President Obama's Email

Dear Jennifer Mayotte:

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. I have heard
from countless Americans struggling to afford health insurance and
health professionals striving to provide care. I appreciate your
perspective.

There is broad consensus among the American people on
the need for affordable, high-quality health care. The rising cost of
health care is the most pressing financial challenge for families and
our Nation, and controlling this cost is essential to bringing down
the Federal deficits we inherited. We must end unfair insurance
practices that leave millions without insurance, deny people access
to coverage and expose them to extraordinary burdens. Now is the
time to move forward and get health insurance reform done.

Since I took office, we have done more to improve health
care than we have in the previous decade. I signed H.R. 2 to
provide coverage for millions of children in the Children's Health
Insurance Program and the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act to invest in computerized medical records and preventive
services.

Still, more must be done to lower costs, expand coverage,
and improve the quality of health care. Health insurance reform
must provide more security and stability to those who have health
insurance; make sure those who do not have insurance can find
affordable options; and lower the cost of health care for our
families, our businesses, and our government. Reform will benefit
seniors by protecting and strengthening Medicare, closing the
"donut-hole" gap in coverage for prescription drugs, and providing
free preventive care.

Looking forward, there are tough choices to be made, and I
will seek to bring employers, workers, health care providers, and
patients together to create a system that delivers high-quality
health care and puts the Nation on a sustainable, long-term fiscal
path. To learn more about my Health Insurance Reform Plan or to
share a personal story, please join me online at:
www.HealthReform.gov. For further information on health care
and assistance that may be available to you, you may call 1-800-
FED-INFO or visit: www.USA.gov.

I share the sense of urgency that many Americans have
voiced. I watched as my ailing mother struggled with stacks of
insurance forms at the end of her life. This is not who we are as a
Nation; together, we will fix it.


Sincerely,

Barack Obama