When our members of Congress came home for recess this August they brought with them the debate over health care reform. Currently the news coverage of the health care debate is focused on the disruption not discourse crowd that has been attempting to shut down and intimidate members of congress going so far as to hang one representative in effigy. This faction does not represent the majority. Overwhelmingly Americans are calling for real reform and bringing quality affordable health care to all, now.
This past Saturday Congressman Murphy held a “Congress on Your Corner” event in Valatie. It was one of the congressman’s first such events since he has been home from Washington and it was not known what the anti-reform turnout was going to be. The crowd was mixed ranging from those calling health care reform “socialized medicine” to those calling for reform in the form of a single payer system. The event remained civil throughout despite random hecklers shouting asinine comments such as, “People should be buying health insurance instead of boats!”
During the event’s question and answer period those of us calling for true reform through a public option got to see what we are up against. Those speaking against health care reform spoke from their heart about their concerns yet those concerns were based on the myths and falsehoods being spread by those set against true health care reform. These myths include the idea that the current bill, HR 3200, will be a death sentence for the elderly because it will scale back Medicare coverage. This is not true. The bill seeks to drive out the redundancies of Medicare that drive costs up. Another concern raised was based on the myth that the government will have free reign of private bank accounts. Again, this is not what the bill says. The bill has a provision where bank accounts would be accessible by health insurance companies to do withdrawal for services. This is nothing different than what many Americans have set up for paying credit card, utility and yes, health insurance bills and wouldn’t happen without prior authorization.
Many of the questions were very direct and Congressman Murphy proved just how well versed he is in the health care debate and HR 3200. On the issue of the public option the congressman said he, “Wants to see the price of the public option before signing on.” During the same conversation however Murphy stated that greater competition was needed in most of America’s health insurance markets and that the public option would be a valuable tool in creating that competition. As a supporter of the public option and HCAN’s other principles during his campaign for Congress Murphy still seems to be on board but we must continue to support him at these events. Those with invested interests in not passing a reform bill are feeding untruths to millions. We must counter these messages by making clear just what real reform will look like and mean for average Americans. Americans both with and without health insurance will benefit from a robust reform package.
Beginning next week we will be doing “teach-in” educational events for the general public that will summarize the current state of health care reform legislation and debunk the myths that are being disseminated by those set against reform.
In the remaining weeks of August there will be more town halls, each having the potential to be overrun by those set against the public option and real reform, but each event also is a new opportunity for the true will of American’s to be realized. Real reform must happen now, before the insurance industry, its lobbyists and those being misled by their untruths, water down what started as a powerful bill. We need all of you to come out to every event you are able to attend. Our strength is our numbers, let our strength grow.
Click here for more pictures from this event.