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Published by Daily Jefferson County Union.
They had different concerns and personal stories, but everyone who spoke at a Watertown forum Thursday advocated significant healthcare reform, whether through a single-payer system, a "public option" or other means.
Some shared how a relative's healthcare depleted his or her savings in the last years of life. Others talked of an insurance company's attempts to deny legitimate coverage. Yet others related how insurance costs ate up more and more of their paycheck, and still others expressed concern about how the explosion of Medicare supplemental plans confused both seniors and medical providers.
The forum Thursday, sponsored by the Jefferson and Dodge County Democratic parties, opened with a talk by Paulette Garin, 2008 candidate for Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan's seat and an advocate for a single-payer healthcare system.
After her talk, members of the audience weighed in with concerns and personal experiences.
The single-payer plan Garin advocates goes beyond proposals currently being discussed in Congress, including the "public option." She said she favors replacing private health insurance with a publicly financed system that operates like an expanded, upgraded Medicare.
Garin, the state coordinator for Progressive Democrats of America, a member of the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care, said that single-payer would cover everyone in the nation and could be financed through a 6.6 percent payroll deduction.
Currently, 30 percent of the nation's healthcare dollars go toward profits, not medical care, she said. This money instead goes to high CEO pay, advertising and lobbying.
For comparison, one speaker stated, Medicare administrative costs run around 6 percent to 7 percent, compared to 24 to 25 percent for private insurance.
"The insurance industry is spending $1.4 million a day lobbying against any meaningful healthcare reform," Garin said.
She said healthcare costs currently contribute to business closings, jobs moving overseas, and the loss of potential innovators and entrepreneurs because people are afraid of losing their healthcare coverage.
A certified public accountant, Garin said she felt single-payer would not only work--it also would be the most economically feasible way to reform the healthcare system.
Critics of a government-financed system say they don't want bureaucrats to come between them and their doctors. However, right now, insurance company officials already come between patients and their doctors, Garin said.
Garin said she was honored to ask the first question of President Barack Obama at a recent town hall meeting in Green Bay. Although this is not the plan his administration is bringing forward, Garin said the president took the time to explain that single-payer is not the same as socialized medicine.
Garin said single-payer is not a new idea. In fact, Physicians for a National Health Plan began pushing for this type of system two decades ago, and Rep. John Conyers of Michigan has introduced this idea for several sessions of Congress in his bill H.R. 676. The bill now has 92 co-sponsors, including Wisconsin's U.S. Reps. Tammy Baldwin and Gwen Moore. Bernie Sanders of Vermont also sponsored a similar bill in the Senate.
Garin called Conyers' bill simple and understandable, as opposed to the proposal Congress currently is mulling over. It would cover everyone, not just reduce the number of people who are uninsured.
It also would break the link between healthcare and the employer, she said, freeing businesses from hefty costs of health insurance while giving healthcare consumers greater flexibility to change jobs or go into business for themselves.
The speaker contrasted single-payer with the "public option" idea also being tossed around in Congress right now.
Going back to her question of Obama, Garin related her concern: "If we have a public option in tandem with private insurance, how do we prevent the public option from merely operating as a subsidy to insurers? ..."
Medicare turns 40 this year, she said. Recent administrations have allowed private insurers to start selling Medicare Advantage plans, marketing them as cheaper. However, she said, private insurers "cherry-picked" the healthiest patients, turning down those in greatest need, and pocketed the profits.
Garin criticized the "Patients' Choice Act" plan put forward by Ryan, her erstwhile opponent, which puts otherwise uninsured people in a state-funded pool.
Fran Vandre of Jefferson said her husband, a retired military man, is covered by TRICARE, and she said the military's government-funded healthcare plan works really well.
"Why not just expand TRICARE?" she asked.
Vivian Levensohn of Dodge County, whose husband is a family physician, agreed with the speaker that a lot of our current healthcare costs represent non-medical items, including profits for shareholders, as well as all of the things Garin mentioned.
Under the current private insurance system, Levensohn said, even a bill from the local doctor's office reflects high administrative costs, due to the large billing staff every office must retain in order to handle "the incredible multiplicity of healthcare plans."
Chuck Moehling of Jefferson asked Garin to answers the charge that if Wisconsin moves to a single-payer system for the state, it would drive business out.
Garin asserted that a single-payer system should be an asset for businesses, lessening the burden on employers to provide healthcare and making them more competitive with businesses around the world.
Diane Thompson of Beaver Dam said she views Medicare supplemental insurance as a scam and Medicare Part D a "disaster."
She has a friend who pays $300 per month for supplemental insurance on top of Medicare.
Her experience with group plans has been even worse, she said, relating a friend's case in which the insurer proved "absolutely fraudulent.
"They denied claims they knew they were supposed to pay," Thompson said, asserting that big insurance companies know most people cannot afford to sue them.
Intervening on her friend's behalf, Thompson said, she got on the phone to the insurance company repeatedly, reading applicable portions of the insurance contract back to them, but she was still put off until she contacted the attorney general.
"Shortly thereafter, my friend's claims started getting paid," she said. Sadly, she said, this is not the exception, but, rather, the rule as insurance companies reward employees for cutting costs at the expense of patients, even if it means denying reasonable and legitimate claims.
Jim Geid of Beaver Dam reflected the attitude of the room when he stated, "Something has to be done. This is affecting businesses. It's affecting individuals."
Although single-payer would be nice, he said he backs the plan the Obama administration is bringing forward despite its "many holes." This would be a start, he said, although after this goes through, citizens must continue to push forward to achieve greater change.
Anne Johnson of Lake Mills asked how it would be possible to dismantle the current system to establish a single-payer one. The speaker responded that it would be a gradual process. It would take about a decade to fully shift to a single payer system, she estimated. However, even the current proposal, if passed, is not expected to go into effect until 2013.
Watertown's Susan Finnel offered the final comment of the day, stating that everyone should call their senators and representatives to demand substantive healthcare reform.
"We should tell our representatives that we want the same good healthcare that we buy for them," she said.
Copyright © 2008 Daily Jefferson County Union
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