Well, I don't know if it is the proverbial wasted breath, or whether my voice, along with others from North Carolina will help Senator Hagan stand up for us against the insurance industry, but go below to see my third letter to her office ...
And hat-tip to MCJOAN for providing the partial transcript that I pasted into my letter.
Dear Senator Hagan:
I have been keeping up with your thoughts about health care reform and the role of a public option. I appreciate the seriousness with which you are addressing this issue and trust that your analytic thinking will help you see through the hype being promulgated by the insurance industry and the pharmaceutical industry.
Just in case you have missed it, I am forwarding to you part of an interview that occurred on Bill Moyers' Journal with Wendell Potter, a former executive with Cigna:
BILL MOYERS: What were they afraid of?
WENDELL POTTER: They were afraid that people would believe Michael Moore.
BILL MOYERS: We obtained a copy of the game plan that was adopted by the industry's trade association, AHIP. And it spells out the industry strategies in gold letters. It says, "Highlight horror stories of government-run systems." What was that about?
WENDELL POTTER: The industry has always tried to make Americans think that government-run systems are the worst thing that could possibly happen to them, that if you even consider that, you're heading down on the slippery slope towards socialism. So they have used scare tactics for years and years and years, to keep that from happening. If there were a broader program like our Medicare program, it could potentially reduce the profits of these big companies. So that is their biggest concern.
BILL MOYERS: And there was a political strategy. "Position Sicko as a threat to Democrats' larger agenda." What does that mean?
WENDELL POTTER: That means that part of the effort to discredit this film was to use lobbyists and their own staff to go onto Capitol Hill and say, "Look, you don't want to believe this movie. You don't want to talk about it. You don't want to endorse it. And if you do, we can make things tough for you."
BILL MOYERS: How?
WENDELL POTTER: By running ads, commercials in your home district when you're running for reelection, not contributing to your campaigns again, or contributing to your competitor.
BILL MOYERS: This is fascinating. You know, "Build awareness among centrist Democratic policy organizations--"
WENDELL POTTER: Right.
BILL MOYERS: "--including the Democratic Leadership Council."
WENDELL POTTER: Absolutely.
BILL MOYERS: Then it says, "Message to Democratic insiders. Embracing Moore is one-way ticket back to minority party status."
I trust that you will be able to articulate to your fellow citizens of North Carolina the callous and cynical tactics used by the insurance industry to block reform and the introduction of a more competitive landscape into the health insurance industry.
Again, I appreciate what you do for North Carolina, and it is wonderful to have a Democrat representing me and our state in D.C.
Thanks.
Pinecone, MD