Bono Mack Speaks Out Against Government Run Healthcare

Health care debate draws emotional crowd
Marcel Honoré • The Desert Sun

Like many of the town halls taking place across the nation, “American Health Care: What is the Cure?” panel on Monday was tense with emotion as panelists discussed how to fix America’s health care crisis.

The hundreds of Coachella Valley residents and health care workers in the audience at the Annenberg Center for Health Science at Eisenhower Medical Center erupted into cheers and boos, applause and hisses, mostly in response to discussions of a so-called public option, a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers.

The panel, sponsored by The Desert Sun and AARP of California, comes as the cost of health care in the United States continues to soar, and the Obama administration looks to Congress to pass a comprehensive health care reform package that would help curb the costs and cover most — if not all — of the estimated 45 million Americans without health insurance.

According to Monday’s forum panelists, five separate bills are making their way through congressional committees.

They include the so-called “Baucus bill” in the Senate, named for Montana Sen. Max Baucus, who’s spearheading much of the reform negotiations for the Democratic caucus.

Whether the current reform proposals would cut health care costs or drive them perilously higher continues to fuel the national debate.

Rep. Mary Bono Mack, who participated on the panel, said she would not support the present reform proposal in the House because it merely shifts — not reduces — health care costs. Bono Mack called for more insurance companies that would fight “for our business.”

“We need more, not less. We need better competition not them sticking it to us,” Bono Mack told the audience.

Bono Mack expressed opposition to the public option, saying the costs of added government bureaucracy aren’t sustainable. However, she said the proposed co-op insurance option in the Senate is a good idea. A co-op option, “actually owned by the people,” would complement private insurance companies much like credit unions complement banks, she said.

Bono Mack added that she’s insured through Blue Cross. “The government does not self-insure. … We pay $500 a month. That’s what it is,” she said.
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Prior to the town hall, some 15 to 20 people demonstrated outside of Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage for “single-payer” and a public health insurance option.

They held signs that read “Public Option Now,” “Medicare for All,” “Healthcare is a right, not a privilege,” and other slogans for traffic along Bob Hope Drive.

“I think we should be like every other industrialized country in the world,” said demonstrator Mary Veron of Rancho Mirage. Many U.S. citizens face bankruptcy, work more years or stay in an undesirable job just to keep their health benefits as the costs climb out of their reach, she said.

“It’s unsustainable, what’s happening today,” said Veron, who held up a sign advocating a public option for health care. Other industrialized nations have a “safety net” for their citizens so they’re not so deeply affected by the costs of health care, she said.