Health Care Reform: An Open Letter
Dear Fourth District Constituents,
I want to thank all of my constituents who have taken time to call and visit the Fourth Congressional District offices in recent weeks to share their views and concerns regarding the future of our nation's health care system. I appreciate hearing from each one of you. Please be assured that making our health care system more affordable, more accountable and more accessible is one of my top priorities.
Today, more than 46 million Americans find themselves uninsured or underinsured. This is an unacceptable situation. I believe that every American has a right to quality, affordable health care regardless of age, income, job status, health condition or where they live. To reach this goal, I strongly believe that Congress must pass health care reform that makes coverage more available and affordable, reduces overall costs, protects choice of physicians and includes a public option for people who choose it.
I will judge reform proposals by their ability to fundamentally make health care more available to working Americans. I speak regularly with constituents who are extremely worried about having no health care coverage or inadequate health care coverage. I hear repeatedly that the cost of health insurance is a tremendous burden for families in the Fourth Congressional District of Illinois. I believe Congress should take action now on this very serious challenge.
I believe a workable public option that extends health coverage to millions of uninsured Americans and provides options in the health care marketplace would encourage quality and efficient care and help to stabilize health care costs. I also believe we must maintain programs and options that are currently working well in our system. For example, I want to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries and people with high-quality employer-provided coverage are able to keep what they have if they choose to do so.
Too often, when faced with serious challenges, Congress has failed to act. I believe to fail to make progress on health care reform because of politics and partisan disagreements would be a great disservice to my constituents and the American people. Making affordable, high-quality health care available to all Americans will continue to be one of my top priorities as your representative in Congress.
Once again, thank you for taking the time to contact me about this important issue. I will continue to weigh your views heavily as the health care debate continues and as we work towards a solution that makes health care more affordable, more accountable and more accessible for everyone.
Sincerely,
Luis V. Gutierrez
Member of Congress