A letter from Senator Barbara A. Mikulski

Dear Ms. Cohen:

Thank you for getting in touch with me about health care reform. It's great to hear from you.

Health care is one of the most important issues facing families and our economy. We need to pass comprehensive health reform that:

• reduces costs for families, business and government
•protects people's choice of doctors, hospitals and health plans
• assures affordable, quality health care for all Americans

As a member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, I helped write the Affordable Health Choices Act, which was passed by our committee on July 15, 2009. This bill takes a giant step forward in providing health care that is available, undeniable and affordable for all Americans. It allows you to keep what you have if you like your current coverage. It prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage to those with preexisting conditions. It enables people to keep their health insurance if they lose their jobs.

Families and business are facing staggering health care costs. Premiums have doubled over the last 10 years. Without reform, these costs will continue to rise. The HELP bill reduces costs by:

• reducing administrative costs
• reducing medical and medication errors
• preventing hospital readmissions
• better managing chronic diseases
• reducing fraud and abuse in the health care system
• eliminating waste through promoting effective, evidence based medicine

I understand your concerns regarding the creation of public health care option. You should know that the HELP legislation is very clear: if you like the insurance you have today, you can keep it. The creation of the public option simply offers additional choice and competition to the current system. The public option is voluntary for patients and providers, it will be self-supporting, and will compete on a level playing field because it must abide by the same rules as private health insurance plans.

This is a historic moment. Forty years ago, the United States of America landed a man on the moon. I think that's a wonderful achievement. But if we can send people into space and be able to afford to do it, we can also help people get to a doctor and be able to afford to do it.

Thanks once again for writing. Please let me know if I can be of assistance in the future.

Sincerely,

Barbara A. Mikulski
United States Senator

My letter to Senator Barbara A. Mikulski

Dear Senator Mikulski,

As a health insurance broker who owns a firm employing 15 employees and insures more than 1500 groups in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Virginia, it is very upsetting to me that the issues pertaining to te costs of care have not been properly addressed.

Has anyone mentioned the costs of prescriptions and reform within the pharmaceutical companies? What about the issue of tort reform, or the fact that many of the uninsured are illegal immigrants who do not pay into the system?

Until we look at the real cost of care, any reform that Congress initiates will do us no good. Arguably, the bills proposed and or passed will cost us more money than what's being spent thus far. In our experience, each year the average American has a physical, mammogram, Pap Smear, two sick visits, an X-ray, and a prescription such as Lipitor. How can a $200 per month benefit cover the cost of all of that?

Furthermore, why should some be able to walk in a hospital with no insurance and be provided with free healthcare when others pay for it? Wouldn't it be better to incentivize those on Medicaid to get off, and buy a useful, affordable health insurance policy healthcare after a certain tme period?

I firmly believe there are many ways to cut costs and keep premiums down. We believe it is a sad state of affairs that the real issues are not being addressed to heal or health insurance issues.

My partners and I would love to sit down with you to show you what the real problems are in healthcare as we sell, service and provide the products that the consumers are purchasing.

I will look forward to hearing from you.

Stephanie Cohen, CEO
Golden & Cohen www.golden-cohen.com

Q&A with Scott Golden was posted today on OurBlook.com

A website that offers innovative solutions to todays problems, "OurBlook":http://www.ourblook.com, today posted an "interview with Scott Golden":http://www.ourblook.com/Heathcare/Scott-Golden-on-Healthcare-Reform.html, chief financial officer of Golden & Cohen, a health benefits consulting company in the Washington, D.C. area.

Here's a sample:

*Question:* President Obama has made it clear he isn’t working to set up a precursor to a single-payer health care system. Meanwhile, the insurance industry says that any version of a public plan will kill private industry. Is there any precedent for a public/private partnership in health insurance?

*Scott Golden:* The way the proposal is being described, there are no partnerships, so the public plan would compete against private plans. There is nothing on point with this scenario to date, which is why there is great speculation as to what might happen.

Click here to read the entire interview.