Foster does right by our medical needs

I believe we all need to thank Rep. Bill Foster of the 14th Congressional District for his vote for health care reform.

I'm retired and on Medicare. I wish that all of my fellow citizens could have this government-run, single-payer system of health care. Unfortunately, 40 million Americans have no basic health care. For those purchasing medical insurance they must have no pre-existing conditions or insurance companies will deny coverage.

Those having insurance can be canceled at any time if they get sick. If the dollar amount limit of most insurance policies is reached, due to a catastrophic illness, insurance companies will cancel the policy. If you move from one job to another the insurance can be canceled or you can be forced to pay high rates for Cobra insurance.

The medical insurance reform act passed by Congress addresses each of the issues listed above. It will provide a government option to allow government-run programs to compete with the insurance monopolies. The bill will eliminate pre-existing condition and upper limits for coverage and so on. The bill also requires insurance companies to keep children on the policy until age 26, a positive for families with students in college. Small businesses will be able to form pools to negotiate as a group with insurance companies, thereby saving money.

Foster voted for these insurance changes. I think he deserves credit and re-election for supporting these necessary changes. As a bonus the bill will save $10 billion in medical costs over the next 10 years.

Ron Gilkerson

Batavia