Politicians and doctors banded together in Harlem on Saturday to provide a local forum on the nation’s hottest debate: health care.
This public meeting, hosted by Assemblyman Keith Wright from Central and West Harlem, and the Frederick E. Samuel Community Democratic Club, broke down the debate about health care reform in an effort to help the public understand the often convoluted issues.
In his opening remarks, Wright commented that the forum was necessary because the health care issue is both complicated and vital, and many people simply do not understand how it works. “Your health is your wealth,” he said, adding that this needs to change.
The event leaders noted that the forum was organized after the Senate Finance Committee turned down the public option last Wednesday. Many speakers at the event said they agreed that a public option is a necessity.
Congressman Charles Rangel, who also spoke at the forum, said he was concerned that in turning down the public option, senators were not properly representing their constituents.
“The House Bill will have an [public] option,” Rangel said, in an effort to reassure his audience.
Daniel Laroche, an opthamologist who works on 127th Street and Lenox in Harlem, said that the current health care system puts most of this patients between a rock and a hard place: They are either not eligible for Medicaid or are uninsured.
And even the insured, he said, experience difficulty being treated.
“The companies create obstacles and barriers,” Laroche said. “They need referrals to see me, and that’s a barrier.”
LaRay Brown, the senior vice president of New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, said that it would be necessary to invest in measures to keep individuals healthy from the get-go—and that it would ultimately be cheaper than waiting until a patient was sick with costly afflictions. “To bring cost down, we need to reform the delivery system and invest money in helping people maintain their health,” she said.
Panelists also expressed concern over current health information technology, with some advocating a digital system that could allow for easier access to patients’ records—a step which could decrease redundancy and waste in the system.
Locals said they felt a sense of urgency to turnout to the panel.
JoAnne Wilson, who currently resides in Brooklyn but lived in Harlem for 15 years, said that though she is a politically concerned activist—planning for groups such as Organizing for America—she still considers herself a victim of the faulty system.
Wilson said that she suffers from gingivitis, but that her current insurance plan only covers cleaning and extraction. Instead of treating the infection causing the gingivitis, the dentist’s only option, given her insurance, is to extract eight of her teeth.
“It’s medieval stuff. That’s what they did in the Dark Ages,” Wilson said. “I’m treating it myself with herbals and walking around with a handkerchief because with the infection, I have a fever. That’s a horrible way to live, trust me.”
Others said they attended because they consider the current health care system to be unjust.
“Health care is not a privilege,” said Sylvia Tyler, a retired teacher and Harlem resident. “It’s a basic human right.”
Deborah Williams, the forum’s moderator and the CEO of Globalscope, said in an interview after the event that she thought the forum had been successful.
“I think that the purpose was to bring the discussion back to the public,” Williams said. “In the issue of health care reform you lose the public voice.”
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