by Randy Shannon
Congressman Altmire’s 4th CD is the home of many veterans. He has offered legislation that affects veterans. On his website he states: “Altmire has consistently worked to help our nation’s veterans obtain good paying jobs when they return home. “
The problem that many veterans and their families face is that these jobs do not offer healthcare coverage. Altmire’s lobbying against meaningful healthcare reform shows that his support for veterans does not go very deep. Healthcare reform would help veterans, their parents, their spouses, their children, and their neighbors. Cong. Altmire has chosen to support the insurance companies when it comes to healthcare reform, not the veterans.
2,266 Veterans Died In 2008 Because They Were Uninsured
Elyse Siegel
First Posted: 11-10-09 06:38 PM According to a study released by the Harvard Medical School, 2,266 veterans under the age of 65 died last year as a result of not having health insurance. Researchers emphasize that “that figure is more than 14 times the number of deaths (155) suffered by U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2008, and more than twice as many as have died (911 as of Oct. 31) since the war began in 2001.”
The 1.46 million working-age veterans that did not have health insurance last year all experienced reduced access to care as a consequence, leading to “six preventable deaths a day.”
Like other uninsured Americans, most uninsured vets are working people — too poor to afford private coverage but not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid or means-tested VA care,” said Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a professor at Harvard Medical School. […]
Dr. David Himmelstein, the co-author of the report and associate professor of medicine at Harvard, commented, “On this Veterans Day we should not only honor the nearly 500 soldiers who have died this year in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also the more than 2,200 veterans who were killed by our broken health insurance system. That’s six preventable deaths a day.”
The study’s authors warn that the health care legislation “would do virtually nothing for the uninsured until 2013” and would “leave at least 17 million uninsured over the long run when reform kicks in,” leaving many veterans still without care.
The Huffington Post
Beaver County Blue: Voice of the 17th CD of Progressive Democrats of America 
Jason Altmire continues to disappoint many who have supported him.I’m not sure what he can do to restore the trust and faith to his core constituency
I certainly will not vote for Altmire again, but who can we get to run against him. We need someone who will actually represent the people from our district and not the companies who fund his campaign. Have any ideas?