Posted At MuscatineJournal.com
BY : Peter Rugg
MUSCATINE, Iowa n A health-care forum staged by Rep. Nathan Reichert, D-Muscatine, Monday night produced few concrete answers to Iowas perceived health-care problems, although Reichert promised to pursue relief.
More than a dozen people, all of whom had a few gray hairs, and none below the age of 40, attended the 90-minute forum at Muscatine City Hall.
Questions ranged from what could and couldnt be covered under current Medicare plans to the possibility of purchasing lower cost prescription drugs from Canada.
hroughout the course of the evening, the word nightmare was used repeatedly by those in attendance.
A few mentioned giving up health insurance because they could no longer afford rising rates. Not one could understand the rules of the new Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Part D. The voluntary program, called by some the most substantial change to Medicare since it was conceived in the 1960s, is meant to subsidize prescription drug coverage through private insurance companies and to protect against high drug prices. But in recent weeks, the program has been nationally criticized for being intimidatingly complex and confusing.
Some of the attendees asked who they could contact about the new plan, and one noted that U.S. Senator Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, had been a principle supporter of the plan in his capacity as chair of the Senate Committee on Finance. When someone asked if Grassley would explain it, there was laughter. No, said one unidentified man. I dont think well be seeing Chuck soon again.
Reichert encouraged people to be vocal about their concerns, and to contact their representatives or even visit legislators in Des Moines. But most seemed unconvinced that their elected representatives could offer much help.
Ive written a letter to my representative before and I get a letter back telling me how much he cares, said Dave Bradley, 56. But I know he didnt give a crap.
Bradley also asked how the United States could place so low in international comparisons of health-care programs. According to the World Health Organization, the United States ranks 37th in overall health care. However, according to a World Health Organization 2000 report, the United States ranked first in patient care, which includes responsiveness to patient's needs for choice of provider, dignity, autonomy, timely care and confidentiality.
Bradley was not the only one to use a little strong language to express his dismay at the American health- care system. A local physical therapist, Paul Kraushaar, of Muscatine, compared costs and regulations on employee insurance programs to rape.
Kraushaar, president of Muscatine Physical Therapy Services, said that his employees were receiving a lesser insurance policy than their old Blue Cross/Blue Shield program because he could not afford to pay a more than 40 percent increase in rates for the old program.
Kraushaar also bemoaned the current health-care system, which he said denies patients their proper rights as consumers.
The worst thing they ever did, when they conceived Medicare, was to cut out the consumer, Kraushaar said, noting that almost no patient ever even feels they can ask what treatment will cost, or compare prices from different doctors.
Rep. Mark Smith, D-Marshalltown, and Nathan Vander Plaats, a representative from the office U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, joined Reichert. Throughout the forum, they mentioned legislation that had been submitted at the state level to try and lower health-care costs, although little progress had been made on any of it in recent years.
Its a lot easier to stop something in the statehouse than it is to get something done, unfortunately, said Reichert, whos serving his first term.
