Kennedy writes healthcare op-ed

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) penned an op-ed for The Daily Beast today pushing for healthcare reform.

Titled “My Call to Arms,” the piece argues for a few key elements of reform, including preventive medicine, incentives to reward quality of care, and an end to the “pre-existing conditions” exclusion.

Kennedy, Chairman of the Health, Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, closed the piece with a push for a public insurance option, a policy vehemently opposed by Republicans and the insurance industry, who argue the government would be unfair competition to private insurers.

The best way to meet this goal is by giving Americans the option of enrolling in a public health-insurance plan, where coverage is provided in the public interest.

We must also require stricter oversight of the insurance industry. We’ve seen the harmful result of lax supervision and porous rules in the banking industry. We must make certain that health-insurance coverage serves the needs of consumers, not CEOs.

The time has come to take action. We must enact comprehensive health reform without delay. Patients and doctors, business and labor, Republicans and Democrats, and working families across the nation are demanding it, and Congress must respond.

Read the whole piece here.