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In The News

Obama Urges Local Clergy To Push Healthcare Reform

August 19, 2009

 

Reported by: Andrew Pereira

Email: apereira@khon2.com

Last Update: 8/19 8:37 pm

During a conference call Wednesday President Barack Obama urged faith based organizations in Hawaii and across the country to help push healthcare reform legislation through Congress.

“I need you to knock on doors (and) talk to your neighbors,” the president said during a ten minute address that was broadcast on the website faithforhealth.org.  “I need you to spread the facts and speak the truth.”

Mr. Obama used a large portion of his time to dispel what he called “fabrications” about the effort to pass sweeping legislation that would create a so-called public option for health insurance.

He said a government run health insurance plan would not pay for abortions, would not cover illegal aliens and would not include “death panels” to decide end-of-life care.

“Nothing that we’re doing obligates you to choose any plan other than the one that you have,” the president said, trumpeting a familiar line used during town hall meetings on the mainland.  “If you like your doctor you can keep seeing your doctor.”

Congressman Neil Abercrombie, democrat who represents Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District and is running for governor, also took the time to address those who listened to the president.  He said any public option would have to match or exceed private employer based health insurance offered in the islands.

“It means that we will have true competition among insurance companies to see to it who can deliver the best service to the public,” Abercrombie said in an interview with Khon2 before addressing representatives of faith based groups.

When asked about the possibility that Hawaii employers could drop private insurance in favor of the public option, Abercrombie said that could actually be a positive development for workers.

“If the public option is a better plan why wouldn’t we go to it,” quipped the congressman.

Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou, who’s running for Abercrombie’s seat in Congress, sees it differently.  He said increasing the size of government to cover the estimated 46 million people without health insurance is a “prescription that is worst than the “disease.”

“What you’re gonna get is healthcare with the compassion of the IRS and the efficiency of the postal service and that’s wrong.”

In order to truly improve healthcare and decrease costs, Djou insists tort reform should be a top priority.

“Capping non-economic damages by a quarter of a million dollars will go a long way to restraining this run-away growth in healthcare costs,” he said.  “It’s estimated that almost one-third of all medical procedures are done for so-called defensive medicine.”

Djou also called for equalizing the way individuals and corporations are taxed on health insurance and allowing the interstate sale of private plans.

“More competition from the private sector is what we need,” said Djou, “not more government.”

Last month the Congressional Budget Office reported H.R. 3200, one of three healthcare reform bills passed by House committees would cost about one trillion dollars over the next ten years.

Even with new revenue mechanisms, such as 5.4 percent surtax on families earning $350,000 or more, the CBO said the bill would increase the federal deficit $239 million through the years 2010 to 2019.

“I think the American people have some very legitimate concerns about the massive expansion of the government bureaucracy and spending increases that are going to be necessitated by a huge public program,” said Djou.

Abercrombie countered citizens with private health insurance are already paying for those without coverage.

“Right now in Hawaii there’s about a $700 (annual) charge that goes in, in added premiums to take care of the uninsured,” he said.

Rev. Bob Nakata, president of Faith Action for Community Equity or FACE, said he considers healthcare a national right, much like the freedom of speech and religion.

“We would be following our own mandates of our own religious leaders’ prophets to take care of each other,” he said.  “Healthcare should be there for everybody.”

Again, Djou disagrees.  “Yes, reform healthcare,” he said, “but to try to raise it to a legal standard I’m not so sure I would go that far.”

Members of Hawaii’s congressional delegation have no plans to hold town hall meetings on healthcare reform during their August recess and Rep. Abercrombie said the outrage seen at some events on the mainland is not grassroots.

“It’s pretty much initiated by the forces who have an economic interest in keeping things as they are,” he said.

Djou plans to hold his own town hall meeting on healthcare reform next Tuesday at the McKinley High School cafeteria in Honolulu starting at 5:30 p.m.

“I’ve invited the congressional delegation,” he said.  “I’m not sure that they will attend but I think that they should hear from the public here in Hawaii.”

Andrew may be reached at ph. 368-7273.

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