By Tammy Baldwin

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 19, 2009

Health care for all is a part of the American dream that has gone unfulfilled since 1945, when President Harry Truman first proposed it. How many people have suffered, how many families bankrupted, how many business plans deferred, how many futures denied because we do not have affordable, accessible, quality health care for all?

But for the first time in more than six decades, as we begin to transform our economy and reclaim our stake in the American dream, health care for all is within our grasp.

Some thought this day would never come - and many are doing all they can to assure that it never will. But they are in the minority.

Access to affordable health care is the No. 1 concern of Wisconsinites. It is a worry that keeps parents up at night, keeps seniors from taking all the medications they need, keeps young people from getting early, preventive care and keeps America from the position of world economic leadership we enjoyed for so long. It's the issue I hear more about than any other - the one whose painful personal stories move and motivate me day in and day out.

This week, key committees in the House of Representatives, including one on which I sit, have produced a plan for health care reform that promises to lower costs, provide better care and keep our insurance industry competitive and fair for all consumers.

Our proposal will prevent insurance companies from denying people coverage because of a pre-existing medical condition. It will ensure that workers still can have health insurance if they lose or change their job or start a new business. And it includes a health insurance exchange that will allow families and small businesses to compare prices and quality so they can choose the health care plan that best suits their needs.

You can be sure of two things. First, under our proposal, if you like your doctor and the plan you have now, you may keep them. If you are not satisfied with your coverage or if you are one of the 47 million Americans currently uninsured, you will have additional and more affordable options.

Second, you will be bombarded, if you're not already, by forces massed to deny you this dream. These special interests, funded by the big drug and insurance companies, are not at all concerned with the well-being of America's hard-working, middle-class families.

And why should they be? While working families are struggling to keep their heads above water, the average salary for the top seven health insurance company CEOs last year was $9,719,891. The salary of just one CEO would be enough to provide health coverage to 648 families.

What they most fear is what Americans most need and what our proposal offers: a public health insurance option. Including a public option among the many plans offered will make health care affordable by increasing competition, providing more choices and keeping the insurance companies honest.

There is no reason to fear a public health insurance option. We already have a highly successful one here in Wisconsin called SeniorCare, a program that enjoys broad, bipartisan support. Since 2003, Wisconsin has been offering a public option for seniors in need of prescription drug coverage who do not select the private plans in Medicare Part D.

While SeniorCare is both wildly popular and hugely effective, private prescription drug insurance plans continue to flourish in Wisconsin, with a large number of available plans and fair premium rates.

In 2007, against the wishes of the Bush administration, every member of our state's congressional delegation rallied successfully to keep the waiver that allows our state to offer this public health plan option. That Republicans who openly embraced SeniorCare now react so negatively to a public option in broader health care reform makes no sense.

The loud voices and well-financed campaigns of the naysayers, the cynics and the keepers of the status quo will not trump the millions of Wisconsinites and Americans in all parts of the country and every sector of society who know that enough is enough.

Real health care reform, transformational reform that includes a public plan option, is within our grasp, and we must seize this moment.

Democrat Tammy Baldwin represents Wisconsin's 2nd Congressional District.