Healthcare Debate Washington turns everything it touches into mold

[Guest guest]

See below news article. Although I don't agree with this person's position

on healthcare reform, this is a great quote at a public forum:

" Fady Khairallah of Monroe said people don’t trust government, then made a

comment based on the legend of Midas, the Greek God who turned everything

he touched into gold. 'Washington turns everything it touches into mold,â€

Khairallah said... "

Peshaw I say! Washington does everything possible to NOT acknowledge how

lobbying money from commerce to BOTH sides of the isle, allows out and out

fraud in health policy marketing over the mold issue. Washington has taken

the gold while not touching the mold...much to the detriment of any hope

of true healthcare reform. No matter how you cut it, DC knows what adverse

and undo influence the Chamber of Commerce and the insurance industry has

had over this issue, which is indicative of the greater ill in DC over

health policies. Yet they attempt to solve the problem while keeping their

heads in the sand...and their wallets in their pockets.

I am wishful that Obama can actually do something about healthcare in this

country as it is literally destroying our economy and our society. But, I

am not hopeful that they can actually do it without acknowledging the

Democrats have also played a significant role in allowing this mess to occur.

The Republicans have been out of control of power since 2006. It's time for

the blame game to stop and for these elected officials on BOTH sides of

the isle to work to undo their past wrongs. In order to do that though, one

first has to admit that they have past wrongs. Will never happen. Leaving

YOU unable to get real medical treatment for years to come. Leaving a gaping

hole in integrity in healthcare. Leaving our economy to suffer because DC

is trying to correct a problem without acknowledging they helped create

it.

I wish Obama the best of success, but at this point in time, I am not

hopeful true reform is anywhere on the horizon..even if they do get the bills

passed.

U.S. Rep. Jim Himes discusses healthcare reform in front of about 750

people during a town meeting last week at the Klein Memorial Auditorium.

(Photo

by Wayne Ratzenberger)

Freeda Fretz of Bridgeport knows she’s lucky to have health insurance

through her job, but her share of the annual premium and all the co-pays have

her living on the economic edge.

Fretz has survived cancer and had digestive system problems, and a recent

procedure led to the discovery of some worrisome polyps that means she will

have to pay more out-of-pocket expenses.

She tries to avoid going to the hospital because every visit means a $250

co-pay.

“I know there’s other people in my boat, and we all have to decide what to

buy and what not to buy,†she said of the expensive prescription drugs and

medical treatments she requires.

Fretz said she was hoping life would get easier as she grew older, but is

finding out it doesn’t work that way. She’s worked multiple jobs at times

to support herself.

“You work your whole life...,†she said, her voice trailing off with

emotion.

Fretz was one of about a dozen people who met with U.S. Rep. Jim Himes in a

small group session last week, a few hours before Himes’ healthcare town

meeting at Bridgeport’s Klein Memorial Auditorium. About 750 people attended

the forum at the Klein.

In a large room in Himes’ Bridgeport office, the freshman Democrat listened

as the invited constituents sat in a small circle and shared their

healthcare horror stories.

There was a man with heart problems who has been told he has to quit his

job before he can be considered for Social Security Disability; a rabbi whose

synagogue pays $25,500 annually for medical insurance for him and three

family members; a bricklayer who worries about a lapse of coverage every

winter when there’s no work; an unemployed man who spent countless hours

trying

to get a $367 charge eliminated for a physical he’d been assured would not

cost him any money; a woman whose unemployed husband must pay an

$1,800-a-month COBRA payment to keep the family’s insurance in place, and a

man who

had to lie about having had cancer on a form to get health insurance

“This helps to put a human face on it,†said Himes, looking around the

room. “You can see the stress, anxiety and fear this puts on people.â€

He said the nation’s healthcare system is failing many people, leading to “

economic devastation†for families and individuals.

“This is the moment when people need to understand the cost and pain of our

current system,†said Himes, a Greenwich resident.

“That these type of stories could be told in the richest nation in the

world is an indictment of us and our country,†he said, calling healthcare

reform a moral issue.

Facing the crowd

Less than an hour later, Himes was answering questions in front of the

crowd at the Klein. Both supporters and opponents of healthcare reform were in

the audience, although supporters appeared to slightly outnumber critics at

the Bridgeport event.

Himes has held a series of forums on the issue in the Fourth District

during the past few weeks, drawing a particularly large crowd in Norwalk, where

critics of reform were extremely vocal.

Himes called healthcare reform “probably the most important legislative

initiative we’ll see in our lifetime.†He said it’s important to get it

right

because the wrong approach would be “a catastrophe†for the country.

He said the U.S. system provides the best care in the world to those who

can afford it, but is dysfunctional. Steady increases in healthcare costs are

not sustainable in the U.S. economy, he said, and too many people can’t

get access to affordable health insurance.

After explaining the various bills now under consideration in Washington,

Himes opened the floor to comments and questions.

Tony LaRocco of Bridgeport said private insurance companies couldn’t

compete with a government health insurance program — the so-called public

option.

“Government doesn’t have to make a profit,†said LaRocco, adding the

federal government might just keep printing money to cover the deficit, driving

the country into deeper debt. He also noted the Social Security trust fund

surplus already is being tapped to pay for other programs.

Himes said while the healthcare bills under consideration would cost $615

million to $1 trillion over the next decade, the Democrats have proposed how

to pay for them unlike what President W. Bush did with the wars in

Iraq and Afghanistan and new Medicare prescription coverage.

Fady Khairallah of Monroe said people don’t trust government, then made a

comment based on the legend of Midas, the Greek God who turned everything he

touched into gold.

“Washington turns everything it touches into mold,†Khairallah said to

cheers from opponents of healthcare reform, which is supported by President

Barack Obama.

Rick of Bridgeport, the unsuccessful Republican mayoral candidate in

2003, said the way to lower healthcare costs is to encourage more

competition.

Himes said he supports more competition by introducing the public

healthcare insurance plan to compete with private plans. He would not subsidize

the

government plan.

Carole Anne DelVecchio, a nurse, said a public plan with lower prices would

drive the insurance companies out of business. She also said everyone in

America gets adequate coverage when they show up at a hospital, whether they

have insurance or not.

“There is not one person in this room who is denied medicine when they need

it,†DelVecchio said.

The other side

Carolyn Nah of Bridgeport offered a differing view. “People are dying in

the United States because they don’t have health insurance,†said Nah, who

nonetheless questioned if healthcare truly was better in other countries

that offer universal coverage.

Dorothy Blaustein, a retired school teacher from Bridgeport, said having

universal coverage works well in Europe. Her remarks were echoed by a few

other speakers.

“Their longevity and infant mortality are enviable,†Blaustein said of

France, explaining she had researched the healthcare status of many nations.

Dave Roberson, a Greenwich engineer, said insurance companies are lying to

the public to increase profits and frighten them from supporting the public

plan. “If the public option is worse, no one will choose it,†Roberson

told the opponents of reform.

Other supporters said healthcare reform could be financed by higher tobacco

and alcohol taxes and ending the two wars, criticized the amount of money

drug companies spend on consumer advertising, and pointed out the head of

healthcare insurance companies make multi-million-dollar annual salaries.

“Where’s the moral outrage?†asked one speaker.

Opponents countered that malpractice reform was needed to reduce lawsuits

that lead to defensive medicine, a government healthcare system would bring

rationing, and that having private insurance brings medical innovation.

They also questioned if the nation had enough doctors to serve all the new

patients that would come with more widespread insurance coverage,

Himes said he supports the “pay or play†approach that includes a possible

business payroll tax, but is sensitive to small businesses that might be

hurt by having to either buy their employees health coverage or pay the new

tax. He said it’s important to keep small businesses healthy because they

create the bulk of new jobs.