Letter to the Editor of Washington Post Mailed 2.21.10

Sent via CREDO to Washington Post on 2/21/2010
Dear Editor:
I support Senator Bennet's support of a public option that Americans can choose for their health insurance. As a health insurance agent for nearly two decades and business owner of two additional business in a resort town on the Western Slope that employ Coloradans, I have a somewhat unique opportunity to engage in conversations with clients and with customers who come from all over the United States and other countries regarding the issue.
Many Americans right here in Colorado risk losing everything they own because they cannot afford health insurance. Personally, my husband and I are paying over $900 per month for a $5000 deductible, a standard group rate, the lowest we can obtain here on the Western Slope. Often small business owners are unable to afford to insure themselves because premiums are so very high. We will likely be considering a public option ourselves because we cannot afford the premiums we are currently paying since our 45% premium increase last October. Many of our friends, both individuals and business owners, are not presently insured either because they cannot afford the premium or because they are uninsurable.
My experience in the health insurance industry is that for-profit health insurance companies are not doing their best to do what is right for the American people as they are driven by top executives who expect top pay scales to run companies that are influenced by large pharmaceutical companies and their strong political lobbies.
Most Americans who enjoy good health insurance benefits are employed by large corporations, and they do not realize the large premiums paid for their insurance. Many of them are now finding out just how much these premiums are when they lose their jobs and have to go on COBRA (acronym for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986, federal legislation that governs the operation of group-sponsored health plans of businesses with twenty or more employees). COBRA is not a health plan, it is one's group health insurance premium, enjoyed while employed, with a very small percentage attached for administrative costs, which allows insureds to continue their coverage at their own expense. Before COBRA, upon termination, most employees would lose their health insurance coverage.
This being said, I firmly believe that ALL of our government officials should be on the public option that is decided upon. Taxpayers keep these individuals in office and/or employed. What is good for us MUST be what would be good for them.