Brian Schweitzer on Health CareDemocratic MT Governor | |
At the center of his own proposal is allowing citizens below the retirement age to enroll in Medicare, forcing private insurers to compete against the government rate. "As you probably recall, most Democrats were calling for a public option. But what came out of the Senate Finance Committee did not have a public option," Schweitzer says, blaming health insurance lobbyists and their enablers in both parties. "We now have the corporate party and the corporate-lite party."
In a letter to congressional leadership, 22 governors are urging federal lawmakers to adopt national health reform legislation before the end of the year to provide families and businesses with much-needed security and stability.
"We commend you and your colleagues for provisions included in your bills that will help states," the governors wrote. "Many of the provisions will allow states to achieve long term savings and help cover those who currently go without health coverage. We recognize that health reform is a shared responsibility and everyone, including state governments, needs to partner to reform our broken health care system."
"Efforts at the federal level, like the recent and critical investments that support states' HIV and prevention initiatives, are beginning the work to lower health care costs. Our citizens and our states, however, will only achieve the health care security and stability they need if we succeed in working together to achieve health care reform."