Health care vote helps people

I would like to thank Senators Durbin and Burris as well as Representatives Bean and Foster along with many others who made health care reform a reality.

I particularly want to thank them for the help and hope they have given my 22-year-old Type I diabetic daughter. Up until this morning she faced the almost certain prospect of losing coverage at the end of this year.

Now she knows that my work coverage will be possible for four more years and that thereafter her pre-existing condition will not be a bar to insurance.

Four cheers from our hearts for Durbin, Burris, Bean and Foster!

As a person nearing retirement age, I am of course concerned about the future of Medicare along with Social Security. I can only express my appreciation for the courage of these legislators who - unlike their supposedly fiscally conservative brethren on the other side of the aisle - voted to reduce the federal cost of Medicare as well as levy a small payroll tax on the investment income of those who can afford to pay more for their health care than many others.

Ten years have been added to the life of Medicare. Good job!

Finally, I would like to note that despite the letter and e-mails I sent to his office as well as the phone calls I placed, I never received a response from Representative Manzullo, who as far as I know added nothing constructive to the health care debate from any point of view. I can only hope that he will now urge his party mates in the Senate to support the improvements the House made to the Senate bill by closing the prescription-drug "doughnut hole," increasing insurance subsidies for low-income citizens and helping states like Illinois pay for the expansion of Medicaid.

Peer Lykke

Barrington Hills