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TechnoratiLittle Town Beseeches Obama’s Health Chief
DUBLIN, Ind. - Former Senator Tom Daschle, whom President-elect Barack Obama has called the "lead architect" of the new administration's efforts to expand health insurance and rein in medical costs, attended a community meeting Monday where he got an earful about expenses that were too high and coverage that was too little.
![[Former Senator Tom Daschle attended a community meeting on health care Monday in Dublin, Ind. (AJ Mast for The New York Times)]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/daschle_health1230.jpg "daschle_health1230.jpg")
Dolly Sweet, 79, said she beat breast cancer 20 years ago but was now battling lung cancer without the medicine her doctor had prescribed. Ms. Sweet told Mr. Daschle that after covering her radiation treatment, Medicare would not pay for follow-up treatment with the drug, Tarceva, which would have cost $32,000 a year.
"Then what happened?" Mr. Daschle asked.
"I'm still here," she replied. "You always look over your shoulder and see someone else who's worse off."
The gathering here in this small eastern Indiana town was one of thousands on health care being held around the country at the behest of the Obama transition, and the first attended by Mr. Daschle, whom Mr. Obama has chosen to be secretary of health and human services and director of the new White House Office of Health Reform.
Mr. Daschle was joined at the meeting, which was held at the town's firehouse, by several dozen other people. Among them were doctors and administrators from Reid Hospital in nearby Richmond, who told of patients who were flooding the emergency room there because they did not have primary care doctors or insurance coverage.
"Our population hasn't grown, yet our emergency department census has more than doubled," Dr. Michael Baldwin, the department's director, said of changes over the last 24 years. "Everyone used to have his own doctor. Now little more than half do."
Dr. Joseph Fouts, one of the area's few general practitioners, said he dealt nearly every day with patients who had found jobs carrying health benefits but who were denied coverage because of what insurers determined to be pre-existing conditions. In a recent case, Dr. Fouts said, a child of one such person was denied coverage for a cold prescription because he had a cold last year.
After listening for nearly 90 minutes, Mr. Daschle said the system could be changed by citizens' active participation.
"When we combine all the stories we heard in this small town of Dublin and multiply that by 300 million people, we can begin to imagine the scope of the problem," he said. "But I'm hopeful that the country has come together to say: ‘Enough already. We have to fix this.' "
4 Comments so far
Show AllAffordable health care won't do much good until we cure health care. I know what is advertised, awarded as the best paitent care you can get in East Tennessee. It's not what they really deem as their acceptable levels of health care on record at Greeneville, TN Federal Court case # 2:04-cv-375. In Tennessee "horrifying health care" is the same thing apparently as the acceptable standards of health care. http://www.wisecountyissues.com
Rightfully, part of the cost of the new system would be supplied by the insurance companies from all the money they have stolen by repeatedly denying prescribed treatment. And hopefully there is a special place in hell reserved for all those responsible.
Even as a Senate leader, he could not come this close to trying. Glad to see him being able to push for better as a cabinet secretary.
Terrance Mitchell
Redfield, South Dakota
If we lived in a democracy, and if we can look forward to change, I would not be so upset by fact that the for profit insurance companies control our medical system. I am upset because I do not expect any change at all. More of the same is before us, and things will keep on getting worse.
Mr Daschele said, "I'm hopeful that the country has come together to say, 'Enough already. We have to fix this." He is correct in saying the people say this, but not him or the other members in power in 'our' government. (I put the quotes on government because I don't think is is our government. The government is in the control of the corporations whose only goal is to maximise profits.)
If this were a democracy, the cries of the citizens of Dublin would be heard as they rise up with the voices of people all over our nation. (That is a big 'if'.)
There is a bill for single payer health care before the Congress now. You need to write a handwritten letter to your Representative in Congress to demand that he/she listen to the constiuents over the contributors and vote in favor of this bill put forward by Representative Conyers. Under this bill the insurance companies would have no part in our health care system. All of our health care funds would go for just that----health care for all with all of us having the same good level of care. Warning about the term 'Universal Health Care' that many politicians tout. That means we all get some form of health care. The rich get very good care, the people working full time get pretty good and the rest of us stand in line at the poorly funded clinics.
Get off your duff and write that letter!! The address of your representative is in the phone book and on the internet. We must insist that our Representatives are just that---our representative who votes following our advice.