Matsui defends health care overhaul in long-awaited town hall
Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, greets Gloria Powell, 78, of Sacramento at her town hall meeting Saturday at Sutter Middle School. She asked constituents to be patient with Congress. "This is like the third quarter of a football game," she said. "We want to sign at the end of the year so we can begin reform on January 1. … We are taking the time to do it right."
Unlike noisy town-hall meetings on overhauling health care that dominated the summer in Northern California, Saturday's session in Sacramento was more pep rally than shouting match.
The meeting, hosted by Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, drew about 700 people and only a few boos. And it drew a pledge from Matsui to stand fast by a controversial public health insurance option, expanded coverage and medical care cost-cutting the hallmarks of insurance overhaul demands by left-leaning Democratic Party members in Washington, D.C.
"I want to make sure no family in Sacramento risks bankruptcy just because a loved one gets sick," Matsui said to cheers. "This bill will ensure that 97 percent of Americans have access to health insurance. Right now, 100,000 people in this community are uninsured."
It was Matsui's first in-person meeting with constituents in the health care debate, and it may be her last. Matsui has been criticized for not having a meeting earlier, but she said conversations with constituents now will have greatest impact on reform.
"We are still in the middle of the process, but now we know the ideas," she said.
She asked constituents to hang tight through the politicking in Washington a process expected to last at least another couple of months.
"This is like the third quarter of a football game," she said. "We want to sign at the end of the year so we can begin reform on January 1. We are taking the time to do it right."
At Saturday's Democratic rally in Sacramento, health insurance companies were vilified.
Dan Monahan, a Sacramento surgeon, said when he began practicing 22 years ago he naively thought health insurance companies wanted the best for his patients. He said he discovered they were less interested in patients' health than saving money by denying services.
"No other country in the world has for-profit insurance companies like we do," he said.
One lone man made a fuss and was quelled by a policewoman. Bill Cooper of Sacramento wore a "Nobama" T-shirt and held a mini American flag. He said he opposes a public option because it would not increase competition among health insurers.
"You're wrong!" he shouted repeatedly, while other nearby participants rolled their eyes. "You're just freaking lying!"
Despite the friendly atmosphere, questions directed at Matsui were diverse. Some participants asked personal questions, referencing their own experiences with the health care system. Matsui's audience at Sutter Middle School was a racially diverse mix of young and old.
Some of Matsui's toughest questioning came from liberal critics, such as Claire Toomay, a McClatchy High School teacher, who pointedly asked about the influence of the health care industry in drafting overhaul legislation.
Matsui's response was uncharacteristically animated.
Insurance companies don't want a public option, she said, but she supports it. Pharmaceutical companies have been reluctant to negotiate Medicare drug prices, but she wants them to, she said.
"Health care reform may work this time because everyone is around the table," she said. "In the Clinton administration, we froze them out."
Toomay said the passion from Matsui was unexpected. Matsui's town hall was a contrast to forums hosted by her congressional colleagues this past summer when feverish debate produced standing-room-only crowds.
On Saturday there were no real clashes. There were no dueling pickets outside the town hall, as there were at town halls held by Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Gold River.
There was, however, Charles Johnson of Sacramento, who bemoaned the complexity of the nation's current health-care system. Enrolled on Medicare Advantage, he said he feels overwhelmed by the unfamiliar insurance plan choices and all the acronyms he faces.
"You have to have a lawyer to get insurance," he said.
But the one comment that elicited a prolonged standing ovation was something everybody seemed to understand.
"This debate ends up being about a moral right," said Gay Jones of Sacramento. "Everybody needs to make this moral decision that everybody is entitled to health care."
Matsui is on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, one of three House panels that have drafted health care overhaul bills. Matsui said her committee's plan is deficit neutral and that those who are happy with their private coverage or Medicare would continue to have the same. For the uninsured, she said, she supports a health insurance exchange marketplace.
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