Lawmaker, experts hear public on health care

Special to the Green Valley News

Southern Arizona residents concerned about the future of health care told Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and health experts Tuesday that they aren’t sure what their insurance covers, aren’t getting what they thought they were paying for, and that a single-payer plan would likely be more efficient that the current multitude of health insurers.

About 1,000 people attended a Town Hall on Health Care Reform at Sahuaro High School in Tucson, nearly double the expected turnout. Giffords’ office called it “the single largest event organized by our office in two and a half years.”

Single-payer advocate Lee Sandfield held a homemade sign that read, “Single Payer lowers costs by $225 billion, per Congressional Accounting Office, even after expansion to universal coverage.”

A man in the crowd held a sign that read “My dog can get health insurance. I can’t.”

A couple with a daughter who has Down Syndrome said, “Help us help our kids to have the care they deserve.”

Giffords, D-Ariz., was joined by two health care experts and 14 health advocates and representatives from the business community. The goal was to allow the congresswoman to hear the views of constituents before Congress considers health care reform legislation this summer.

Giffords referred to health care as “one of the most complex and important public policy issues facing our country today.”

Outlining the economic challenges, she said in 2007 there were 45.7 million Americans without insurance. Another 20 million were underinsured. With increased job losses in 2008, these numbers are expected to increase.

“Last year, the U.S. spent over $2.4 trillion on health care — 16.6 percent of our Gross Domestic Product. Without reform, our health care spending will grow to $4.4 trillion within a decade — over 20 percent GDP,” Giffords told the audience.

State challenges

In Arizona, 19.6 percent of residents are uninsured. Giffords said that over the past eight years families in Arizona have seen their health insurance premiums increase 3.5 times faster than their wages.

She pointed out that every day, families’ health plan benefits are eroded when they can’t afford higher premiums, co-pays and deductibles. Doctors visits, medication and treatments are skipped because families can’t afford the cost.

“Families are confronted with completely losing their health insurance because their employer can no longer afford to offer any health insurance benefits,” she said.

From the experts

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona, who served from August 2002 through July 2006, was introduced by Giffords as “a living rock star for public health.”

Carmona spoke of the increasing problems of childhood obesity and resulting diabetes, smoking, drinking, sedentary lifestyles, no seat belts or helmets.

“We end up paying the cost for society’s indiscretions,” he said.

“It’s not a health care system; it’s a sick care system. The real debate is who pays. These are very, very complex issues,” he said.

Dr. J. Lyle Bootman, dean of the University of Arizona’s College of Pharmacy, told the audience there is “overwhelming evidence that we don’t achieve value in health care.”

“Cost is indeed a national problem... 10 percent of health care dollars are spent on prescription medications,” he said. He said 15 conditions, including heart disease, pulmonary disease, mental illness and cancer, account for 56 percent of health care costs.

Bootman also spoke of the need to lower costs and improve outcomes to achieve value and the need for a national program of health information technology.

Health care perspectives

A divergent group of 14 speakers in the fields of health, business, economics, rural health, insurance for children and seniors plus advocates for a single-payer health care system each had five minutes to speak. Among them:

Paul Kappelman, CEO of Northwest Medical Center in Tucson, said people are using hospital emergency rooms because they have no health insurance or primary care physician.

Jim Murphy, CEO of the Pima Council on Aging, said there were 58 Medicare Advantage Plans and 49 Part B prescription medicine plans in Pima County in 2008, numbers that he said were unnecessary and confusing.

Carolyn Trowbridge representing Health care for Americans Now said, “Every man, woman and child has a right to health care. It is not a privilege; it’s a right. We can’t afford another 100 years of health care struggle.”

Director of the Center for Economic Prosperity Byron Schomach told about a charge of $600 for a medical boot for his wife after she injured her leg. Checking prices on the Internet he learned he could have bought the same boot for $75.

Robert Guerrero, chief of the state Office of Border Health, said Americans in border states are going to Mexico for dental care and prescription medications because it’s less expensive. He mentioned the increased dangers to Americans because of the escalation in crime.

David Mitchell, director of the American Association for Retired Persons (AARP) in Arizona, said, “Health care costs too much and wastes too much... that Americans between ages 50 and 64 are being priced out of affordable health care yet people develop health problems as they age.

“There should be insurance even for those with pre-existing conditions,” he said.

Dr. Barbara Warren, an advocate for a single-payer system that covers all Americans said such a system would save on paperwork and eliminate enormous redundancies.

Under a single-payer system, one entity — usually run by the government — would handle billing and administration. Under the current system, there are thousands of health care groups such as HMOs and insurance companies handling that.

Vice President of the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce Paul Parisi said from 2000 to 2008 family health care insurance premiums doubled. He supports health care information technology, calling such a program “a national clinical snapshot.”

Laurie Jurs, who lives in the Green Valley area, is a retired rural health clinic administrator who said there is a need for doctors to go to rural District 8 areas as opposed to patients coming to them. She said many people are facing staying at a job they don’t like to keep health insurance, others are unable to care for children, and some cancer patients aren’t getting the coverage they thought they had.

Ray Magnuson of the Southern Arizona Association of Health Underwriters said, “We want affordable access for all. The debate is how to achieve it. We’ve lost the connection of service we need because of cost... the complexity of solutions is immense.”

CEO of Child and Family Resources Eric Schindler said there are a quarter-million uninsured children in Arizona. “Health care shouldn’t be linked to employment,” he said to cheers.

The two-and-a-half hour Town Hall meeting closed to applause when one person in the audience said, “We don’t need 1,000 different health insurance companies. We need single-payer health care.”

Ellen Sussman is a freelance writer in Green Valley. Contact her at ellen2414@cox.net.