Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Rep. Chris Murphy (D-CT 5th) are holding a series of town hall meetings around the state to address health care issues with their constituents. On 7 Feb 09 they came to western CT with a group of panelists, including the CEO of Aetna, Inc. Each one spoke briefly to the group, and then opened the floor for questions. I leaped to my feet and was called on first by Sen. Dodd.
My comments and a single question followed. Told them I was on Medicare, which is socialized medicine for seniors (groans from a few wingnuts). I said when I was much younger that a person went to a doctor with a pain in the knee and asked the doctor if s/he could help. The doc would say, "OK, I can fix it and it’ll cost you 25 bucks." Perfectly standard office visit and a direct fee for services rendered.
Today, when you visit your doctor there is an 800-pound gorilla sitting on his/her desk. You look around the gorilla’s massive frame and ask about the pain in your knee, and the doc now says, "Talk to the gorilla." The gorilla replies, "We don’t cover that." Now you have to go find another doctor (cum gorilla) and go through the routine again. This time, the gorilla approves, and the doc says, "I can fix it, and it will cost you 50 bucks; the gorilla gets 25."
My parable continued. The gorilla, of course, is the insurance industry, which is a major impediment to any change. I said that the only way to repair the health care crisis in this country is to get the insurance industry completely out of health care. Cheers and hoots erupted. Mr. Aetna looked uncomfortable. I mentioned campaign contributions, and said that "Money buys access; access buys influence; influence buys control. The insurance industry controls the health care agenda in this country." More whoops and cheers. Mr. Aetna was looking for the exit. The MC was trying to cut me off, but I said I had just one question: "Why can’t I and everyone else in this room have the same health care coverage that you and Chris Murphy have?" More cheers. I sat down, but nobody answered my question.
It went on for another 45 minutes, and some good comments followed. I wanted to follow up with a story about my granddaughter, now a healthy 8 year-old, who was born with a "wry neck" as results of a difficult delivery. Her little head was tilted to one side, and it persisted for about a month, until her neck muscles began to strengthen. My daughter then took her to a pediatrician for a checkup. When the doc noted the wry neck on her chart, he told my daughter insurance wouldn’t cover the visit because the baby had a "pre-existing condition!" She was 2 weeks old!
Incidentally, Sen. Dodd has gotten $2 million from the insurance industry, and $0.5 million from big phama. Rep. Murphy got most of his campaign money from small donors (me), but the insurance industry is now pushing money his way. I’m not sure either of them was listening to me.
Anyway, I try to do my part as best I can. Tell Sen. Pat Leahy to resurrect his 2007 senate bill S618, which lifts the anti-trust exemption of insurance companies. Single payer health care for all!!