Health care debate rages in Fairfax

Thousands of people, most of them armed with politically charged signs, T-shirts and stickers, converged on South Lakes High School in Reston last week to express strong support for — or opposition to — health care reform proposals under consideration in Congress.

While local residents seem to be as conflicted over the issue of health care as the rest of the country, the raucous crowd at U.S. Rep. Jim Moran’s (D-District 8) town hall meeting Aug. 25 appeared to be overwhelmingly in favor of some variant of reform.

That meeting was at times disrupted by anti-abortion activists and other vocal opponents of the current proposals.

Only a handful of people were able to ask questions over the course of the rowdy two-hour event.At U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly’s (D-District 11) more subdued town hall meeting earlier that day, residents of the Greenspring Village retirement community in Springfield peppered their congressman with questions about the plan, many expressing concerns that any changes would harm Medicare.

U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-District 10) is not planning any traditional town hall meetings, but he has been meeting with a number of local groups about the health care bill during the congressional recess and plans to hold two “town calls” by conference call next week to get additional feedback from constituents, according to spokesman Dan Scandling.

Making the case

Moran and Connolly tried, to varying degrees, to make the case for an overhaul of the nation’s health care system, saying that current circumstances are unsustainable.

While he believes some changes are needed, Connolly made it clear he is not supporting any legislation at this time.

“Your congressman has not endorsed any bill,” Connolly told Greenspring residents at the start of his town hall meeting.

“In fact, I have raised some concerns about the main bill under consideration in the House.”

Connolly said he is concerned about the cost of the bill and where the funding will come from, but he also believes that changes are needed to improve coverage and extend it to more people.

Moran, a strong supporter of the health care reform legislation, spent about half of his town hall laying out his arguments for the plan and trying to address some of the myths the debate has generated.

“No one will lose their current health coverage,” Moran said repeatedly through the two-hour meeting. “That means, regardless of what health insurance plan you’re in, you will stay in that plan.”

Both congressmen said they support provisions like preventing insurance companies from denying coverage of “pre-existing conditions,” capping out-of-pocket expenses for families and closing the so-called “doughnut hole” in Medicare drug coverage.

Moran supports a public-run plan to compete with private insurance companies, which he described as being “very much like Medicare,” but expanded to more people.

Connolly said he is still weighing the options.

“I don’t want to see wholesale change,” he said. “I believe if a public option can bring costs down, we ought to take a look at it.”

For his part, Wolf believes some changes to the nation’s health care system are necessary, although he opposes all three drafts of the bill working its way through the House of Representatives now.

The congressman is on vacation and was not available to personally comment for this article.

“Central to the health care challenges we face as a nation is not only improving coverage, but controlling costs,” Wolf said in a statement published on his Web site. “Key considerations that also must be part of any health reform discussion — or plan considered by Congress — must be choice, affordability and portability from job to job.”

Wolf is also very concerned about the costs associated with the legislation and wants to ensure that private insurers can’t drop clients and force the government to pay for their care.

Citizens weigh in

Skepticism was the word of the day for many attending the town hall meetings. During Moran’s meeting, audience members interjected “Liar!” and “Where did you get your numbers?” as the congressman tried to explain the bill and his opinion of it.

“I think it doesn’t pass the smell test,” said Catherine Featherstone, a Greenspring resident who attended Connolly’s town hall. “I don’t think we need to throw out our current health care system.”

Despite assurances from Connolly and other speakers at the Springfield town hall, many of the retirees at Greenspring said they are very concerned that changes to the U.S. health care system could lead to problems down the line.

On the other hand, some constituents at both meetings recounted positive experiences with health care in Europe and said they can’t understand why Americans would not favor universal coverage. Others said they support proposed reforms on humanitarian grounds.

“I have very strong feelings that health care is a right, not a privilege,” said Greenspring resident Erna Jackman, a former nurse.

That concept is what most concerns Cynthia Alexa, a resident of Fairfax Station who said she doesn’t see health insurance coverage as a right.

“I’m totally against a public option because I think it’s simply a foot in the door toward government-run health care,” said Alexa, one of the approximately 2,500 people who attended Moran’s town hall meeting.

“I’m a small business owner and I’ve paid my own way for 20 years. … I don’t feel the need to pay for someone else.”

Many more people at the meeting from Moran’s liberal-leaning district were like Diane Lewis of Reston, who said she came to the town hall meeting to ensure there was a showing of support for a public option.

“I feel that other people deserve what I have,” said Lewis, who has health insurance. “There are so many doctors who won’t even take Blue Cross Blue Shield at this point because of the paperwork. That’s supposed to be quality health care.”

Copyright 2009 Fairfax County Times. All rights reserved.