RSSState Republicans offer own health options
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YAKIMA, Wash. -- Republican state lawmakers presented their version of health-care reform to a town hall meeting in Yakima on Tuesday and also listened to about 70 local residents for nearly two hours about what they think is wrong -- or right -- with the current system.
It was a mostly polite and orderly evening at the Yakima Convention Center, with only occasional shouts of disagreement over solutions, such as increasing taxes to pay for universal health care, which was definitely a minority opinion.
But one great-grandmother's voice shook with emotion as she talked about how hard it is for people on Medicare to find a doctor while undocumented immigrants are able to find subsidized care.
"Take care of us and stop charging all these taxes to my children," the woman, who refused to give her name, said to loud applause.
Led by Ferndale Republican Doug Ericksen, who is the ranking minority member of the House Health Care Committee, the group included Reps. Charles Ross, R-Naches, David Taylor, R-Moxee, Norm Johnson, R-Yakima, and Bruce Chandler, R-Granger.
Ericksen summarized 10 pieces of legislation that Republicans proposed for state-level reform in the 2009 Legislature, noting that not one received a hearing in the Democratic-controlled body.
But he said the Republican reform roadshow, which has been to Bellingham and Tri-Cities and is headed for Spokane, Vancouver and Bellevue, is meant to build support for a renewed push in the 2010 legislative session.
"Hopefully, you'll keep the fires burning and we'll build a groundswell of support," Ericksen said.
The essence of the Republican plan is to offer more stripped-down health care options to small businesses and young adults; release insurance companies from certain mandated coverage, such as chiropractic care or cancer screenings; provide incentives for health-savings accounts; limit medical malpractice awards and provide vouchers to low-income people to buy health insurance.
The town hall brought out many of Yakima's physicians, who normally don't speak publicly about controversial topics.
Dr. Tom Kennedy, an orthopedic surgeon, drew applause when he said the Republicans' state plan is better than proposed federal reform. Kennedy said the federal government gets in the way of patient care and that Medicare is failing.
But Kennedy also said there is a big divide between the "haves" and "have-nots" in health care that needs to be bridged. "We have got to level the playing field," he said.
Dr. David Krueger, a cardiologist, endorsed no-frills plans, which he said help young people afford insurance. "Mandates matter. My 25-year-old daughter just wants something affordable," he said.
Dr. Linda Seaman called on the lawmakers to "preserve the integrity of family doctors" who practice on the front lines of medicine but are compensated far less than specialists.
Like the other doctors, Seaman said tort reform would keep doctors from practicing expensive defensive medicine by ordering tests in order to cover themselves in the event they are sued for malpractice.
"I practice defensive medicine. You come in with back pain, I order anything and everything," she said.
Seaman also called for more attention to end-of-life care, saying too many older patients are dying in hospital intensive care units when they could be at home, their pain and suffering minimized by palliative care.
"We're going to have a lot of people dying," she said, referring to the aging population, "and we want to do it right."
* Leah Beth Ward can be reached at 509-577-7626 or lward@yakimaherald.com.
Proposed GOP state health-care reforms, followed by Democratic critique
* Allow plans from other states to market to residents here, making insurance a more deregulated market with more choices
Consumers would lack protections provided by Washington state insurance laws that don't apply in other states. For example, insurers in Washington can't discriminate based on gender.
* Remove 19-34 year olds from state Basic Health Plan and allow market to provide core-benefit coverage at an estimated cost of $70-$190 a month
"Core benefit" is a euphemism for bare-bones coverage. Taking out this healthy population would mean more sick people in the basic-health pool, raising costs for everyone else.
* Eliminate state mandates from insurance plans to create more market options for small businesses
Removing requirements like mammograms and other preventive screenings might lower premiums but would only add costs to the system.
* Place limits on the financial damages that could be awarded under medical malpractice lawsuits
Tort reform not only interferes with a citizen's right to seek damages as determined by a jury but would do little to control the cost of health care
Sources: Washington State Legislature and Yakima Herald-Republic research.
Choose one:
a) Affordable, cash based, free market health care available for all citizens
b) The opportunity to sue your doctor for millions of dollars
If you think medical services aren't going to cost the taxpayer a bundle in the future in the way of taxes, fees, etc. then you are in a dream world. I think the Feds should get out of the way and let the states solve the problem.
Mississippi has great coverage and did it by competition among insurance companies and tort reform.
Even if the final bill says that illegal aliens won't be covered, you can be sure a federal court will overturn the ruling because it would violate the constitution. similar to the ruling on Proposition 187 in California.
"California Proposition 187 (also known as the Save Our State initiative) was a 1994 ballot initiative designed to prohibit illegal immigrants from using social services, health care, and public education in the U.S. State of California. It was initially passed by the voters but later found unconstitutional by a federal court"
Or.. they could make everybody legal and the problem would be solved !??
A good plan and a good start to help health care reform.
Moxeekid, the way not to cover illegals, to remove all illegals, to enforce the laws on the books.
I have heard over and over were a country of laws, well let's start enforcing them, stop waffling on doing the right thing. We as citizens have to respect all laws not ones we don't like. We need to protect the legal citizens first!
But Kirk, we have no penalties and hence no fear of not obeying the laws. We need significant teeth in the laws we have.
Report ViolationIf all citizens had health insurance. Then we could just have ICE officers at the ER. If you show up without insurance...
Report ViolationA good plan and a good start to help health care reform says Insurance Lobbyist Kirk Groanig...
A better plan would be to keep the Insurance Lobbyists out of it and let our Senators and Congressmen do their jobs without Insurance and Big Pharma attempting to and indeed buying votes.
The meeting was not surprisingly a one-sided affair. Perhaps 4 or 5 people in the audience at the microphone spoke in support of the public option, the rest seemed agreed as a faction that the public option was not in their reality. That was the flavor of the KOOL-AID last night. I commend the Herald-Republic for fair reporting of both what the entirely Republican Legislators on the stage presented, and the Democratic "other side". http://yakimaprogressive.blogspot.com/
Report ViolationRepublican's Leadership Solutions on Health Care has so far meant government control of the womb and people's most personal health care decisions. They say that Obama's plan is big government, but ignore the fact that they want government control of very personal, private matters. That is Huge, Intrusive Government.
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A big appreciation to the Herald-Republic for fact-checking the claims of the Republican legislators. It was wonderful to see succinct and factual answers to such baseless claims as we would be better off if insurers could sell policies from other states. Insurance has always been state regulated, and we have one of the best and most conscientious Insurance Commissioners in Mike Kriedler. State law forbids gender discrimination. Without it, women would pay for more then men, since they have babies, need pap smears and mammograms, and go to the doctor more regularly. If you really want a piece-of-crap insurance policy, go ahead and move to Texas.
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