Send Off for Health Care
Dear Mighty Citizens,
I want to thank all of you who attended our inspiring and thoughtful
Send Off for Health Care meeting this past Tuesday at Mt. Zion Temple.
For those of you who weren't able to attend, I want to provide you with
some of the information that was discussed.
The purpose of our Send Off for Health Care was to hear about from real
Minnesotans about their challenges with our broken health care system,
to discuss how federal health insurance reform can solve these problems,
and use our productive, fact-based dialogue to together advocate for the
kind of health insurance reform Minnesotans and Americans need.
Several people shared stories about how our broken health care system
isn't working. We heard from a man who is currently uninsured. Both he
and his wife work, but neither of their employers offers health
insurance and it is too expensive for him to purchase. A nurse told
several stories of patients she had worked with weren't able to afford
the preventative care they needed to maintain adequate health. And a man
discussed how the rapid increased cost of health care for his employees
crushed his small business.
A panel of health care experts including, Rep. Tom Huntley, Pastor
Grant Stevenson, Dr. Lynn Blewett, State Heath Access Data Assistance
Center, and Dr. Mick Belzer, Medical Director of HCMC, discussed these
problems and shared their perspective on why federal health insurance
reform must be passed now. Later, we also heard from U.S. Rep. Betty
McCollum and Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman about the need for health
insurance reform.
The panel answered questions about health care reform that had been
filled out by those attending. There were so many good questions, that
we were unable to get to all of them. However, I will put out another
update soon that answers the questions that we were unable to get to at
the meeting.
Our productive meeting ended with a call to action. Everyone in
attendance was asked to send off a postcard to our congressional
delegation that showed their support for federal health insurance
reform. The post card read:
Dear Senator Klobuchar, Senator Franken, and Congresswoman McCollum,
Our nation is in crisis. Our health care system is broken. More than 47
million of our
fellow citizens don’t have health insurance; those who are fortunate
enough to have insurance are denied coverage for treatments because of
preexisting condition exclusions and other bureaucratic hurdles. The
cost of health coverage continues to grow at an unsustainable rate,
putting individuals, families, and small businesses in peril. The time
to act is now, and I am counting on you! Together I believe we can meet
this challenge. Please do all you can to ensure all Americans have
access to quality, affordable health care.
Sincerely,
____________
Thank you all so much for staying engaged in these important times for
our state and country. As always, call, e-mail, or write me with your
questions, concerns and input and I will get back to you.
Keep Fighting!
Rep. Erin Murphy
