Hello fellow Planeteers,
Check out this latest info from USA Today:
Medical expenses have ‘very steep rate of growth’
WASHINGTON — Spending on health care consumed an estimated 17 cents of every dollar spent last year in the United States, representing the largest one-year increase since the federal government started tracking the number in 1960.
By 2019, health care spending will represent 19.3% of the nation’s total economic output, according to a report released today by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Have you seen this new letter from Organizing for America? See Below
A call to write to our local papers.
I am going to brave our local Orange County Register.
Any suggestions or new ideas ?? What have we not said ??
How else can we tell the story?
An alarming new study shows that health care costs increased last year at the fastest rate in more than a half century.
Health care spending rose to an estimated $2.5 trillion in 2009, or $8,047 per person — and is now projected to nearly double by 2019. If we don’t act, this growing burden will mean more lost jobs, more families pushed into bankruptcy, and more crushing debt for our nation.
The conclusion is clear: This isn’t a problem we can kick down the road for another decade — or even another year. We need to pass health reform now.
We’re incredibly close. But too many in Washington are now saying that we should delay or give up on reform entirely. So we need to make it crystal clear that Americans understand the stakes for our economy and our lives, and that we want action.
Can you write a letter to the editor of your local paper right now? In just five minutes of your time, you can tell thousands of readers about this new report on spiraling costs, and why abandoning reform is just not an option.
You can also help by posting this note on Facebook, letting your friends know about the new costs study and asking them to join you in writing a letter to a local paper.
President Obama and many allies in Congress are working hard to finish the job — but we can’t rest until it’s done. Your note will help break through the Washington spin and show members of Congress and the media what local voters really believe. Click here to get started:
It’s clear that we’re in the fight of our lives to pass real reform. But after a century of trying, the finish line is finally in sight. As President Obama reminded us all in his State of the Union address, we’re fighting for our families and our country — and we don’t quit.
Thanks for making it possible,
Mitch
Mitch Stewart
Director Organizing for America
Patsy, this demonstrates what President Obama has been saying all along: that doing nothing and letting the status quo continue is not even fiscally responsible (much less morally right!). Things will go downhill fast if the Repubs continue to obstruct reform. Not exactly a truly conserrvative position they’re taking, no?
Exactly. What is conservative about letting the costs go soaring thru the roof ?
What I find so frustrating is this is the time we really need our government to work for us and instead they are grinding to a halt and things are naturally getting worse. The time to act is now. Letters are the best.
Thank you for this, Patsy.
I also think that another letter writing campaign via the USPS to Congress and the Senate might be helpful.
Inundate the houses with letters.