Gray Column: A health-care conversation with a congressman
Published: June 29, 2009
Reforming health care this year may not be the calling of our generation but it’s surely a test for our generation.
You might think that I am being a little dramatic. And maybe you are right but the facts speak for themselves.
Even the most conservative of estimates says there are 47 million uninsured Americans (2.1 million are Virginians).
Also, the Kaiser Family Foundation reports that 17 percent of the Gross Domestic Product — what we spend money on and how much it costs — is spent on health care.
And, in May of this year, the Social Security and Medicare Trustees reported that Medicare will go bankrupt by 2017, two years earlier than previously expected.
So, as you can see we are approaching a climactic point where something has to be done. The only question is — what?
To get a better understanding of the “what,” I wanted to talk with someone deeply involved in the process.
So, I spoke with Republican Rep. Rob Wittman of Virginia’s 1st Congressional District — which includes Dumfries, Stafford County and Fredericksburg.
I want to share with you some of the issues we talked about concerning health care reform from his viewpoint.
Because we talked about quite a few things, I decided to write about our discussion in two parts. The first is concerning access and types of health care reform options being discussed. Next week will
talk about the cost of health care reform.
After that I hope to speak with a Democratic member of Congress to get the other perspective as well. This issue is much too important for exclusive views from one political party or the other.
To start, I asked Wittman about the 2.1 million uninsured Virginians. Incidentally, 81 percent of the 2.1 million Virginians either work part time or full time. Regardless, they fall into that gap of either not
being able to afford health insurance or their employer not offering it.
I asked Wittman what could be done through legislation to eliminate the gap for Virginians who need coverage but cannot afford it.
One of the options he mentioned is a tax credit for people with more modest incomes and tax credits to help small businesses cover the administrative costs of establishing and maintaining coverage for
those employees unable to afford coverage. These credits could help small businesses provide private insurance options their employees could afford.
He also mentioned the need for states like Virginia to redesign insurance laws making coverage more affordable through competition. The thought here is the more free market competition, the more
options for consumers and the more affordability of coverage for people.
Next we talked about public vs. private insurance options — also known as government-run health care vs. the more traditional employer-based system we now have.
President Obama has said he doesn’t want to eliminate private health care insurance. However, Wittman and most Republican members in Congress are concerned that could very well happen.
The Wittman mentioned his concern that a public plan could cause individuals to drop their private insurance plans in favor of a public plan. You might say what is the problem with that? After all isn’t that
more competition? I did ask that question of Wittman.
“We must consider that the more people drop out of private insurance the more likely the cost of private health insurance would go up due to fewer participants,” he said. “The results of a declining private
plan could limit a patient’s choice of doctors and medical treatment options.”
The thought here is that doctors in a public plan would potentially be limited in care options due to a bureaucratic process more focused on cost savings than patient needs.
Throughout our discussion Wittman focused on the need for bipartisanship. “Health care reform needs to have the fingerprints of Democrats, Republicans and independents on it if this is to be a truly
successful effort,” he said. “Hopefully that will be the case.”
I look forward to sharing with you the second half of our discussion so that you can have a better understanding of what is at stake with health care reform. Whether you agree with Wittman or not, you
cannot ignore the significance of this reform effort and the need to hear from every side about it.
Davon Gray works in Washington, D.C., and resides in Woodbridge. Contact him at .
Advertisement
Reader Reactions
What you don’t hear Republican Congressmen talking about in regards to healthcare reform:
dbpwc,
When we talk about bankrupcy, you may want to note that currently medical bills are the leading cause of bankrupcy in America.
DB there are several problems with your version. First, there is a thing called bankruptcy, in which those debts will be forgiven and the hospital charges it off. Second, garnishment only works if they can figure out where they work if they even have a job at all after being in the hospital for weeks recovering. The court cannot garnish a person who lives and works out of state. Added onto that you must make a certain amount before the court will garnish your wages. So in many cases they dont get the money.
Like Ron, I have worked for a company at which I had health insurance for which I paid $300 a month, keep in mind I only brought home $1200 so that 20%+ of my income. That was from me alone, no dependents. If you are a father or mother the price went up to about $700 a month. Its not that they choose not to have insurance they simply cannot afford the huge cost of the premiums. This plan gives them an opportunity.
“the fact of the matter is that there are many people that do have the opportunity to get insurance at their jobs and choose not to if they have to spend any money on it.“
Not necessarily true. The last two jobs I had, the health insurance the companies offers ran about 20% of the average monthly salary. The benefits were bare minimum, and that was for people in good health who had no disqualifying pre-conditions.
The one job was at a shipyard, heavy industry where accidents and general poor health from arduous working conditions were common. Man of the blue-collar workers were paying up to half their monthly salaries for health insurance for themselves and their families.
We’re not even talking about drug benefits, which for the most part are no longer covered in many medical plans. A serious drug prescriptions can cost several hundred dollars per month, on top of medical premiums.
There is still dental bills we’re not talking about - and people ca die from untreated tooth decay.
So don’t be so heartless, dbpwc. The lack of access to healthcare in this country is a serious problem. McDonalds, beer, and cigarettes are a symptoms of poor health practices; if we had a robust health care system in this country, we could actually push preventive health care the way those socialistic European nations do.
Justbeingrick: a couple corrections to your scenario. Your uninsured person with the $15,000 hospital bill. The hospital doesn’t charge it off. They take him to court and get a garnishment on his wages and proceed to take 25% of what he earns plus attorney and court costs. While I do agree we need some sort of reform, the fact of the matter is that there are many people that do have the opportunity to get insurance at their jobs and choose not to if they have to spend any money on it. Funny thing is though that alot of these same people have money for McDonalds, beer and cigarettes. It’s a matter of priorities, and theirs are not health insurance if they have to pay.
Your scenario of the $15,000 write off however is accurate for illegal aliens that run up the hospital bills and the hospital has no way of finding them.
Let’s get the background straight. President Bush inherited surpluses that he turned into deficits by enacting tax cuts for those who were already comfortable or beyond financially. President Obama inherited the worse economic conditions in 80 years and has been working to pull us out of this crisis, following the advice of award winning economists.
As to the health care, as always those on the right are distorting the true story. The real plan would call for the creation of a program that would enable those whom cannot afford health insurance currently to get coverage at a cheaper rate. That cheaper rate would come from the saving brought about by the competition created by this plan as well as the shift from disease treatment to prevention. If a man today gets a cold and has no health insurance, because he cannot afford it, the odds of him going to the doctor today are small. If he continues to try to work through it, to continue to provide for his family, the cold turns worse and perhaps turns into pneumonia. Our friend then collapses at work because he is so ill. They rush him to the hospital and he is admitted. He is in the hospital for a few weeks recovering and getting healthy again. The bill is enormous lets say $15,000. Our friend cannot afford that and as such isn’t able to pay the bill. That bill is charged off and the costs are spread out on others whom come to that hospital for care. If however our friend had health coverage he would have been able to take a couple hours off work and go get the care he needed from the start at a total cost of lets say $150 so for 1/100 of the cost he could be healthy. He then wouldn’t miss work so he has enough money to pay rent and his employer wouldn’t loose his production at work, everyone wins. The hospital doesn’t have to charge off $15,000 in bad debt so their prices are now lowered.
The only tax increase that has been spoken of has been returning the tax rate for those making MORE THAN $250,000 as year to the rate they paid under President Clinton. If I remember correctly they did pretty well in that period.
It boils down to this; we are only as strong as our weakest link. If we improve the lives of the “least” among us our lives improve. A raising tide lifts all ships. If you have ever lived worried about what happens if you fall and break an arm or catch a bad cold because you cannot afford health insurance you can relate, I’ve been there and there by the grace of God goes I. I was able to get to a point that I could afford health coverage but I know the feeling. Pwanon You be the one to go up to the father and mother and three children whom both work and one works two jobs just to make ends meet YOU tell them they aren’t worth helping. If you want to talk big here on a blog you go do that. I’ll still think you’re despicable but at least I’ll be assured that you actually believe the crap that you spew.
“Thanks to the mountian of debt run up by your bestest presniz ever - G.W. Bush”
Either you’ve been asleep for the past 6 months, or you’re fantastically stupid:
But your boy Teleprompter Barry has spent money at a pace that makes GWB’s spending look miserly by comparison.
Far be it for any objectivity to creep into your nonsense, though.
And in that vein, the health care “reform” that your boy wants to incorporate will put us on the hook for so much more money that even it’s advocates acknowledge that:
A: Their public estimates are far too low; and
B: It will necessitate a tax hike on the middle class.
Great. As if we’re not taxed enough already, Barry wants to lodge a full scale tax war against the middle class, to go with our soon-to-be exploding energy costs to pay for Cap and Tax.
Do yourself a favor…don’t be a supporter of Barry, and attempt to attack anyone else’s credibility when it comes to spending. It makes you look like a hypocrite, in addition to an idiot.
“I’d suggest you go to a country with a government more to your liking…say, China.“
There’s no need for myself, or anyone, to move to China. Thanks to the mountian of debt run up by your bestest presniz ever - G.W. Bush - China already owns us. It’s just a matter of time before they come here and take over. All the more reason for you and every other Republican to leave now, while you still can.
“And this is a problem - how?“
As I explained…there’d be nobody left who actually works for a living, pays taxes, and therefore no way to pay for the massive, liberty-smothering, citizen-fleecing government you so desire.
I’d suggest you go to a country with a government more to your liking…say, China.
“The problem there is that if all Americans who love America left, that would mean there’d be no Republicans in America.“
And this is a problem - how?
Advertisement