Tom,
I am a native South Dakotan. I've always been proud to say that Tom Daschle is from my home state.
Today I am spitting nails.
I am a single father. I was laid off my last steady job eight years ago. Since then, I've been involved in several entrepreneurial projects. I've made a little money here and there, but mostly it's been a series of 'almosts.'
Politicians and pundits of all political persuasions tend to agree that small businesses and entrepreneurs like myself are an important part of our economy and of our future.
But my reward for my hard work has been to go without insurance for eight long years.
I tried to get insurance a couple of times, but was denied. I've had enough strange medical issues during that time that I seem to be basically uninsurable. Even if I was accepted by an insurance company, I have little doubt that I would be denied coverage if I ever really needed it.
This is from yesterday's Los Angeles Times:
Executives of three of the nation's largest health insurers told federal lawmakers in Washington on Tuesday that they would continue canceling medical coverage for some sick policyholders, despite withering criticism from Republican and Democratic members of Congress who decried the practice as unfair and abusive.
...
It also found that policyholders with breast cancer, lymphoma and more than 1,000 other conditions were targeted for rescission and that employees were praised in performance reviews for terminating the policies of customers with expensive illnesses.
Here's the link to that story: LINK
It sounds to me like your plan is to actually reward the insurance companies for these kinds of indefensible practices by... what, forcing all Americans to become their customers?
You couldn't be more wrong on this issue, Tom. Please stop fighting against me and others like me. People are suffering, and I don't mean insurance executives.
Thank you.
(VictorLaszlo)