The Badger Herald: News: Baldwin seeks passage of universal health care

News

Baldwin seeks passage of universal health care

Rights of disabled in legislation also topic of conference

LEAH BELLACK/Herald photo

Tammy Baldwin voices hope of passing health care reform under Obama.

Looking for a print version?
Simply use your browser’s ‘Print’ command and a printer-friendly document will be generated automatically.

Also by Katherine Kehoe:

Skeptics doubt likelihood plan will create jobs (May 3, 2009)
State law may ban free labor (April 12, 2009)
Supporters march for troops (April 5, 2009)
Baldwin seeks passage of universal health care (March 30, 2009)
New bill would allow for privatization of road tests (March 2, 2009)

By Katherine Kehoe
Monday, March 30, 2009 12:48 a.m.

3 Vote 0 Votes

United States Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, spoke at the First Annual Disability Awareness Conference Saturday to discuss recent national legislation to benefit those with disabilities and the possibility of the passage of universal health care under President Barack Obama’s administration.

According to Baldwin, her political career began after witnessing the struggle of those who had inadequate health care coverage, and the issue remains one of her top priorities to this day.

While Baldwin said she believes those without coverage should receive government assistance, she also said the fight was about covering those who are unhappy with their current plan or are underinsured.

“There are millions of Americans who are uninsured … and even more that are underinsured,” Baldwin said.

Baldwin estimated the number of people in the United States without health care insurance at around 47 million, while 50 million are underinsured, a problem they might not even recognize until they face a major health issue.

Although Baldwin said she believes those happy with their current private coverage should not have to switch, she thinks such individuals will also see positive effects from the introduction of a public health care system.

“I believe it will be a way to keep the private health care providers honest,” Baldwin said.

Despite Baldwin’s optimism for the future of universal health care, she said the debate regarding this issue is far from over.

Some Republicans say they are skeptical of universal health care.

“I think that it’s clear when you look around the world that government run health care is of a lower quality and worse for patients,” said state Rep. Robin Vos, R-Racine.

Vos added although the goals of universal access have merit, the government should concentrate more on lowering costs within the current system.

Saturday’s conference was organized by students working out of the McBurney Center and was initially proposed by University of Wisconsin senior Chris Bjorkman.

Bjorkman said the goal of the conference was to “increase peer education on issues surrounding disability and deaf culture.”

She was initially inspired to put on the event after seeing the level of involvement of those volunteering with McBurney’s, and said she was pleased overall with the way the event went.

“The audiences were engaged in the issues,” Bjorkman said. “Also, we had a very nice spread of students and staff present, and I was really happy about it.”

Other audience members, like Neelam Dhadankar, an intern for Disability Rights Wisconsin, also spoke positively about Baldwin’s speech.

“I think it was great … I’ve never been to something like this before and I think it was a great idea to bring her here,” Dhadankar said.

Although many have high hopes for the future of disabled citizen’s rights, some audience members wondered how they could be better heard by legislators.

“There’s a learning curve for members of Congress about disabilities, but the way to have the biggest effect is to talk to them and share your story,” Baldwin said. “There’s no substitute for getting to know those suffering with such problems.”

3 Comments | Leave a comment

Anonymous | March 30, 2009 12:32 PM | Reply

universal health care = government rationed health care

But I’d settle for Tammy’s health care plan. A pension plan like she has would be great too!

Anonymous | March 30, 2009 4:54 PM | Reply

Did Socialized Medicine Kill Natasha Richardson?

Washington, DC – News reports of the skiing accident, medical treatment and eventual death of actress Natasha Richardson last week shed new light on the limits of the Canadian health care. The timeline of the afternoon’s events indicate that the lack of medical equipment—a trauma helicopter and basic CT scanning equipment at the local hospital—delayed the treatment that may have saved her life.

Maybe not, BUT:

…socialized medicine DID kill ALEX Richardson, a 21 year old student at St. Andrews University in Scotland, who sustained a similar injury when he fell through a roof skylight onto his head. Alex was rushed to hospital in Dundee where CT scan/surgery could easily have saved him.

But in UK socialist medicine bean counters don’t authorize CT scans unless the patient has a skull fracture or is unconscious. So Alex was sent home, told to rest and come back if he got worse (ie. lost consciousness). He did lose consciousness—permanently; he died several hours later, alone in his room.

Police said they didn’t suspect foul play in Alex’s accident. The foul play took place at the hospital where government health policy effectively murdered Alex Richardson. http://althouse.blogspot.com/2009/03/did-socialized-medicine-kill-natasha.html

Anonymous | April 13, 2009 3:35 AM | Reply

Are you uninsured in America? You should check out the website http://UninsuredAmerica.blogspot.com - John Mayer, California