Bring some cancer patients that are denied coverage and that will die because of it this year to the senate room or to the House if you have to

Here is a letter I sent to the White House and to a number US publications today
in reaction to the obstruction of the health reform by folks that haven't
even read the bill
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The health reform currently being debated is complicated. You have to follow every little detail to understand the stakes and even then you can easily get confused (which, I suspect, some senators are, especially if they decide to obstruct regardless of the content, and don't read the proposed reform surrendering to partisanship and re-election fever).

We should focus on only a few very general principles and aspects of the reform, and pass that.

This reform is not about abortion, nor is it about one specific health condition versus another. This reform is about a number of flaws in our current system.

I have asked myself many times which aspects I would “cherry pick” if I could only pick a few that I would like to see fixed. As hard as it is, I have picked only two at this time:

1)the fact that health insurance companies can pick and choose who gets denied coverage based on pre-existing conditions
2)the fact that our system is not financially viable and is deepening our Nation's deficit

Forget everything else. I know it's excruciating. But really. Forget everything else for now and just fix that. These two aspects have nothing to do with partisanship.

If the democrats have failed at one thing: they have failed at communicating very very simply on some aspects. They must “de-complexify” the issues (I know it's not a word), and they must let republican folks know that tens of thousands of people are gonna die because they are denied health insurance and they will continue to die each year if this is not fixed today. Hell, bring some cancer patients to the senate room or to the House that are gonna die this year because they don't have coverage and can't afford it. Make them testify. And then turn around and ask republicans that are more worried about making their political party look good. Bring the mother of a child that is about to die because she and the dad can't pay for coverage. Make her testify and then ask them with a straight face if they think that it is ok for this child to die because Washington is more worried about the politics.