Johnny Isakson United States Senator

Isakson addresses health care, Afghanistan

By Sandi Van Orden, Effingham Herald

 — Oct 20, 2009

Herb Jones, who introduced Isakson and once served alongside him in the General Assembly, said he was a man with integrity who is a hard worker.

“He is my friend,” Jones said, “but even though you haven’t known him for 30 years, he is your friend.”

Isakson spoke briefly before opening the floor for questions.

“What I do on my town hall meetings is I follow my father’s admonition which is you learn a whole lot more with your mouth shut than your mouth open,” he said.

Isakson said he understands there are questions about health care, and the economy is still suffering. He said the country is at a critical point in the war in Afghanistan. Isakson added the request for more troops should be fulfilled, and the soldiers should be properly equipped.

In discussing health care reform, Isakson explained portability and what is preventing portability across state lines.

“Fourteen percent of the people in this country don’t have accessible affordable health care, and 86 percent do,” he said.

He said 35 percent of insurance falls under the regulation of the state, and those insurance companies are limited to the boundaries of the state.

“What portability means is if you live in Effingham County, you get a job in Sumter, S.C., you can’t take that policy from Effingham to Sumter because you’ve crossed the state line,” he said. “The big issue on portability and pre-existing condition is to repeal the prohibition on going across state lines to offer insurance and allow the risk pool to be nationwide, rather than just within the state.”

Isakson said the federal government could get rid of the “portability problem” and have competition across state lines. He said the debate has been between single payer plan or private insurance as the better options.

Ruth Lee said that Effingham County has had an economy rooted in home construction and asked the former longtime realtor to continue his work with incentives for housing. She said construction loans are not being given out. She said she would like to see people who can afford a home to be able to purchase one.

“In 1974 we went through a housing crisis that was almost the equal of the current,” Isakson said. “Gerald Ford, who was a Republican president, and a Democratic congress passed a $2,000 tax credit for anybody who bought a standing house.”

He said he introduced a tax credit a year and a half ago that passed mid-year for an $8,000 tax credit for first time homebuyers.

“Quite frankly, the problem in the United States of America is not the entry level — it’s the move up market,” Isakson said. “Tax credits are the best way government ever has operated to incentivize the private sector to help solve a problem.”

He said he will testify before the Senate Banking Committee on the tax credit this week.

Isakson was asked about the possibility that a bill would pass that would make all student loans only available from the government. “When student loan lending started, the government did it,” Isakson said.

He said the private sector came in to fill a void, and students could choose the private sector or government loans. A bill in the U.S. House of Representatives would, if passed, take all private lenders out of student loans.

“You have a government that borrowed $1.479 trillion to balance last year’s budget,” he said. “It now wants to take the banking industry out of student lending. The answer to your question is, the bill, I don’t think, is going to pass.”

He said there are moderate Democrats who also think it is folly to expect the government to handle that.

An attendee said he is troubled by the level of corruption in the federal government and troubled by the food situation with restriction of water to farmers in California.

“The Congress is a reflection of society, particularly if you take the House of Representatives,” Isakson said. “We all know that from time to time there are those in society who fall short of the honorable standards we like for any person to meet. Some of those get elected to public office. It is critical that those of us in Congress have standards to cleanse our own house, to enforce our own rules and to see to it that the Congress of the United States is an ethical, moral body of high standards.”

He said there is enough blame to go around for the Democrats and Republicans.

Isakson said the food situation is an environmental species issue and is similar to the water situation in Georgia. He said the recent ruling that says water from Lake Lanier cannot be used for drinking water in metro Atlanta because it is not in the charter will help because it calls on Congress to pass legislation.

Isakson said he would like to see the health care bill and any bill online prior to a vote along with a Congressional Budget Office score; however, the requirement was voted down in committee.

Isakson said a balanced budget is critical, and the only reason there should be an exception for the federal government would be when the country is at war.

Isakson said there is enough time to do something about Social Security, but Medicare is in trouble. He doesn’t believe an overhaul will save Medicare, but a focus on wellness and disease management could reduce costs enough to help.

“The largest two costs in Medicare today are hypertension and diabetes, both of which are substantially preventable in terms of good health practices early in life,” Isakson said. “We’ve got to start focusing in America on those things to lower that obligation in the future and also raise the quality of health care from every American because they live a healthier life. But you don’t do it by taxing soft drinks — you don’t do it by having the hamburger police, like they wanted to do with McDonalds. You do it by having rewards that reward good behavior, and good education so people understand the value of doing it.”