Groups rally for, and against, health-care plan

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Les Lucas said he came out in the cold Saturday for his employees.

A self-employed concrete contractor in Yakima who hires two or three people when he has work, Lucas said he can buy his own health insurance but can't afford to offer it to his workers.

"I think the time for reform has come," said Lucas, who joined some 33 other people at Chesterley Park to show their support for health-care reform legislation pending in Congress.

Several blocks away, a counterdemonstration brought out 28 people who waved signs at 40th and Summitview avenues that read: "All I Want for Christmas is Your Hands Off My Health Care."

The dueling demonstrations were just the latest in what has become a long and passionate debate over what kind of health-care system will prevail in the United States. The two sides agree on little, but even opponents of the Democrats' plan say insurance companies should be prohibited from kicking people off their plans when they become sick.

Senate Democrats appear to be closing in on a deal, having dropped plans for a public option in favor of an expansion of access through Medicare and Medicaid.

In place of a government-run insurance program, the compromise would require private, nonprofit companies to administer low-cost policies similar to the plans offered to members of Congress and federal workers.

That idea appealed to many at the pro-reform rally, where there were doctors, health-care workers, union members, retirees, small business owners, Democratic Party activists and state employees. Similar rallies were held in other cities across the state.

Dr. Debra Gould, a family doctor in Yakima, said insurance companies should pay doctors based on the quality, not quantity, of care delivered. "Insurers don't pay doctors to listen to their patients," she said.

Don Hinman, a local insurance agent and chairman of the board of Yakima Neighborhood Health Services, called the rally participants optimists and the counterdemonstrators pessimists.

"They believe the pie is frozen but we're determined to have health care for all this time," Hinman said.

But retirees like Jim Turvey, 71, of Yakima, who joined the Tea Party Patriots of the Yakima Valley and affiliated groups, worry that reform will hurt seniors. He said Medicare isn't working very well.

While Turvey has Medicare and a supplemental plan, he said he has lots of friends on Medicare only who can't find doctors to see them because the reimbursement rates are too low.

"I'm not against reform. They need to do something, but Medicare is already broke," he said.

Retiree Pat Casey said Democratic-style health-care reform will be too costly. "I'm against all this spending," she said.

* Leah Beth Ward can be reached at 509-577-7626 or lward@yakimaherald.com.