Transcript of WSLR Women News broadcast:

Women News 19-May-2009

Late breaking....

Health Care Reform

Jane: This week President Obama sent out an email detailing his Health Care Reform that he would like to pass by July 31.

According the email, health care stakeholders—which included representatives of hospitals, insurance companies, drug makers and doctors-- are pledging to reduce the skyrocketing costs of medical care, including insurance premiums. Let me say that more clearly: they are pledging to reduce the rate at which these costs increase. Right now they increase far faster than any kind of inflation, at the rate of about 7% per year., They pledge to reduce that by 1 ½ percent, so now costs will rise at the approximate rate of 5 ½ %.  This is no real saving. Instead of charging us exorbitant prices for health care they will roll back the amount of profit by $2500 per family. It is not clear over what period of time that $2500 would be saved. Some reports say over ten years, others say per year.  But they are still going to scalp us with increases and they are still going to make a large profit.

We need real health care reform, not lip service to make the insurance and drug companies look as if they are bending backward to help, when in actuality, they are merely reducing the gouged prices. The US spends more on health care than any country and nearly 46 million are without insurance entirely. We need for the president to take a stand and not let the insurance companies continue to line their pockets at the expense of the sick and the poor. We need single payer insurance.

Joan:  Paul Krugman, the Nobel prize winning economist said in a commentary on that announcement that it looks like a good thing, and in part it is a start with those major industry players. But he warns us to watch out. He says that while it is good to have them participating, they no doubt intend to use the good will they hope to generate to be sure they can kill the most important part of health reform: the choice for all Americans to buy into a public insurance plan as an alternative to private insurance plans, a program along the lines of Medicare for All. If insurance companies could offer a better and competitive plan, they could still exist, but they don't really want to compete, they want to profit. As Krugman points out: what we call health care costs, they call income.

Jane: The current health care system does not work for women. Women are more vulnerable to high health care costs than men. A twenty-two year old woman can be charged one and a half times the premium of a man in the individual insurance market. Because less than half the women can get health insurance through their work, 52% of women are delaying needed care as opposed to 39% men who do. Single women are twice as likely to be uninsured as married women. Since many women are covered under their husband's insurance, women in the 55-64 age group are vulnerable to discontinuity of coverage as their spouses go on Medicare. It can also keep a woman in an abusive marriage because she needs the health insurance.

Joan:  They say woman cost more medically because they need additional care because of childbearing. Well, the whole community has an interest in women's ability to bear children and must keep that process as healthy as possible, meaning we all need to contribute to such costs.

Meanwhile, we are told that single payer health care is off the table, although the majority of the people in this country really want it. There was a demonstration in Washington recently that got nearly no publicity whatsoever, although in my mind it should have been front page news around the nation. I learned about it in a newsletter from Physicians for a National Health Program. Recently several doctors were arrested for speaking up for single payer health care at the beginning of a Senate Finance Committee “public discussion round table” Last week they demonstrated again. On May 5^th one of them asked Sen. Max Baucus, a Democrat from Montana,  a simple question: Will you allow an advocate for single-payer national health plan to have a seat at the table?”  The response was “Get more police”. They were arrested and hauled off to jail. They intend to protest peaceably again. These are doctors and nurses pushing for single payer health care. During their demonstration, they wore black commemorating the approximately 22,000 people who die every year due to lack of health insurance.

Jane: One of the biggest drains on American pocketbooks is the high cost of health care. The United States spends over $2.2 trillion on health care each year—almost $8,000 per person. That number represents approximately 16 percent of the total economy and is growing rapidly. If we do not act soon, by 2017, almost 20 percent of the economy—more than $4 trillion—will be spent on health care.

For these reasons the President's health care reform has to  include:

• Instituting Temporary Provisions to Make Health Care Coverage More Affordable for Americans Who Have Lost Their Jobs
• Increasing Health Care Coverage for Children
• Computerizing America’s Health Records in Five Years.
• Developing and Disseminating Information on Effective Medical Interventions.
• Investing in Prevention and Wellness.

Joan: And an offshoot of this is that workers must be assured of paid sick leave. One way flu epidemics become epidemics  is through workers who go to work sick because they can't afford to take a day off without pay, particularly now when they could so easily be fired. They must have some sort of guarantees that they can miss some days either for their own health or that of a person for whom they have primary care—a child, spouse or parent—without a threat to their job and of course that includes any job-related health insurance.

Jane:  In addition President Obama wants  to transform and modernize America’s Health Care System. To achieve these goals and finance reform, the President looks forward to working with the Congress over the coming year, and has set the following  eight principles:

• Guarantee Choice. The plan should provide Americans a choice of health plans and physicians. People will be allowed to keep their own doctor and their employer-based health plan.
• Make Health Coverage Affordable.
  
  
• Protect Families’ Financial Health..
• Invest in Prevention and Wellness.
• Provide Portability of Coverage. People should not be locked into their job just to secure health coverage, and no American should be denied coverage because of preexisting conditions.
• Aim for Universality. The plan must put the United States on a clear path to cover all Americans.
• Improve Patient Safety and Quality Care.
• Maintain Long-Term Fiscal Sustainability. The plan must pay for itself by reducing the level of cost growth, improving productivity, and dedicating additional sources of revenue.

Joan:  He proposes a government health insurance plan which people want to call Socialized medicine—let them—it will be administered state by state, so providers don't have to worry that someone who doesn't understand the local scene will tell them what to do. And, if the insurance companies can compete, they are welcome to stay in the game. This should comfort those who fear losing the benefits they have now and enjoy. There are ways to charge more and compete by providing greater customer service, something that is seriously lacking. Meanwhile, there is a completely planned bill for universal single payer health care in the form of HR 676. It was introduced in the past by Representatives John Conyers and Dennis Kucinich. It is complete, thorough, but we can't get our senators and representatives to do what the people want.

Jane: A question many of us have is Will Obama make Medicaid funds available for abortion?  President Obama has taken the first legislative steps necessary to help women regain control of their reproductive rights. But Frances Kissling of women's e-news, " says that the president needs to lead the cultural discourse regarding the link between women's (and men's) sexual and reproductive rights and their human rights." Regarding abortion, President Obama said at a recent press conference "I think (women) are in a better position to make these decisions ultimately than members of Congress or a President of the United States--in consultation with their families, with their doctors, with their clergy." So there is hope.

At Notre Dame, the President pledged to work on common ground, to reduce the need for abortion, reduce unintended pregnancies, provide care and support for those who carry the child to turn, to draft sensible conscience clause, to make all health care policies grounded in science and ethics, to respect the equality of woman. So, yes, there is hope.

Joan: Contraceptives must be made readily available to women, and free to those who cannot afford to pay for them. However, contraceptives fail. Women must have access to abortion, to control their own bodies. I don't think a woman prefers an abortion to a successful contraceptive. Abortion is an invasive medical procedure. Family planning must be more readily available, it is the cheapest, least dangerous approach.

Jane: Some good news regarding the CDC—the Center for Disease Control. President Obama has appointed New York City Health Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden to Head the Center. Frieden is known for his aggressive and sometimes controversial efforts to limit smoking and consumption of trans fats in New York City. Frieden has been at the forefront of the fight against heart disease, cancer and obesity, infectious diseases He also reduced the number of smokers in New York by 350,000 and cut teen smoking in half through his anti-cigarette campaign while in office in New York. He also increased cancer screening for early detection. It is anticipated that he will have some significant input into forming a new health care policy.

Joan: On the matter of cancer screening, there is some worrisome news, and that is that there seems to be a decrease in the number of women having mammograms and the frequency with which they have them.

Jane Blanchard

Joan Froede