The health care debate: Experts looking for map ahead in reform
by Samantha Michaelsand Alexandra Pechman
Jan 26, 2010
As President Barack Obama prepares for the State of the Union address Wednesday evening, he must find a way to discuss health care reform—a policy objective under increasing strain. In a shifting political landscape as congressional leaders recalibrate their approach to reform, we asked several interest groups to explain which elements of reform matter most to them.
Here’s what they said:
Families USA
Ron Pollack, Founding Executive Director
“I think it’s most important for President Obama to emphatically and unmistakably clarify that the health reform process is going to move forward with the meaningful legislation that has already passed on the Senate and House floors, and that he’s not in any way turning back.
The most important elements of reform would be coverage provisions that include expanding Medicaid for families with low incomes and providing subsidies for middle and moderate-income families so they can afford coverage and care.”
Physicians for a National Health Program
Robert Zarr, M.D, Board Member
“When it comes to the elements of health care reform that are the most important, it’s actually pretty simple. One is universality, so that every person living in the United States has access to quality care. And that includes everybody. Somebody who just arrived to the United States without papers but is a successful, productive citizen should not be forced to use the emergency room.
The second element is comprehensive benefits. There’s a basic basket of medical necessities that we need to agree on—all the preventative care, all the primary care, all the specialized care that primary care physicians feel is necessary, the physical therapy, hospice care and long-term care.
The third element is cost containment. We believe cost containment is going to come out of a system where the government entirely finances care through taxes and it becomes the sole purchaser of supplies and other medical needs.
Those are the three basic principles that need to be heeded. If Obama wants to see real reform, we have to take private insurance companies out of the picture. There’s no other way to do it.”
Institute for Health Freedom
Sue Blevins, President
“For us the issues have always been health privacy and patients’ freedom to choose their health care, because health privacy is a concern for people. We believe that people are very concerned about the use of mandatory electronic health records, which were part of the economic stimulus package passed in February 2009.”
American Public Health Association
Georges Benjamin, M.D., Executive Director
“Clearly we’re interested in many elements of health care reform, but I’m going to focus on the prevention and wellness pieces. We need to shift our country from one that takes care of sick care to one that promotes wellness and early intervention, and we can do that in a variety of ways. First we need to get people coverage so they can have access to a system for health care when they get sick. We need to begin looking at the leading causes of death and disability as major components of health reform. We spend a lot of money fixing things that we could have prevented. It’s important that Congress does this now. This problem is not going to get better with time.”
American Health Insurance Plans
Robert Zirkelbach, Press Secretary
“First off, we strongly support health care reform. We believe it’s still possible to achieve reform that will reduce costs and provide more heath security to the American people. It’s important that reform legislation addresses the underlying cost of medical care, which is the key driver of rising health care costs.”
AARP
Courtney Hedderman, Associate State Director, AARP Illinois
“One of our priorities is really to stop insurance companies from limiting or denying older Americans affordable coverage because of preexisting conditions, their gender or their age. The second priority is making sure that the donut hole is closed for Medicare Part D beneficiaries, because there are millions of Americans spending thousands of dollars for their prescription drugs. We also want to see improvement in the way doctors are paid so they can continue to treat their patients well. It’s wonderful if you do get an insurance card and coverage, but if you don’t have a physician to see and a medical home, what’s it worth? We need to crack down on the waste, fraud and abuse on all levels, so that seniors, their children and their grandchildren get coverage they need.”
