Health-care reform achievable, congressmen say

A leading opponent of proposed health care reforms in Congress predicted today that differences could be bridged to produce acceptable legislation.

Rep. Eric I. Cantor, R-7th, the House minority whip, agreed with Rep. Robert C. Scott, D-3rd, that the current health care system is unsustainable because it denies access for millions of Americans and is too expensive to maintain in the future.

"We ought to be able to produce something to effect positive reforms," Cantor said.

Cantor and Scott appeared this morning at a Richmond Times-Dispatch Public Square discussion on health care reform at the newspaper's downtown offices. A capacity crowd of 225 people were on hand for the event.

Scott outlined provisions of pending House legislation that would include a public option plan for health insurance. The Democratic proposal would cost about $1trillion over 10 years, which he said would be less than spending on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and extending the tax cuts enacted under the former Bush administration.

"Obviously, in context of what we do and the choices we make, this clearly is affordable," Scott said.

In response to a question from the audience, Scott said, "Eric and I agree on 80 percent. Unfortunately you can't do the 80 percent without some of the 20 percent. That's where the rub is."

Cantor warned against reforms that would allow the government to interfere in the relationship between patients and their physicians. He also cautioned about the potential for government health-care programs to deny medical care in some cases.

Cantor also voiced concerns about the cost of a government-run program that "government can only pay for by beginning to deny care."

Scott said that without a public option, people would be required to get coverage from "for-profit, sole-source corporations, with no check on prices."

"As John McEnroe would say: 'You can't be serious.' "

Among those in the audience was Mary Evans of Richmond, a patient-services counselor who said she works in an emergency room where she helps patients who are paying by themselves, or through Medicaid. She said she questions how much more Americans can take after the TARP expenditures, the federal stimulus package and federal bailouts.

Evans, who declined to identify the hospital where she works because she was representing herself, also said she increasingly sees patients on Medicaid coming to the emergency room with non-emergency concerns.

"If the government can't fix Medicaid... why should we turn this (health-care overhaul) over to them?" she asked

Eileen Davis of Henrico said she was in nursing school in 1973 when President Richmond M. Nixon fought health care reform. She asked Scott and Cantor for a centrist approach.

"Will you commit to real reform? With a centrist approach?" she said. "Punting this problem to another generation will be a dereliction of our duty."

The Rev. Makeba D'Abreu of Chesterfield County said she wants to see health care reform but is concerned about disparities in care, including between genders.

"I am in support of a public option or some form of alternative to have stiff competition," she said after the event.

Attendees filed out about 11:30 a.m., discussing the highlights.

Mary Wooding of Richmond said she was impressed by the audience, but less so by the politicians.

"I think in some cases they went around the actual questions," she said. "The audience was good through — no boos."

Richmonder Charles Cheek agreed.

"I thought it was rather civil," he said, adding that the politicians were "too long-winded."

"They should’ve gotten right to the point and found commonality," he said.

Cantor and Scott praised the forum for its civility and its bipartisan nature.

"This today, I think, can serve as a model," Cantor said after the forum. "We need bipartisan discussions outside of Washington."

A line began forming early for the forum, with tickets going to the first 225 people in line.

There were 200 seats available in the newspaper's auditorium, and 25 in a smaller room where the program would be shown by video. About 50 people were unable to be seated because of the limited space. The program was shown live on TimesDispatch.com.

Randy Lanthrip was second in line for the Public Square, arriving at 5:45 a.m.

"I’m here for veterans rights," said Lanthrip, who retired from the U.S. Army in March.

Lanthrip said he wanted to know where the 45 million people who might be put into the health-care system would go.

"There are no new doctors and no new hospitals," he said. "Where does that leave veterans?"

Cynthia Losen was third in line, arriving shortly after Lanthrip.

She said she has faced two major health crises recently, including breast cancer.

"I’ve had to fight my insurance company the whole time," she said. "They didn’t even want to pay for the only pill to help with my nausea."

Among those in line was 14-year-old Meghan Steely of Midlothian, who carried a sign that says, "Just say no to health care bill.

"I started learning about the health care bill from different news shows and it did not make sense to me," she said.

About six people held a sign saying, "Standing together for health care reform." Among them was Jeff Smith of Richmond, who said his father and a work colleague suffered from mesothelioma as a result of asbestos exposure. He said his father's colleague lost his job and his house because of the financial impact of the illness.

"I think a great country like ours can do better than that," Smith said.

A handful of volunteers for Organizing for America, a group that promotes President Barack Obama's agenda, strolled the line. They asked people waiting in the crowd to sign a petition, pledging that they would contact their congressional representative and ask for health-care reform. The sounds of soft conversation were drowned out by the noise of a jackhammer from a construction crew across the street.

Some opponents held homemade signs that expressed a different view. Once said: "Listen Congress: We pay for the goods. We consume the goods. We get to choose the goods. Get your hands and tax code off my health care."

Hanover County resident Laura Glover, 29, brought her 2-year-old son, John, to the forum. She said that while John's position on health care is unclear, she had given him a task.

"We practiced flag-waving," she said.

Glover fears that health-care reform will force people to sacrifice some of their rights and decisions.

"I want people to be able to decide for themselves," she said. "I don't want to tell someone how to live, but I don't want the government to tell me how to live."

(Times-Dispatch staff writers Wesley P. Hester, Michael Martz, Olympia Meola and Jim Nolan contributed to this report.)