The date for the League of Women Voters health care luncheon at
Silverdale Beach Hotel was set a couple of months ago.
At the time we had no idea whether President Obama’s health care
reform bill would be passed, would be dead or would still be under
debate. As it turned out, our discussion on health care came on
Tuesday, March 23, the same day that Obama signed the historic
legislation into law.
LWV has long supported health care reform and encouraged its
members to express their support for the bill to their Congress
members.
Presenting their views of health care reform at the luncheon were
Scott Bosch, CEO of Harrison Medical Center, and Barb Malich, CEO
of Peninsula Community Health Services.
Bosch said he was glad the health care reform bill passed but said
he saw many problems remaining.
“It’s all about the money,” he said. The Medicare Trust Fund is on
the decline at the same time as 350 people become eligible for
Medicare every hour.
With so many new people coming into the health care system, he also
wondered how the medical field would gear up to serve them.
He said the average age of nurses at Harrison is 50, and that
medical and nursing schools are not training enough new
providers.
Malich said she had been celebrating the passage of the bill and
was filled with both “euphoria and uncertainty.”
Her clientele at the community services clinic in Bremerton
consists mostly of people who do not now have insurance. Nearly
21,000 people were served last year.
She agreed with Bosch that access to health insurance does not
always equate to access to health care, but said the new law will
provide scholarships to those who want to pursue a career in
medicine and will also help with repayment of student loans for
health care professionals.
She deplored the “loss of civility” during the health care debate
and urged the League to continue its work of brining people
together for informed discussions.
“Don’t be afraid to engage because it’s gotten ugly out there,” she
said. “We need your engagement. We need your commitment.”
Next month the League shifts its focus to education, specifically
the underfunding of schools in our state. A public meeting is
planned for 7-9 p.m. April 20 at Central Kitsap High School.
Speakers will be Isabel Munoz-Colon, OSPI budget analyst, and Tom
Ahearne, lawyer for the education funding lawsuit.
Tag Archives: Obama
More Reaction to Supreme Court Decision
You may have noticed President Obama’s critique of the recent
Supreme Court decision on corporate spending on campaigns during
his State of the Union speech.
The League shares Obama’s concerns.
Longtime League member Pam Hamon recently wrote the following
letter to the editor on the recent Supreme Court decision on
corporate campaign spending:
To the Editor:
It’s a sad day for democracy and the individual voter. The Supreme
Court’s 5 to 4 decision now allows large corporations, banks,
financial institutions and unions the ability to spend, without
limits, funds from their treasuries for candidate and issue
campaigns. This goes against 30 years of precedence and a century
of practice. Voters will need to do more homework to be sure they
fully understand the issues before casting their votes because we
all know money counts and manipulates.
Pam Hamon
Poulsbo
Here is the national League position on the Supreme Court decision:
Washington, DC –The following is a statement by Mary G. Wilson,
national president of the League of Women Voters on the Supreme
Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC. The League filed an
amicus brief in this case:
“The Supreme Court has made a tragic mistake. Their decision
announced today in Citizens United v. FEC is constitutionally
irresponsible and will surely bring about an anti-democratic
revolution in how we finance elections in this country. Today,
basic pillars of American democracy have been undermined – that
elections should not be corrupted by vast corporate wealth and that
the voters should be at the center of our democratic system.
“Justice Stevens had it right when he said, in his dissent, ‘The
Court’s ruling threatens to undermine the integrity of elected
institutions across the Nation. The path it has taken to reach its
outcome will, I fear, do damage to this institution.’
“In creating a new constitutional right for corporations to spend
unlimited amounts of their shareholder’s money to determine the
outcome in candidate elections, the Court has unleashed into our
elections tremendous sums of money from for-profit corporations
that cannot possibly be matched in quantity by contributions from
ordinary citizens. The only possible outcome of this is that big
money and special interests will have an even tighter grip on our
democracy.
“Congress and the President enacted campaign finance laws over a
series of decades for a reason – to protect our democracy from the
perverse influence of big money in our elections. In making this
decision, the Court has ignored the best interests of the American
public and our representative form of government.”
