States like Arkansas and Nebraska need the public option most, and their citizens want it
Posted on November 24th, 2009 by Jason Rosenbaum in Solutions that Work
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There was a phone call today with farm leaders from the National Farmers Union and affiliated groups. Their message to those Senators who are not on board yet with a public health insurance option? Rural America needs a public health insurance option most.
The facts in rural America are stark. Roger Johnson, President of the National Farmers Union, noted that rural people spend 22% more on premiums and out of pocket costs than their urban counterparts do. They're also 70% more likely to be uninsured. And where 8% of the population overall rely on individual health insurance policies, the kinds of policies where the insurance companies screw you the most and therefore make the best profit on, 33% of farmers and ranchers rely on these policies.
As a result, farmers and ranchers in rural America get hit hardest by insurance company abuses. John Hansen, President of the NFU in Nebraska, explained:
Farming and ranching is a risky business, with a low margin.
There is a continual pattern of ranchers and farmers out here who can't afford health insurance, or have a body part that has a problem not covered by the insurance policy due to pre-existing exclusions. They have an accident or get sick and suddenly, their entire farm is being fed into the medical system. This is not a theoretical problem.
Annie Cheatam, President of the NFU in New England, added:
Farmers are also very eager to provide health insurance to their employees. But they are reporting that their rates are going up 15-20% a year. No small business can sustain that kind of increase over time. Rates went up 90% in Maine since 2000.
States like Arkansas, Nebraska, and Maine have some of the largest rural populations per capita in the country. Perhaps as a result, the NFU and their allies have found broad support for health reform and the public health insurance option. That's why they are confident that Senators like Blanche Lincoln (who chairs the Agriculture Committee in the Senate and is intimately aware of rural concerns) will find a way to do the right thing. Olly Neal at the Arkansas Land and Farm Development Corporation said:
Senator Lincoln is our friend, and we're pleased she agreed to debate the health care bill. We think, knowing her, that she'll find a way to be supportive of it, and we hope it'll include a public option. We believe there's a way she can get to that support. The majority of Arkansas has shown itself to be supportive of a public option, and we think she'll respond to that majority.
Rural America needs the public option perhaps even more than the rest of America does. The Senators from rural states who are thinking about standing in the way need to do the right thing for their constituents.
I am sure that Arkansas and Nebraska do need the health care public option. It looks like Senator Lincoln has voted more republican w/corporate interests before anything for the middleclass and hardworking poor. Senator Nelson seems to have a very cosy relationship with the health insurance industry. Can we get and of the republican democrats to vote for health care with the public option?
Government run health care will prove to be a disaster for Nebraskans as well as all Americans. America does need reform, but that reform has to come from government removing regulations and restrictions placed on the health care industry. Also. tort limits need to be implemented.
Why would anyone seriously believe the US government could control and manage such a large part of our economy? Can any one give an example on the federal government managing any federal program efficiently as compared to the efficiency of the private sector?
With the exception of the military there is no example.
When it comes to Nebraska, our taxes are out of control already. Businesses avoid Nebraska like the plague. How anyone, in good conscious, would pass legislation that would add more tax burdens on Nebraskans is beyond me. Anyone that votes for this Titanic disaster needs to be removed from office at the first opportunity.
Charlie
I donno…social security? How about our roads? Public universities?
The public option would lower costs, and it would only be an option. It is in no way government control, though people like you like to distort the truth about that.
And, unless you make half a million dollars, it wouldn't raise your taxes.