Dear XXXXX,
I’ve seen our health care system up close over the past year.
I’m fortunate to have the finest medical care in the world. But I’ve seen far too many people unable to obtain the care they need because they can’t afford it.
That’s wrong. It’s got to change, and it’s about to change.
We’re fighting for legislation in Congress to fix our broken health care system. Under President Obama’s leadership, Republicans and Democrats are working together to write a bill that will guarantee good care at long last to everyone who needs it.
But we’ll need strong nationwide support to produce the 60 Senate votes that will probably be required to avoid a filibuster and actually pass the bill.
I need your support. Please sign our petition for quality, affordable health care for every American:
http://www.democraticmajority.com/healthcareOur legislation includes five major provisions:
We give Americans better choices for health insurance. We follow a simple principle: If you like the coverage you have now, you can keep it. If you don’t like your current coverage, our bill offers new and more affordable options. We’ll negotiate with insurance companies to keep costs low, make it illegal for companies to deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions, and give Americans the option to enroll in a public insurance program.
We reduce the cost of health care. We’ll crack down on fraud and abuse, and we’ll reduce red tape to keep costs down. We also make sure doctors use the most effective therapies to treat illnesses, so patients aren’t paying extra for treatments that don’t work.
We put new emphasis on prevention. The best way to treat a disease is to prevent it from ever striking, or to catch it at an early stage. By giving every American access to affordable health care, we’ll enable millions of people to be screened for diabetes, heart disease, cancer and depression.
We bring more help to the elderly and the disabled. We make it easier for these Americans to live independently. We help pay for home upgrades such as wheelchair ramps, and for regular home care to enable people to live in their own homes, not nursing homes.
Finally, we develop a better health workforce, delivering modern and responsive care. We invest in doctors, nurses, and other health professionals to meet the needs of patients more effectively for years to come.
These changes won’t be easy to enact — but we can’t afford to wait, and we can’t afford to fail.
Show your support for health reform that will benefit all our citizens, reduce the financial burdens on our nation’s people and businesses, and put our health care industry on a strong and sustainable basis for the future:
http://www.democraticmajority.com/healthcareI’ll be working hard to pass this bill in the weeks ahead, and I hope you’ll be there with me.
Thank you so much for the very real difference you can make in achieving this great goal we share.
Sincerely,
Senator Edward M. Kennedy