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Here's the text of a letter I wrote up this weekend, to send to some newspaper(s) (which?) this week:

For decades, private for-profit insurance companies have been
spreading fear about "government run health insurance". Despite the
fact that people on Medicare - run by the government - are more
satisfied with their insurance than people on private insurance, the
private insurance companies have been telling us that national health
care wouldn't work, because the government can't run a good insurance
system, and we're all better off with private insurance. Obama's plan
puts their claims to the test, and it's time to put up or shut up.

Obama is proposing a compromise between a national single payer
system, and the private insurance we have: he's proposing to put a
public health insurance on the market with the private companies, to
let people choose and see what works better. Insurance companies'
complaints about "unfair competition" are a smokescreen. They want to
mislead us into a conversation about how to be fair to insurance
companies, while they continue being unfair to the American people.

What the for-profit insurance companies are really saying is that they
fear the government can run a better health insurance - that satisfies
people more, and leaves us healthier, at a lower cost. They may be
right. Congress owes it to us to create a public health option so
that we can try it and find out. Stop worrying so much about the
health of the insurance companies, and care for the health of the
American people for a change.

Thoughts? Suggestions for improvement?