Viewpoint: Congressman debates healthcare
1/21/2010
By Joni Simon - Contributing Writer/Northwest Weekly
Congressman Ciro Rodriguez' visit to the Leon Springs Business Association meeting Jan. 6 quickly transformed into a Town Hall-style debate on healthcare reform when several residents challenged the Democrat's position on the legislation.
“Haven't you ever heard about the free market?” Jack Stalsby said. “This is America, and I don't like it. You're changing the country I love.”
Rodriguez countered that American businesses wouldn't be able to compete internationally if required to continue paying what they have been for health insurance.
“Health insurance is costly to the individual. It's costly to private companies and it's costly to the state,” Rodriguez said. “Healthcare is extremely costly to everyone.”
Cost was exactly what one Leon Springs resident said she was concerned about. Lisa Nelson said she never paid much attention to Rodriguez until the healthcare reform debate.
“There are things about you, sir, that I respect very much, but, I'm terrified about the long term economic effects on the entire country, rich and poor, insured and uninsured,” she said. “I believe that it will have detrimental effects on our country in the long term.”
Nelson and several others questioned why the legislation was considered in a dark room and not shown to the American people, the majority of whom, they said, are in opposition to any reform.
“How could you vote for the healthcare bill when 67 percent of the country doesn't want it?” Jack Mueller asked. “Now everybody's worried. We're in a recession. This is not a good time to do these things.”
The congressman, who said he's attended 22 Town Hall meetings on the healthcare issue, told the group gathered at Rickati's Espresso and Gelato in Leon Springs, that, although he doesn't agree with everything in the legislation, doing nothing is not an option.
“If we don't do anything, and we continue with what we've been doing, just in the next eight years it will cost $4.4 trillion dollars,” Rodriguez said. “We can bring down the cost if everyone who is uninsured becomes insured. We cannot afford to be paying out the way we've been paying out. Insurance in this country costs twice as much as it does in any other nation.”
According to Rodriguez, Texas, which expends about 10 percent of its budget on indigent care, stands to gain the most from healthcare reform legislation because it has the largest number of uninsured. He agreed with constituents that adding to the deficit is not the way to go.
“We have to pay for what we do,” Rodriguez said.
He told the group that he doesn't foresee anything happening on the healthcare reform bill until the end of the month. The Senate and the House have compiled their own versions, with the Senate's being very different than the House legislation, according to Rodriguez.
“I have no idea what's going to happen, but if I had to tell you, I would say it's going to look more like the Senate's version because I think that's where it's more difficult getting a bill out,” he said, adding neither pieces of legislation are at the point of debate. “The only thing you get now is one vote up or down.”
The 23rd Congressional district is one of the largest in the country, but Rodriguez said he's committed to meeting with his constituents, even if it's a handful at a time, like the “Congressman on Your Corner” event sponsored by the LSBA, so long as those attending are residents of the district.
Online: www.mysanantonio.com/community/northwest/Viewpoint_Congressman_debates_healthcare.html
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