Rasoul offers health care reform
FISHERSVILLE — A health care plan in Congress is the right elixir for soaring costs that are stifling business growth and keeping the elderly and uninsured from getting proper care, Sixth District congressional candidate Sam Rasoul said Wednesday.
The Democrat backs HR 676, a proposed single-payer health insurance plan that covers all Americans.
A local business owner illustrated how it is that people are teetering on the edge by sharing his story at Rasoul’s news conference on Wednesday. Terry Holmes is the owner of the successful Mill Street Grill restaurant in Downtown Staunton. He would be even more successful if he didn’t offer his employees basic health-insurance benefits, which have more than quintupled in bottom-line costs since 2001, and are expected to rise sharply again this fall.
“I’m not going to pass all the increases onto them, but I have to pass some of them,” said Holmes, the owner of the popular Mill Street Grill restaurant in Downtown Staunton, talking about insurance costs that have gone from $75 per month per employee in 2001 to nearly $400 a month today, with another $85-a-month increase expected this fall.
The U.S. has great doctors, great technology, great health care - if you have private coverage through employment. For those who don't have that coverage, a health issue can quickly become a financial crisis leading to bankruptcy. Our failure to provide a national health policy also drains our economy in many ways - small businesses have to devote huge often prohibitive resources, to coverage, big business it put at a disadvantage in a global economy, and hospitals and doctors must write-off or pass on the costs of uninsured patients. H.R. 676 might not fix everything, but it will be a huge step in the right direction. Rasoul should be commended for putting it squarely before 6th District voters.