Congress should listen to everyday Americans

It is time for Congress to listen to the American people, not the insurance companies. Pass health care that works for us now.

Health care costs are crushing families and small businesses, forcing more people to go without health coverage. Recently, Anthem Blue Cross announced that it is raising insurance premiums by 39 percent in California and other companies are doing the same in other states.

We can't wait any longer. No more excuses. No more politics. We need

good health care we can count on now.

The health care reform now in Congress will:

l Protect Americans from insurance company abuses

l Control costs and make good health insurance affordable to everyone

l Cover more than 30 million uninsured people through Medicaid and private insurance

l Expand access to health care through community health centers

l Help small businesses afford health insurance for their employees

l Reduce the federal budget deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars

After more than a year of debate, Congress should listen to everyday Americans, not the insurance lobbyists who are spending millions to block health care reform. If Congress can't pass real health care reform for the rest of us, we should stop providing health insurance for them.

Judy McDowell

Cedar Rapids