March 8, 2017
Dear Mr. President,
I almost didn't write you a letter today because your health
care proposal did such a fine job of pissing off everyone (both the right and the left) that I'm sure your phone is
ringing off the hook and your mailbox is full, so why add to your load. But then I realized that in all the feedback
I've read and heard and seen about your plan nobody addressed the one thing
that pissed ME off. And that is that it
doesn't include anything about regulating or monitoring the insurance
companies!
The left is angry because millions of poor people will lose
their health care. The right is angry
because it's Obamacare-ish and looks
kind of like another entitlement. The
libertarian middle-of-the-roaders are angry because it didn't get run by the
Congressional Budget Office so no one has any idea how much it will cost or who
it will actually serve. And then there's
me thinking that insurance companies work a LOT like the Mafia and that if
nothing is done to control or at least monitor THEM then we are all at their
mercy and the details of your plan don't really matter.
Why do we keep trying to change and adjust to fit their system? Why can't we change the system itself? It's a fundamentally flawed system designed to serve the company's shareholders, not the patients or premium-paying
members. Their goal is profit, not
health care.
I'm sure the pros and cons of this plan will dominate the
news for days and maybe weeks to come.
And all the talking heads will add their highly qualified opinions. But I won't be listening, because it doesn't
matter. The only way to affect real
health care reform in this country is to address the way insurance companies
operate. Unfortunately, the companies
are all too big and powerful for anyone to take them on. You're really dealing with crime bosses, they
just dress up like accountants and actuaries and CEOs. And they've got a sweet thing going on so
they're not going to want to change a thing.
Sincerely,
Amy Beaton
P.S. Same is true
with pharmaceutical companies. It looks
like Ian Read, Pfizer CEO, got his playbook from Don Vito Genovese. Just sayin'
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