Health care debate comes to Tifton

Isakson speaks; protests held

By Angie Thompson, Tifton Gazette — Aug 12, 2009

TIFTON — U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) told people who attended a town hall meeting Tuesday at the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center that the country’s health care debate is a philosophical battle. Meanwhile, on 20th Street near Tift Regional Medical Center, protesters demonstrated against “socialist health care.”

About 80 people attended the town hall meeting, which was held after Isakson attended the opening of the annual bioenergy conference in another part of the building. Isakson, in Tifton as part of visits around the state during the Senate’s August recess, said, “The question is whether the government should make health care an entitlement and a right or should the government establish a level playing field for private providers.”

One of the reasons he voted against the bill, he said, was that it would “put government in the business of delivering health care.”

Isakson said it took 67 1/2 hours over a 4 1/2-week period to read the bill in Senate chambers and that the current bill in the Senate establishes a government option as an alternative to private insurers and would expand Medicare to cover more people. The bill still has to come before the finance committee, but it is estimated that it would cost $1.3 trillion to fund.

Isakson said that under the bill, companies that employed 25 people or more and didn’t pay employees’ health insurance would have to pay a fine of $750, which is cheaper than the cost for the company to pay employees’ insurance premiums. He said, under the plan, companies could pay the fine and leave more people without health insurance coverage.

Isakson said he would like to see the self-employed, independent contractors and farmers, among others, able to access affordable health care by forming associations and purchasing the insurance in a private market, but health care is expensive and usually doesn’t cover existing conditions, he said.

“Let roofers form organizations and pool (together) to spread the risk to make health insurance more affordable and accessible,” Isakson said.

Focusing on wellness and diseases prevention and management and tort reform could help “flatten the cost” of health care, Isakson said.

Georgia’s cost for Medicaid has increased from one percent of the state’s budget 40 years ago to the current 12 percent, Isakson said.

“With this proposal, it would go to 18 percent,” Isakson said.

Isakson compared the emotions shown at some town hall meetings across the country to the 1970s uprising of the “Silent Majority” and said that most protesters have been “very supportive” of his stand on the issue.

“Older people are afraid there will be rationing of health care. Younger people are afraid they’ll have to wait in line for health care or that we’ll have health care systems like the ones in Canada or Great Britain,” he said. “I think the vast rank and file of voters are just very concerned.”

Locally, approximately 30 members of the Tiftarea Tea Party Patriots held signs in protest of Obama’s health reform plans, abortion and other topics.

Rebecca Hall, with her two small children in tow, held a sign that read “No to Obama health care.” When asked why she felt passionately enough about the health care issue to be out in the sweltering heat, Hall said that she believed “in the rights of Americans to have control over our own health care.”

“It’s not government’s responsibility,” she said. “We are working Americans and we want it to be right for our children. Before the bill is passed, now’s the time to protest while we still have a say.”

Darrell Osborne, a member of the Patriots, said that the government was incapable of running a good, affordable healthcare system.

“Look what they did to Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid and our school systems,” Osborne said. “Health insurance is not a right but a privilege.”

Osborne said he had voted the Republican ticket since Nixon but “I’m as ticked off with Republicans as I am Democrats.”

“It’s high time our politicians paid attention to what we have to say,” Osborne said.

Osborne said that as the grass roots movement to change government strengthens, more people will run for public office.

“They’ll probably run on the Independent ticket,” Osborne said.

Tony McBrayer, the chairman of the Patriots, held a sign that read “Washington. Enough Already. No Socialist Healthcare.”

“The ideal would be for us to put conservative values back into the Republican party,” McBrayer said.