A Missive on Health Care Reform...

...that was sent by me to the Anchorage Daily News yesterday follows. I don't know if the paper will run my letter, so I'm running it here:

Senator Lisa Murkowski claimed (Compass, June 19) that the health care bill in Congress was both “unworkable” and “unaffordable,” citing cost estimates, a “broken” Medicare, and what she believes is an onerous “massive government intervention.”
Fast-forward to the June 20th town hall forum hosted by Senator Mark Begich, during which the vast majority of attendees supported a “public option” in a much needed health care overhaul. Add to that, polling data that show 72% of Americans want a government-run plan, that most Americans are willing to pay more in taxes to have one available, and that the government would do a better job running health care than the insurance industry. And add to that, the fact that 115,000 (18%) of Alaskans are uninsured, along with nearly 50 million other Americans.
What is patently clear is that the current health care system in the U.S. is unworkable and unaffordable, and shamefully so. The Republican health care “plan” hasn’t changed since the 1930s. Senator Murkowski would do well to stop regurgitating Republican talking points and help Senator Begich to push through the health care reform Americans and Alaskans so badly need.