Obama health plan will work for us

I am a nurse who is very concerned about the state of health care in this country. We need reform, and we need it now. People are dying while health insurance companies are profiting.

Hundreds of thousands of nurses and groups like the American Nurses Association are supporting reform because they know our system works better for insurance companies than it does for the American people. Tens of millions of Americans have no health insurance, living one accident or illness away from total financial disaster. Hundreds of millions of Americans who have insurance live with the constant worry that they might lose it if they move, change jobs or lose their jobs - or that their insurance company might cancel their plan when they get sick.

President Obama's plan will simply make insurance work better, by holding the insurance industry accountable. Under the president's plan, it will be against the law for insurance companies to deny coverage based on a pre-existing condition; drop or weaken coverage when you get sick; and place caps on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or a lifetime.

For the tens of millions of Americans without insurance, President Obama's plan will offer quality, affordable choices. The president's plan calls for the creation of a new insurance exchange, where individuals and small businesses can compare plans and buy the one that works best for them. President Obama believes that one of the options available in the insurance exchange should be a public insurance option. He believes a public option is a way to create more competition and ensure every American has an affordable choice.

We are closer now than ever to enacting comprehensive reform. An unprecedented coalition of doctors and nurses - and a huge percentage of the American people - are behind President Obama's plan. It's time to finish the job and pass real reform.

Jenny Davis, RN

Elgin