Health care reform discussed at town hall meeting


A 7th Senatorial District Town Hall meeting about health care reform was held yesterday in the chambers of the Vance County Board of Commissioners in the County Administration Building at 122 Young Street in Henderson, North Carolina.

Sen. Doug Berger hosted the meeting along with Rep. Lucy Allen and Rep. Michael Wray. Other elected officials in attendance included Henderson City Council members Lonnie Davis, Mary Emma Evans, and Brenda Peace, along with Vance County Board of Education member Margaret Ellis.

The over-room capacity crowd included about 20 individuals holding signs in support of home health care. Those in the home health care industry have been critical of cuts in funding for home health care that Berger has spearheaded. Berger has maintained that the cuts were appropriate because of fraud in the home health care industry.

Adam Searing, the Director of the Health Access Coalition of the NC Justice Center told the audience that the cost of health care has doubled in the last ten years, and that if the trend continues, a family with an income of $70,000 per year will pay 40% of its income in health costs.

Searing stressed that no bills have passed either chamber of Congress and that all of the provisions that have been discussed in Washington are subject to change. He exhorted the audience to contact their representatives and said that members of North Carolina’s delegation want to hear from the people in their districts.

According to Searing, small businesses employing less that 25 people will be given tax incentives to provide coverage for employees. Those businesses having more than 25 employees will be required to provide coverage or pay a penalty for failing to do so.

The coalition director also told the audience that there will be a “menu” of private health care options to choose from, and that the federal government will subsidize premiums through tax credits on a sliding scale for household incomes up to $70,000. He also mentioned that insurance companies would no longer be able to charge for pre-existing conditions.

On the topic of a public health care option, Searing stressed that such a plan would not have the same administrative overhead as a private plan. As an example, he noted that the CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) makes $4,000,000 a year.

BCBS is the largest insurance provider in North Carolina, covering around four million residents.

On paying for the proposed changes, Searing mentioned that the House of Representatives has proposed taxing those individuals making more than $280,000 per year or families making $320,000 per year or more.

To cut costs, Searing proposed paying doctors on how healthy patients get and stay.

After Searing spoke, Berger told the audience that $1 billion had to be cut from the Medicaid budget. He did note that Health Choice, an insurance program for uninsured North Carolina children had been expanded, and that $5 million had been allocated on an ongoing basis so that free clinics in North Carolina could take on additional personnel.

The next several invited speakers on the agenda for the evening spoke about the virtues of free clinics in the area and how they had been helped by going to such facilities. Many told anecdotes of their experiences and their positive outcomes. The most memorable testimonial was that of the Endecott family.

Mrs. Endecott sat in a wheelchair with her children and husband and told the audience that three of her children have cystic fibrosis and one has a mental impairment. She said that she is uninsured, that she and her husband are self-employed, and that it is necessary for her family to limit their income so that they fall under Medicaid caps.

The mother of five told a very quiet audience that she is going to die in ten years because she does not qualify for Medicaid. She said the reason that she does not qualify is because her children’s SSI income is counted as family income for the purpose of calculating her eligibility, even though SSI income may only be spent for the benefit of the children.

“In this country, that shouldn’t happen,” Mrs. Endecott said. “Health care should be a right, not a privilege for those who can afford it.”

Mr. Endecott told the audience that he does not work harder to earn the money to pay for his family’s health care because it is essentially impossible.

The medication for only one of his sick children is $11,000 a month.

“I feel beat down,” Mr. Endecott said.

Mrs. Endecott went on to say that her only options within the system are to divorce, give up all of her assets, or give up her children.

“I would rather die than choose one of their choices,” she said.

During the comment portion of the meeting, audience members began to raise objections to the proposed structure of health care reform. One member said that the government had failed with Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security and asked why it should be trusted with health care. He also blamed trial lawyers for part of the problem with premiums.

Berger responded to the issue of frivolous lawsuits by stating that North Carolina put legislation in place to the effect that before anyone can file a malpractice suit in North Carolina, another physician has to say that a minimum level of care was not provided.

Glenn Bradley said that he would rather do without health insurance than have a “bureaucrat” decide his care.

Allen responded that HMO’s already do that, an answer also echoed by Berger.

Another audience member claimed that elected representatives in the room were going to vote for a bill [health care reform] that they had not read.

“Why are you pushing it when you ain’t got nothing?” one audience member asked, referring to the fact that the legislation is still under debate.

One member of the audience expressed the opinion that health care should not be extended to illegal aliens. Another criticized the potential for abortions to be paid for under a government plan. A member of the audience claimed that a single payer system would drive local hospitals out of business by reducing payments. Another claimed there is a strong need to eliminate treatments that are unnecessary and ineffective.

Berger was once again challenged on the home health care issue by being told that he was hypocritical to be for health care reform and to vote against funding home health care.

The District 7 senator responded by noting that home health care has been funded to the tune of $200 million. He claimed that the home health care industry was attacking him because the program was cut.

A man videographing Berger at the meeting told Home in Henderson that he was there on behalf of a home health care provider.

Berger told the audience that funding was cut because three independent audits found that half of the people in the program were not eligible. He said that the services provided are “non-medical” and that the industry recruits clients and secures doctor’s notes for them.

“I’ll stand by those who need it, but I won’t tolerate fraud,” Berger said. He went on to say that changes would be made so that there will be independent confirmation as to whether a client actually qualifies for the program.

Soon after, Berger adjourned the meeting. The meeting went 55 minutes past its scheduled end time.