Fixing U.S. health system is vital, Giffords says

Sierra Vista Herald
July 28, 2009

By Bill Hess

SIERRA VISTA — “America’s health care system is sick,” Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords said Monday night during a telephone town hall meeting.

Congress must triage the ailing medical system, and that is the purpose of the current health care debate, she said.

If the issue is not addressed, Americans will find themselves lacking the financial means to take care of their medical needs, the Arizona 8th Congressional District congresswoman remarked.

If the nation’s health care system is not overhauled, one out of every five taxpayer dollars in the next decade will go to health care, and within 30 years, it will be one out of three, Giffords told more the nearly 5,000 people who listened on the first ever districtwide phone hookup.

The number of participants came from a computer-generated count, said C.J. Karamargin, Giffords’ press secretary.

The congresswoman said insurance companies are more concerned about their financial bottom line, and the proposed health care legislation would not only help that industry but also save money for the government and individuals.

The proposed legislation “has a strong public option, (so) we would compete with insurance companies to bring down the cost of health care,” Giffords said.

However, late Monday, The Associated Press reported a bipartisan group of senators want to have the public option removed.

Joining her, to provide a professional health care provider’s take on the issue, was Dr. Richard Carmona, who served as U.S. surgeon general for four years in Republican President George W. Bush’s administration. Carmona is currently a distinguished professor at the Mel and Enid Zimmerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona.

Saying the future is clear in that the country can no longer support the current health care system, Carmona said more emphasis must be placed on preventive medicine instead of “sick care.”

The proposed overhaul would provide better emphasis on preventive medicine so that in the future, programs are not just about taking care of sick people, he said.

“Access, quality and costs are the three important spheres,” Carmona said.

But to pass the needed legislation, both Democrats and Republicans, as well as those in the health industry, must work together, he said.

Much of today’s health care “incentivizes” the financial bottom line to the detriment of quality over quantity, Carmona said.

One listener asked if the United States was heading north to have a system like Canada.

The Tucson woman said eventually the United States could end up with a single-payer system under which there is rationing of medical treatment.

Giffords said, “The Canadian model is not being considered at this time,” an expression she used four times in responding to the question.

When Karamargin was queried after the hourlong event, he said Giffords is on the record of being against a single-payer program in which the government would decide all issues.

He noted that Michigan Democratic U.S. Rep. John Conyers has introduced a bill with 85 co-sponsors calling on the United States to have a single-payer plan and that the Arizona congresswoman did not sign on to the proposal.

“The congresswoman does not support a single payer,” Karamargin said.

In her response to the question about the Canadian system, Giffords said when it came to that government’s program, “rationing care is not right.”

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Arizona Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords answered a number of questions  concerning the proposed national health care issue during a Monday evening telephone town hall meeting.

A military retiree from Sierra Vista asked the congresswoman if TRICARE would be eliminated under the proposed legislation. Giffords said it is not in either the House or Senate bill, and she will not support any proposal that would eliminate the special program for the military.

Asked what benefits small business owners would have, she said the proposed bill would not only help business owners but also employees by reducing costs.

Business owners would be able to become involved in an insurance exchange program that would help lower their costs as well as co-payments and deductibles for employees, the congresswoman said.

Also joining her was former Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona, who had a number of thoughts in supporting the national health care proposal. He served as the nation’s top doctor during the administration of Republican President George W. Bush from 2002 to 2006.

A supporter of individuals practicing better health care, Carmona said he sees the proposed bill putting more emphasis on preventive medicine “rescuing people from their own bad behaviors.”

During the phone event, two surveys were taken.

To the question if anyone listening had been denied or a family member had been denied medical insurance for a pre-existing condition, 22 percent said yes.

Asked whether those listening were insured by their employers or self-insured, the responses were 68 percent employer-insured and the rest purchased their own health insurance.

According to news reports, even though the president is pushing for health care legislation to be completed before Congress takes its August recess, the Democratic leadership in the Senate has said this bill will not be considered until after Congress resumes after Labor Day.

It also appears the House will not address the issue until after the recess, although that chamber’s leadership had been pushing for it to be done this week.