Thousands Gather To Support Immediate Action On Health Care Reform

By Laura Woodhead - Talk Radio News Service
Supporters of President Obama’s health care plan rallied on Capitol Hill Thursday, to press for immediate action on health care reform. Organized by the Health Care for America Now! Coalition (HCAN), the "We Can’t Wait ’09" rally brought together 10,000 health care activists from across the country to pressure Congress into taking significant action on health reform by the end of the year.

Joining those in attendance were actress Edie Falco, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean.

Said Dean, “The American public deserve the choice of whether to continue with what they have or if they want to try something different.”

Added Senator Schumer, “You being here will make sure that we hold everyone in that building’s [the Capitol’s] feet to the fire,” bringing the enthused crowd to cheers.

Gary Zuckett, Executive Director of the West Virginia Citizen Action Group, asserted that the issue of health care was literally a matter of life and death for many Americans, calling the current system a “national disgrace.” He added that Republicans need to decide whether to “get out of the way or be run over” by the sheer force of the public's call for health care reform.

Working families stand to struggle under McCain’s health care plans

Sen. John McCain made remarks on health care reform earlier today in Florida, and a news conference was held this afternoon to analyze and critique the plan with participants Roger Hickey, co-director of Campaign for America’s Future, Jacob Hacker, author and professor at Yale University, and Karen Ackerman, political director for AFL-CIO.

Hickey said the ideas McCain put forward today would disrupt the health care system, dismantle the employer provided system, and force millions of people who currently get decent health care to have to try to find health care on their own. He said McCain’s plan to tax health care premiums will stop companies from providing health care employee benefits, so that instead individuals must buy insurance on their own. He also said McCain’s reform will abolish regulations that currently exist in some states to hold insurance companies to a standard, so people can instead buy insurance from any program regardless of what state they live in. He said this plan will benefit the insurance industry, but will not address the cost spiral that is afflicting health care in America, nor will it decrease the number of uninsured Americans.

Hacker said he feels Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama have proposed good health care plans, but that McCain’s proposal is inadequate to address the interwoven problems of rising health care costs and declining coverage. He said the real problem for most Americans is the risk of losing coverage, or not being able to get coverage if they are unhealthy, and that McCain’s reform does nothing to address these problems. He also said the plan threatens to shift costs from companies and payrolls to American families and individuals, and that the tax credit number is going to be very small.

Ackerman also emphasized that McCain’s health care “scheme” will push people out of employer provided insurance to deal with insurance alone, will make it harder for people with pre-existing health conditions to find insurance. She said the grassroots efforts of AFL-CIO will try to make sure voters across the country know that insurance companies and lobbyists for the insurance companies stand to benefit from McCain’s plan, while hurting working families already struggling to stay afloat.

McCain health care reform puts decisions in the hands of families, not the government

Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign held a press conference call to discuss his remarks on health care reform delivered earlier today in Tampa, Florida. Doug Holz-Eakin, senior policy adviser, and Carly Fiorina, RNC Victory 2008 chair, described the health care plan and its goals and proposed outcomes.

Holz-Eakin said McCain wanted to create a plan with better health care at a lower cost, where insurance can move with someone from job to job, and that addressed the fears of people with pre-existing conditions. He said McCain looked, and will continue looking, at experiments by states to find successful health care programs, and he plans to work with Congress to provide funding.

Fiorina said the plan is designed to put patients in control of their health care, rather than doctors, hospitals or the government. She said it allows patients to choose and purchase health insurance from anywhere in the country, and that the competition and choice will drive down costs. She emphasized the transparency of McCain’s plan, and its focus on making sure costs cover treatment and not simply tests and procedures. She said the plan also focuses on prevention and wellness, since many diseases that contribute to the costs of health care are preventable and treatable conditions. She also said McCain believes in drug competition, and that everyone must be covered.

Fiorina said the fundamental difference between McCain’s health care plan and the plans proposed by Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama is that McCain’s plan puts the choice, power, and decision of insurance in the hands of families, while Clinton and Obama propose putting the federal government in charge of health care. She also said McCain’s plan depends on the powers of the free market, which will drive the costs down.