Hello everyone, Alexi Giannoulias here, Treasurer of the State of Illinois and Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate.
I wanted to take a few minutes off the campaign trail and talk to the netroots about something that’s critically important to me and to millions of Americans: health insurance reform. The President gave us his thoughts on the issue on Wednesday. I wanted to share my thoughts with you today.
I’m a financial guy at my core— I'm currently the State Treasurer of Illinois. Before that, I was Vice President of a community bank. I have a degree in economics, so I’m interested in the solution that makes the most moral and economic sense. And, as the first candidate in Illinois history who doesn't accept contributions from federal lobbyists or corporate PAC’s, you can be sure that my thoughts on this issue are with the people first.
The central facts in this debate are not in dispute. Health insurance premiums have skyrocketed in the last decade, rising three times faster than wages. Each year, more and more of your paycheck goes to paying for insurance that covers less and less.
But the numbers aren’t just out of line for American families. Health care expenditures are currently about 18 percent of our national GDP. Without reform, some 1 out of every 3 American dollars will be spent paying for health care by 2040.
These numbers don’t make sense, not from a family budgeting perspective and not from a national budgeting perspective.
It is clear that though we are in a health insurance crisis now, a health insurance disaster is right around the corner.
And that is why I believe the President is right when he says the creation of a non-profit public option is the best solution. Such a plan would give consumers more choice, create more competition for insurance companies and lower costs.
Look, if we can lower the cost growth of health care by just 1.5 percentage points a year, a family of four will have an extra $10,000 a year in their pocket in 2030. If we get health reform right, family income will be $25,000 higher by 2040.
The numbers speak for themselves.
Despite the fact that this plan presents the most logical way to move forward, those opposed to real health care reform are gleefully celebrating the politics of it all, using lies about "death panels" and smears about "socialism" to derail reform. They’re relishing in their obstructionism.
Indeed, just recently, Republican Mark Kirk (IL-10) boasted that "Republicans have quickly recovered their voice."
Mark Kirk has gotten a lot of things wrong over the last several years, but Mark Kirk got that right. Republicans have indeed found that voice, and it’s a voice dripping with contempt and disdain for any sort of progress.
Yesterday, after the President’s speech, Congressman Kirk complained that the President, "talked at us. He didn't listen to us." But when Congressman Kirk receives almost half a million dollars from insurance industry PACs and big PHARMA, you have to wonder who the "us" is he’s talking about.
The "us" for Mark Kirk isn’t the American people—it’s the Republican Party and its big business base. They’ve been dominating the health care debate so far because they understand that people consume their health care in a very personal way.
Americans trust their doctors with their lives and the lives of their children. And they live in fear that bad news at work can literally threaten the health of their family back at home.
That's why scare tactics and the outright lies orchestrated by the insurance companies have worked so well over the August recess. That's why politicians like Mark Kirk, a virtual wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance companies, parrot these falsehoods to cover up the real truth -- that for 10 years this Congress has actively killed nearly every attempt to reign in insurance company abuses while the cost of health care has doubled.
Now, they don't just parrot these lies on TV and talk radio. They shout them at town halls -- and they even scream them at the President of the United States in front of the entire Congress and millions of concerned Americans watching at home.
It’s time to put an end to this circus.
Progressives have never been closer to real reform, and we have to take decisive action now.
As this health insurance debate enters a new phase, we should continue to seek out bipartisanship. But while we may compromise when appropriate to get this plan passed, we should refuse to compromise our principles.
We shouldn’t allow reform to be blocked by those on either side of the aisle whose seats at the table were bought and paid for by special interests, and whose votes on the bill are already predetermined by the signers of their campaign contribution checks. That's one of the main reasons I decided to reject money from corporate PACs and federal lobbyists. Facts, not money, should matter here. I've looked at the facts on this issue, and I believe strongly we're on the right path.
When this bill comes up for a vote this fall, I’ll still be just a candidate for U.S. Senate, campaigning and trying to get our message out. But I wanted this community to know that if I were in the Senate, I would case my vote without reservation for a non-profit public option as part of the health insurance exchange. It creates choice, competition, and it makes sense. It will make sure that Americans and their doctors, not insurance company bureaucrats and bean counters, are the ones making healthcare decisions.
Thanks for taking the time to listen, and I look forward to your comments.