Before you Vote, READ

For those of us who understand that the health insurance and health care status quo cannot be maintained, health reform was a welcome first step. However, during the run up to the midterm elections, it's been hard to stand by and watch as one lie after another is told about health reform, influencing people to vote against something that doesn't even exist.

Don't take my word for it -- READ, listen, decide for yourself.

• Health reform is not government run health care -- far less so than Medicare, Medicaid, the VA system, and other government health programs.

• Nobody will interfere with treatment decisions -- at least not any more than insurance companies, who already decide what you can and can't have (if this is wrong, why do I file hundreds of insurance appeals per year?).

• Health reform is not what's driving up premium prices by huge amounts. In fact, premium prices have been increasing in the double-digits for years. Health reform is estimated to account for 1-2 percent of this year's increases. The rest is insurance companies grabbing what they can.

Those are just three of the things that, when I hear them, I want to scream because people are buying this, and it's just plain false. For me, this isn't about Republican or Democrat; it's about the people who call me in desperation, who would be hurt if health reform were repealed. So before you vote to repeal health reform, make an effort to find out the truth. Don't take my word for it; read and listen and learn for yourself. You may be very sorry if you don't. Jennifer