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Dear Shannon, My comments are about your article with Ezekiel Emanuel, FIVE MYTHS. Excellent article, congratulations. Shannon ,my career for forty years, was the life and health insurance industry. Retiring as  a marketing vp with the Principial Financial Group. A wonderful company, strong integrity and along with other fine insurance companies refused to have anything to do with selling medicare part D and Advantage Plans. I always been a strong advocate for aNational Non Profit  Single Pay Plan. When Advantage legislation passed ,Medicare costs went up immediately 13% to 20% and more. All those exra costs an immediate give aways of tax payer money for profit not better health care. I was asked to give Michael Moore's researcher information on the Advantage and Part D commissions and other compensation taken from the $800  monthly government subsidy reducing money available for claims from medicare. Poorly trained agents made misrepresentaion a routine and are earning six figure incomes for a plan that should never have become law.  My compensation information was used a background credability for Moore's movie "Sicko". my artiticles appear frequently in Utah and Nevada papers exposing this scam and advising people not to leave basic medicare. I have sent detailed  information to national writers as ahelp to them. I am afraid now that Obama will do something helpful but not take on the insurance companies in this market place. The commission details are  a well kept secret.. Shannon, where do you stand on one basic system, merging everytring into the government Medicare Program.? I have read and studied all the main other countries missions and costs. There is no doubt that actuarily the larger the group the more equitable the cost spread. My hope is to get a ground swell of people who become informed  and write the new members of Congress and OBama.

I have been a democrat for forty years and our only hope is that party. I have other knowledge of how the insurance systyem operates that  if it became part of our new congress's negotiating programs would take the fight out of the companies still active in selling health insurance particulary the for profit Senior Plans. Most of the quality companies are already phasing out. Hope to hear from you and maybe add some ammunition for your fight.  Sincerely, Tom Mc Dougall 435-635-5602