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| 3,000 answer call to talk and listen to UC congressman |
By: John Brannon Messenger Staff Reporter
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Posted: Monday, August 31, 2009 8:36 pm
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By JOHN BRANNON
Messenger Staff Reporter
Linda Snow of South Fulton made it clear as the proverbial bell how she and her husband, Glenn, feel about the current campaign of health care reform.
She was the first of many of Congressman John Tanner’s constituents in the 8th Congressional District to call him during a “tele-town hall” meeting 2-3:30 p.m. Friday.
“We are Republicans, but we have always voted Democratic when it came to him (Tanner),” she said, as if casting her comments to a large listening audience. “If he chooses to support this bill, we will no longer be supportive of him. We are not for socialized medicine.”
The bill of which she speaks is House Resolution 3200, promulgated by proponents as “a bill to provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, and other purposes.”
But opponents — and there are thousands, if not millions, throughout the nation — assert the measure would be anything but an improvement of the current system of America’s health care system.
Prior to the current congressional recess, HR3200 was approved by three committees in the U.S. House of Representatives. Tanner said he voted against it when it came through the House Ways & Means Committee before the August recess began.
When Congress reconvenes after Labor Day, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee will either adopt the House bill as is or with changes. A conference committee comprised of members of the House and Senate would craft a compromise bill which would be presented to both Houses for an up or down vote.
Controversy
By its very nature, HR3200 would be of significant impact on the national health care. It is controversial, to say the least. And two of the most controversial provisions are:
• Public Option. Defined by Medical Guardian magazine as “a government health insurance program akin to Medicare, which would be open to anyone.”
• Illegal aliens. HR3200 “does not contain any restrictions on non-citizens participating ... whether the non-citizens are legally or illegally present, or are in the U.S. temporarily or permanently.”
A link for listening
The Obama administration wants HR3200 passed by Congress at once so President Obama can sign it into law.
However, the voice of the people has of late told officials such as Tanner, “Not so fast!” They are expressing themselves, sometimes with anger at public forums nationwide and exhibiting strong opposition.
Tanner chose the “tele-town hall” meeting as a forum to give his constituents an opportunity to speak directly to him to air their concerns.
Tanner’s reply
“Thank you for your comment,” Tanner told Mrs. Snow. “As you know, I voted against it when it came through my committee, and I can’t support (HR) 3200. I’m confident it will not be a bill that will be considered in any conference committee that may come about.”
In a later interview, Mrs. Snow she would rather have talked to Tanner face to face; however, she appreciated his making himself available via phone, but for her it was second best.
“Face to face, I can read a person, and I couldn’t read him over the phone,” she said. “I believe in eye-to-eye contact. But I do appreciate being allowed to be a part of that (call-in program).”
Other comments
Callers not only expressed themselves about the health care reform furor but also about other issues of concern.
A moderator received the calls and patched them through one by one to Tanner, who would listen and then reply.
Some of the other callers and their comments include:
• John Peeler of Dickson
“Let me tell you how glad I am that you make yourself available to us,” Peeler said. “I want to ask you, ‘Do you believe that universal health coverage should include people who are in this country illegally?’”
Tanner said he does not.
“This health care delivery system that we have is paid for by Americans for Americans,” he said.
• Mrs. Bob Wilson of Trenton
“I understand that Medicare is not going to be issuing a cost of living adjustment this year,” she said. “I also understand that our Medicare insurance will be going up by about 10 percent. So if I get $1,000 a month in Social Security, and the Medicare premiums go up to $50, that is a 5 percent increase in our cost of living. (And how are people on) fixed incomes of $1,000 going to be able to eat and having housing and still pay for our Medicare premiums?”
Tanner said her question is associated with the Social Security program. “The Social Security cost of living (COLA) is automatically adjusted based on inflation each year,” he said. “Due to high oil prices last year, the COLA was 5.8 percent in January this year. Since the price of fuel and other things have come down, the cost of living this year has not increased according to the formula.
“I might note that seniors also received a $250 bonus payment through the Economic Recovery Act. The good news is that the Social Security Act includes a provision that holds most beneficiaries harmless for increases in the Medicare Part B premium. If there is no COLA, effective Medicare Part B premiums would be reduced to ensure that their Social Security checks do not decline from one year to the next.”
• Beverly Taylor of Humboldt
Ms. Taylor wanted to know what Tanner was going to do about disability as associated with Social Security. She said she talked to an official in Jackson in 2007. “He says the judges (caseloads) are backed up,” she said. “People are doing without. I haven’t been able to work since 2004. My 68-year-old mother is trying to take care of me with her retirement check, which is not very much. She’s paying for my doctor visits, my medical bills and anything that I have to have. I would like to know what you plan to do to change this.”
Tanner said money has been appropriated to the Social Security Administration to hire more administrative law judges and reduce the backlog of cases.
“The backlog has built up to sometimes in excess of a year, bordering on two years at times,” he said. “The only way to work through and work down that backlog is to have the manpower available to do so. And we’re working on that as we speak.
“I’m sorry for your circumstances. We’ll do the best we can, trying to cut this backlog time, because it’s entirely too long.”
• Darryl Pollock of Dresden
“I was born and raised in Huntingdon. My dad and mom still live there. They’re in their late 70s. There are things they need medically that they can’t afford, and when I visit doctors’ offices myself, I see people that were not raised here, were not born here, and they’re getting things free that my mom and dad can’t get at all.
“I’m wondering if there’s something that can be done and will be done about that.”
Tanner thanked him and speculated that Pollock’s parents might qualify for Medicare Part D prescription drug benefits.
“If you would contact us here at our Union City office, we could see if we could help them with that,” he said.
“Insofar as illegal immigrants — I guess that’s what you’re referring to — as I said earlier, any provisions that would indicate that they would receive benefits from the federal government, I would be totally opposed to.”
• Patricia Dotson of Samburg
She said her family has a long history of veterans and that she lost her first husband to the Vietnam War. Veterans, the elderly and such “should be at the top of everybody’s list.
“None of them should be denied anything they need, and I’ll agree with everyone else that if you don’t work here in America and earn the right to have Medicare, I don’t think you (should).
“I’m not complaining about not getting a raise this year in my disability (benefits), because we have gotten many raises in the past. I thank you for that. Everybody needs to tighten their belt, stop worrying about not getting a cost of living (increase). They’re doing good just to hang onto their jobs.”
Tanner said he’s consistently opposed COLA for members of Congress, “particularly in these times when everybody, as you said, needs to tighten their belt. There will not be a COLA in Congress, either, in 2010.”
• Trena Taylor of Union City.
Mrs. Taylor asked Tanner when a copy of HR3200 will be available in his Union City office “so we can read through and see what’s in it before it actually is voted on.”
Tanner said he hopes so. “One, it’s not ready. And (two), it’s very difficult to say when a bill may come. There are three different versions in the House. There is one version in the Senate.
“So there really is some doubt in my mind as to whether there will be any bill ready for a vote this year. If there is, I suspect it would be later on in (the) October-November time frame.
“What the Blue Dogs have insisted on, that before any bill can be voted on — not only the health care bill but any other bill — there ought to be a 72-hour waiting period after a bill is drafted and ready for a vote so that not only the member (of Congress) could read and hopefully understand it, but the general public would have the same time to read, understand and have input.”
• Arthur Hughes of Dickson
“I would just like to tell you that I would really like to have a public option (provision). I personally would like to see a single-pay option, say Medicare for all. I am very displeased. I used to be very proud of the Blue Dogs. On this issue in particular, I think it’s important for all of us. ... It would be very unChristian of us as a nation not to cover everyone. If someone is bleeding and comes to the hospital, they need to be (treated), I don’t care where they came from. That’s what God would want us to do.”
Tanner said he’s found there’s a lot of disagreement about the public option provision. “There’s folks like you who really want (it), there are other folks who think it’s some sort of government takeover.
“What I have found in my years of public service is, for a change in public policy to be successful, there has to be a critical mass of public support, a consensus. It doesn’t have to be overwhelming, but it has to be enough that people will accept it.”
The debate about health care reform, Tanner added, has only just begun.
“Unfortunately, there’s probably been as much misinformation about not only the bill but also about the public option provision. So time will be our ally in sorting out what’s true and what’s not true, so we can get (a) consensus.
“This is a good debate. It’s just now beginning in earnest. As we go forward debating the pros and cons, maybe we can get to a point where we can get a critical mass for some reform. It may not be everything that some of us want, it may be more than some of us want.”
Epilogue
Randy Ford, Tanner’s legislative aide, said records indicate about 3,000 constituents responded to the call-in, either by listening in by phone or expressing their concerns. He said that in an hour and a half, Tanner was in direct dialogue with 24 callers.
“There were a lot of people who wanted to ask questions but learned their questions had already been asked by somebody else,” Ford said. “At the end of the call, each had the opportunty to leave the congressman a voice mail and any additional comments they had.”
The tele-town hall meeting, he said, is a good tool for dialogue between Eighth District citizens and their congressman. It brings together people from 300 communities from Memphis to Clarksville. “Many of them have the same questions, and it’s helpful for them to hear each others questions and comments,” Ford said. “Some people would be left out if he tried to do 300 individual meetings.
Round 2 of Tanner’s tele-town hall meeting takes place at 6:40 p.m. today.
Published in The Messenger 8.31.09 |
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