placebo change - which is all this is without more conditions requiring that the public option provide access to those who need it most but can afford it least.