Torrens Talk: Town hall was an eye opener

Published 3:22 pm Friday, September 11, 2009

It is always interesting to read in the papers about an event one has attended. It’s how I came away very impressed with Adele Ferguson’s reporting of the doings down in Olympia. I have always told people that she was spot on in capturing not only the sentiment of the crowd, but her quotes were accurate and the summation of the substance was a fair representation of what was said. I’m not so sanguine about the media nowadays, especially with what shows up on television.

That said, it was certainly fun reading how Congressman Inslee’s health care forum was portrayed. Generally, it was reported that the crowd was fairly well behaved with some contentious moments. I would agree but I also credit all those around the naysayers constantly telling them to be quiet, and show some respect.

It was very sad to have Congressman Inslee introduced and hear people booing. Fortunately, that stopped shortly and then he started his talk. Unfortunately, the anti-reform people couldn’t let him finish his presentation without constant interruptions. For those who were trying to hear what was being said, that was annoying.

But, even more eye-opening was to hear the misinformation and outright distortions being perpetrated. It is clear that no matter how many times the actual language is shown and explained, there is a group that will never see or hear any other words than “death panel.” The idea that a health plan should cover end-of-life care discussions with one’s physician is an anathema to them. Apparently, hospices and what they offer have no place in their world.

Then, there is the uproar over having a public option and how unfair that is to the private industry. To borrow the analogy from Senator Schumer, these people must not support public institutions of higher learning either. They must want to close all state colleges and universities since they are public institutions that do “compete” with private schools.

Funny, the reality is that both are necessary and provide the choices that students need. Many students would never get a college degree without a publicly funded school. That is what is happening with health care: many people cannot afford what the private companies demand. A publicly funded entity is what they need.

Then, there is the distortion of health care rationing. They all must have those “Cadillac” plans that cover everything, something which many of us who do have some form of health insurance do not have. While I have heard many stories of rationing, here is my own personal example.

I am high risk for glaucoma. I see my ophthalmologist twice yearly. On one visit, I get one type of test and at the next visit another type of test. Despite the insurance company paying for both tests the first time, they refused one test the second time. My doctor fought the decision all the way to the state insurance commissioner. The result? The test is not covered but it does count against my deductible. In other words, I get to pay for it out of my pocket. If we cannot afford the test, it doesn’t get done. That is a miserable choice and one that is nowhere near as bad as others who face more immediate life-threatening ones right now. Rationing by health insurance companies goes on all the time – it is how they ensure their profits: they don’t pay out claims.

The most absurd issue from that forum that was flying around was that all the questions came from Bainbridge Island (in their minds the Democratic bastion of Kitsap County) and no one else had a chance. Considering the questions were drawn randomly from 3 boxes marked “pro”, “anti” and “general,” 1 from each box at each drawing, that is a pretty good trick to control that outcome. There were plenty of questions from people off the island – even one gentleman from Mill Creek. So, Bainbridge did not control the discussion – the conspiracy is all in their minds.

And, lastly, these folks need to reread the Constitution. There is no right to privacy spelled out anywhere in it. This “right” has come about through a Supreme Court ruling. There is more that could be challenged but the bottom line is that critical thinking needs to be applied. When they get the private sector to comply with their objections, then they can raise issues with the public component.