The heath care system of the United States is in crisis. Almost fifty million Americans completely lack health insurance, including more than 70,000 people in Wyoming. Tens of millions more lack adequate coverage, and the millions who do have private coverage are paying increasingly unaffordable premiums, resulting in inadequate access to care and premature death, illness, or financial ruin for millions of Americans.
Nationwide, public polls show that a majority of Americans want health care reform to offer the choice of a robust public option similar to Medicare in order to, in the words of President Obama, %u201Ckeep the insurance companies honest.%u201D At the same time, co-ops or so-called %u201Ctriggers%u201D are inadequate in and of themselves to address the health care crisis. We need a public option to create significant competition for the medical insurance industry and give insurance companies an incentive to control costs.
For these reasons, we the undersigned strongly support healthcare reform that includes a robust public option. We hereby call on Sen. Mike Enzi, Sen. John Barrasso, and Rep. Cynthia Lummis to vote for only such healthcare reform proposals as contain a robust public option at all stages of the legislative process, including conference and reconciliation.
