Senate Democrats Put Family Focus On Health Care

By Courtney Ann Jackson - Talk Radio News Service

The health care debate has taken on many angles, but today the focus of Democratic leaders in the Senate was on uninsured families. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-N.V.) welcomed two families directly affected by health care issues to a press conference Thursday to represent the many families being affected everyday.

“Our opponents aren’t talking about the real families and the real problems these families have,” said Reid. “Reforming health care is not abstract because health care is not theoretical...It’s about people, real people.”

Reid was joined by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.). The Senators noted that the families in attendance know the real costs of health care due to personal experiences. Reid repeated the phrase, “we’re talking about people,” multiple times in his opening statement.

Murray said she's asked constituents in her home state to share their personal stories about health care and why they feel health care reform is needed. So far, she said she's received over 5,000 e-mails in two weeks.

Murray highlighted the need to control the costs for family health insurance, noting that people with quality health insurance are paying more in premiums because the system as a whole does not cover everyone.

“Overcome the obstacles and get something done. We have to get something done,” said Schumer. “The system just isn’t working or it’s getting to the point that it won’t work in the next decade.”

Durbin said stories about ordinary Americans losing health insurance are not uncommon because 14,000 people lose health care everyday. He said that if nothing is done now, the problem won’t just go away, and that’s why health reform must happen this year.

The Senators said they will give the legislation more time so that Republicans who oppose the plan can review what Reid described as a “complex difficult issue." They said they would continue to work on the bill when they return from recess in the fall.

“I’ve had conversations with them [Republicans] and I’ll have future conversations to give them assurances that we’ll take everything they do and we’ll do what we can to make sure their issues aren’t buried,” said Reid.

Reid expressed confidence that all 60 Democrats in the Senate are prepared to vote for the legislation.