ALBANY AREA RESIDENTS OUTRAGED AT THOUGHT OF LOSING PUBLIC OPTION JOIN FORCES WITH ELECTED OFFICIALS

ALBANY AREA RESIDENTS OUTRAGED AT THOUGHT OF LOSING PUBLIC OPTION JOIN FORCES WITH ELECTED OFFICIALS

Local residents, organizations, and elected officials state that any health care reform must include the public option.

Albany, NY – Citizens gathered outside the federal building yesterday to express that health care reform without a strong public option is not reform and to urge local congress members to take this message back with them to DC when they return from their August recess. “Over the past few days the importance of the public option to health care reform has been downplayed and Americans are not going to stand idly by while they watch real reform slip away with the dismissal of the public option,” said organizer Chris Scoville of Citizen Action of New York. President Obama and members of congress have pushed for the public option as the key element in any health care reform. The groups represented at this rally wanted to make sure their elected officials keep their promise to the American people and don’t allow the insurance lobby to negotiate the public option out of the bill.

Protesters voiced concern that with every day insurance companies lobby to weaken reform and extend the debate, citizens are paying the cost some in life threatening ways. Beverly Padgett, who nearly died when her sugar level rose to a dangerous level, was one protester who argued for the public option. “Right now in America, if you’re poor, you get poor health care. Those with the Cadillac health insurance plans can afford to pay the high price for comprehensive coverage. That type of coverage should be accessible to all Americans no matter their income level”, said Padgett, “Within our current system you either pay now or you pay later.” Because of a lapse in her insurance due to inability to afford coverage she was hospitalized for several weeks with complications due to diabetes. She is now faced with exorbitant medical bills. With the public option there would be standardized levels of care for all insurance plans and thanks to subsidies people like Beverly would be able to afford the coverage they need to stay healthy.

Ron Deutsch, the Executive Director of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness agrees that the public option must be included in any reform package. “We all hear the horror stories about healthcare. People are being dropped by insurers, denied coverage for pre-existing conditions, and families are going bankrupt because they can’t pay their medical bills (now the leading cause of bankruptcy in the US). We need a safety net in our healthcare system”, said Deutsch. “We have to realize that in this economy it could be any one of us that loses our jobs or are denied healthcare from insurance companies and that we need the public option to be available for the health and well-being of our families. This debate is not about Washington politics, it is about the health and well being of all Americans.”

State officials see their hands tied with what they can accomplish in their quest for quality affordable health care for all New Yorkers. New York State Senator Neil Breslin says, “Without a public option we will not be able to hold the HMOs accountable. Any reform measures that don’t include a public option will mean continued windfall profits for the private insurers.”

The protestors stated that they will settle for nothing less than the public option. Any alternative will not be real reform.