• Town Talk

Saturday morning President Obama spoke out on the debate over health care reform. He said, “These struggles have always boiled down to a contest between hope and fear.” These are hard times, but I have lived through many hard times. Most importantly there is not one person who doesn’t wake up in the morning and wonder what will happen if he or she gets sick.

For some of us we are fortunate that we have insurance, shared by our employers, that will cover at least 80% of our health care costs. When my grandson was born with a major heart defect, my daughter and son-in-law did not have health care insurance. His repeated surgeries wiped them out financially.  And in the end he died a week before his first birthday.

When I decided to mount a bid for political office, I found that the majority of young people I hired did not have health coverage. Trying to find a short-term plan was difficult. One of them had a pre-existing condition, and it was impossible to get insurance coverage for him.

Most of the citizens in this country acknowledge the need for health care reform. The debate is over what kind of reform is needed. So let’s talk briefly about the President’s principles for health care insurance reform.

First, there should be no discrimination for pre-existing conditions.  The President has a personal stake in this one.  He watched his mother struggle with insurance companies to cover her ovarian cancer. There are so many stories about insurance companies reviewing your medical history and then refusing coverage.

Second, we should not be subject to exorbitant out-of-pockets expenses, including deductibles and co-pays. We already pay a lot for health care insurance if we have it. The White House proposal says insurance companies must have annual limits on how much they can charge.

The third principle concerns cost-sharing for preventive care.  Insurance companies should cover annual exams and tests that prevent illness. How about mammograms, pap smears, eye exams and other tests that will promote wellness? My husband’s employer just negotiated free annual wellness exams for their employees and their families. It can be done.

Fourth, under the President’s reforms, insurance companies will not be allowed to drop or cut back on coverage for those of us who become seriously ill. So if you find out that you have a chronic illness, your insurer has to stick with you.

Five, as a woman I appreciate the next principle. Insurance companies will not be able to charge women more for health coverage than men. So gender discrimination will be prohibited.

Six, annual or lifetime caps on coverage are not allowed. There are policies that do that which means that at some time in your life you could find yourself at a limit and without coverage.

Seven, the reforms extend coverage for young people. I know of a couple of families whose 21-year-old sons were diagnosed with bi-polar disorder.  Both sons were in college and were no longer allowed coverage under their parents’ insurance. Under this reform, those young men could be covered through the age of 26.

Finally, principle eight would require insurance companies to guarantee insurance renewal.  In other words as long as you pay your premium in full, you can renew your policy. The insurance companies can’t refuse renewal if you get sick.

So if you are reading this and you have a perfect insurance policy, you are in a great place. If you have had problems with health care insurance, President Obama’s commitment to health care insurance reform offers real hope.  Our responsibility is to stand up for ourselves and the health care reform we need.

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