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Tuesday, September 29, 2009

LA Senator David Vitter on Health Care/Health Insurance Reform

at 5:36 PM ·



Louisiana Senator David Vitter On Health Care/Health Insurance Reform

Louisiana's Senator David Vitter (to label him "Republican" might be something of an understatement and/or a misnomer, depending on who you ask) is back in the news today regarding what seems to be a never-ending Washington prostitution ring scandal, but we're more interested in his stance on the state of health care in Louisiana. So we wrote to Senator Vitter about our support for reforms that would mean affordable health insurance for all Louisianans, and received in response his form letter on the issue (the same letter you would likely receive if you wrote to him on the issue). Senator Vitter's form response to the health care issue reads as follows (the only edit we made was to replace the name with an initial in the first line):

Dear Mrs. M.,

            Thank you for contacting me in favor of a public health insurance plan.  I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.

             I understand many Americans are uninsured or underinsured, causing many individuals and families to not receive the proper care they need to stay healthy.  I am committed to finding ways to provide quality and affordable health insurance to all Americans, and I believe we can reform health care by allowing reimportation of safe, cheaper prescription drugs from Canada and by speeding the approval of generic drugs.  Also, I believe we should offer small businesses the ability to pool together, which would provide the same negotiating advantage as corporations, to get access to affordable health care for their employees.  And, providing refundable tax credits would make health care more affordable and accessible by empowering individuals and families with more buying power to pick the health care plan that best fits their needs.

             I also want health care reform, but I am concerned that the America's Affordable Health Choices Act would actually limit choices, diminish quality, and do nothing to control costs.  The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office projected that this plan would cost more than $1 trillion over the next ten years and would still leave 34 million people uninsured.  Other independent studies show that 118 million Americans or 60 percent would lose their current coverage to be pushed on to the public plan.  I am concerned that the creation of a public plan would hinder Americans' access to the care they need and could result in long waiting lines for important surgeries and procedures.  I will continue working to make health care more affordable and accessible for Louisiana families as the Senate considers health care reform.

Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts on this important issue.  Please do not hesitate to contact me again in the future about other issues important to you. 
Sincerely,


Senator David Vitter

United States Senator

What we can discern from this letter:
  1. Senator Vitter is aware that millions of Americans (and therefore presumably Louisianans) are currently uninsured or underinsured.
  2. Senator Vitter supports the "reimportation" of prescription drugs from Canada. Apparently, he does not feel that the same drugs should simply be made more affordable to Americans in the first place. Why might this be? Perhaps we should consider that Vitter's top campaign contributors are from the "Health Industry" - and who has the money in the the health industry? Ah, that would be the insurance companies...followed closely by the pharmaceutical companies.
  3. Senator Vitter believes that small companies should be able to pool together to seek insurance - which they already can. 
  4. Senator Vitter wants to "solve" the problem of lack of insurance for millions of Americans by suggesting some kind of tax refund (although he doesn't seem want to suggest to anyone who hasn't written to him supporting health insurance reform). What's the biggest tax refund you have ever received? Would it come anywhere near paying for the cost of quality health insurance? We didn't think so.
  5. Senator Vitter believes that the President's plan for health care reform is too expensive. So apparently, the senator has higher priorities for your tax dollars than to help you pay for your own health insurance. He would rather that money go... where? Oh, right. To his top campaign contributors - the health insurance industry.
  6. Senator Vitter believes "independent" studies which seem to say that the plan would still leave millions without insurance, though how that is possible with a public option open to everyone, he doesn't explain. Nor does he provide you with a reference for these "studies," so I guess he just assumes that you wouldn't understand them anyway. We should just take his (and the insurance companies') word on it.
  7. Senator Vitter seems to be under the impression that providing a public insurance option, affordable and open to anyone, would somehow cause a trend of people who are currently insured to lose their insurance, although he doesn't explain how or why this would be the case. In fact, he appears to be behind the times on this one, since Louisiana residents are already losing their health insurance at a faster rate than residents of any other state.

Health Statistics ; % Point Change in Uninsured (most recent) by state

VIEW DATA: 
Totals
Definition     Source      Printable version   


  
Bar Graph

Map

Showing latest available data.

Rank  
 States 
Amount 
# 1  
Delaware:
 5.9  

# 2  
Mississippi:
 5  

# 3  
Pennsylvania:
 4.1  

# 4  
Rhode Island:
 3.4  

# 5  
Tennessee:
 3  

# 6  
New Jersey:
 2.6  

= 7  
Utah:
 2.1  

= 7  
Connecticut:
 2.1  

# 9  
Missouri:
 1.6  

# 10  
Michigan:
 1.5  

# 11  
Vermont:
 1.3  

# 12  
Wisconsin:
 1.2  

= 13  
Minnesota:
 1.1  

= 13  
Illinois:
 1.1  

= 13  
Georgia:
 1.1  

# 16  
North Carolina:
 0.6  

= 17  
New Hampshire:
 0.5  

= 17  
Arizona:
 0.5  

= 19  
Colorado:
 0.4  

= 19  
Oklahoma:
 0.4  

# 21  
Nevada:
 0.3  

# 22  
Montana:
 0.2  

# 23  
North Dakota:
 -0.1  

# 24  
Massachusetts:
 -0.5  

# 25  
Maryland:
 -0.6  

# 26  
Iowa:
 -0.7  

# 27  
South Carolina:
 -0.8  

# 28  
Kentucky:
 -0.9  

# 29  
Oregon:
 -1.1  

# 30  
South Dakota:
 -1.2  

# 31  
Nebraska:
 -1.3  

# 32  
Texas:
 -1.4  

# 33  
Alabama:
 -2.1  

# 34  
Virginia:
 -2.2  

= 35  
Indiana:
 -2.3  

= 35  
Florida:
 -2.3  

= 37  
California:
 -2.4  

= 37  
District of Columbia:
 -2.4  

# 39  
New York:
 -2.5  

= 40  
Hawaii:
 -2.8  

= 40  
Ohio:
 -2.8  

# 42  
Maine:
 -3  

# 43  
West Virginia:
 -3.1  

# 44  
Washington:
 -3.3  

# 45  
Wyoming:
 -3.4  

= 46  
Kansas:
 -3.8  

= 46  
New Mexico:
 -3.8  

# 48  
Arkansas:
 -3.9  

# 49  
Alaska:
 -4.8  

# 50  
Idaho:
 -4.9  

# 51  
Louisiana:
 -7.2  



Weighted average:
 -0.6   


To summarize: Senator Vitter, who is self-admittedly perhaps not the foremost authority on "family values," knows that millions of us are uninsured. He knows that we cannot afford our prescription medications. But his campaign benefited more from the contributions of insurance and pharmaceutical companies than from any other industry. So, perhaps not coincidentally, he does not support health care reform as it is currently being debated, nor does he offer any more likely option. Senator Vitter would like, in short, to do absolutely nothing to help your family access affordable, quality medical care. He told us so himself.

Would you like to say something to Senator Vitter? Let your views be known (and let us know what he says)!  You can contact him via the internet, or through any of his offices:

Senator David Vitter:






  • Washington, D.C. Office

    516 Hart Senate Office Building
    Washington, DC 20510
    Main: (202) 224-4623
    Fax: (202) 228-5061










  • Central Louisiana Office

    2230 S. MacArthur Dr., Suite 4
    Alexandria, LA 71301
    Main: (318) 448-0169
    Fax: (318) 448-0189










  • Northeast Louisiana Office

    1217 N. 19th St.
    Monroe, LA 71201
    Main: (318) 325-8120
    Fax: (318) 325-9165










  • Northwest Louisiana Office

    920 Pierremont Road, Suite 113
    Shreveport, LA 71106
    Main: (318) 861-0437
    Fax: (318) 861-4865










  • Southeast Louisiana Office

    2800 Veterans Blvd., Suite 201
    Metairie, LA 70002
    Main: (504) 589-2753
    Fax: (504) 589-2607










  • Southwest Louisiana Office

    3221 Ryan St., Suite E
    Lake Charles, LA 70601
    Main: (337) 436-0453
    Fax: (337) 436-3163










  • Acadiana Office

    800 Lafayette St.
    Suite 1200
    Lafayette, LA 70501
    Main: 337-262-6898
    Fax: 337-262-6373










  • Baton Rouge Office

    858 Convention St.
    Baton Rouge, LA 70802
    Main: 225-383-0331
    Fax: 225-383-0952




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