Time to Pick Up the Phone Again

Of course this isn't news to anyone at BlueNC, but lately Senator Kay Hagan has come to the center of the debate regarding the central tenant of the Obama health care plan--a public health insurance option to compete with private plans helping drive down costs and giving consumers more choices. For several weeks now, progressives and conservatives alike have been flooding her office urging her to either support or oppose the public plan. Recently, the North Carolina Coalition for Health Care for America Now (NC HCAN) brought over 150 citizens to Washington for a town-hall style meeting in order to lobby Senator Hagan on the issue. An excellent discussion of the meeting and a smaller correspondence between Hagan and several Durham constituents was posted on Daily Kos by TriangleNC. If you haven't read it yet, check it out.

When discussing health care reform with reporters on Friday, Hagan stated she was still thinking things over and that, while she definitely supports a "backstop" for people without access to insurance, she would still prefer to strike a balance between the co-op proposed by Senator Conrad and the robust, public health insurance plan favored by progressives and President Obama. Also, Hagan said that activists should "stay tuned" to the health care debate. Granted, this last statement is somewhat ambiguous, but we can generally take them to mean that she can still be influenced by constituents who want her to make the right decision. Now more than ever, we need to pick up the phone and call Senator Hagan's office urging her to support the public plan, not a flimsy co-op or plan backed by a trigger that will probably never be pulled. We all know that without a public plan, markets will continue to be unfairly concentrated, costs will continue to rise, and the status quo will be maintained.

Senator Hagan has already helped our country make some progress on health care. Despite her reservations, she voted to expand SCHIP to 4 million more at-risk children. She also came through and voted for the Obama budget, putting a $634 billion down payment on health care reform. Now we need her to make the right decision on the toughest, most important issue of all. It's time to pick up the phone again.

Hagan's Washington DC Office: 202-224-6342.
Hagan can be emailed by filling out this form.
Thanks to all at BlueNC who continue to advocate for progressive reform.

NC HCAN