Loebsack Town Hall – Progressives Carry the Day in Iowa City

by Trish Nelson

You know you're in Iowa City when someone shouts, “Socialism!” and the room applauds.  Note to conservatives:  Please do not freak out, we were just joking.  It's Iowa Citians' way of injecting humor into a “debate” that has begun to feel like one bad, long, headache. 

It was surprisingly quiet outside of McBride Hall before the start of the meeting.  I saw two pro-healthcare groups.  One group was for single payer, and the other group told me they were a group of UI  health care workers, associated with SEIU.   Faux hospital shirts with “Every Patient Matters” printed on the front, were hung on a clothesline, and anyone could go up and write their health care message on a shirt.  The plan is to collect as many shirts as possible with the messages, and deliver them to Grassley.  The person I spoke with, Bradley Vanwaus, had a simple message:   “Every day, hospital workers see patients without insurance.”

Staff were in place at the entrances, and Health Care Reform: Myth v Fact sheets were handed out.  When I got inside about 9:15 or so, McBride Hall was nearly full.  Later, it was standing room only.  I sat by the first fellow progressive I spotted. 

I looked around McBride Hall and from my vantage point on the first floor, it looked like there were more pro-health care signs than anti.  There was a pro-health care sign hanging over an anti-health care banner – “Reform Now – Insure People Not Profits.”  Other signs:  “Senator Grassley – Produce or Retire.”  “Health Care – Not War in Iraq.”  “Hands off My Health Care.”   There was a woman wearing a tee-shirt that said, “It's Okay To Be a Christian.”  

The Congressman received thunderous applause upon being introduced, and quite a few people stood.  He opened with some remarks and, bless him, actually invited people to share comments, as well as ask questions.   He gave a brief overview of the legislative process so far on health care.  Holding a copy of HR 3200 up before the crowd, he said, “I voted for this bill,”  to another round of enthusiastic and grateful applause.  The Congressman shared a thumbnail version of the very basics of the bill.  

 – If you are uninsured, you will have the opportunity to get insurance (applause).
 – Under this bill, you cannot be denied for a pre-existing condition (applause).
 – Insurance companies cannot drop you if you get sick (applause).
 – There will be caps on out-of-pocket expenses, $5,000 for individuals/$10,000 per family; no bankruptcy due to medical reasons (applause)

This took just a few minutes, and he went right away to questions.  I counted 14-15 questions.  Cards had been handed out, then drawn by random audience members.  Loebsack staffers Kirsten Running and Dave Leshtz did a very able job of keeping the meeting going in spite of intermittent verbal outbursts from the crowd.  (After the first 30 minutes, the Congressman shared that this was the fewest interruptions they'd seen so far at their town halls).  Those who spoke out of turn were quickly shushed by the audience, but there was plenty of Parliament-style yelling and shouting off and on.  

The first question was more of a comment, articulated as a concern, basically about abortions and euthanasia.  The congressman reiterated that (1) there is nothing in the bill mandating coverage for abortions.  Here he mentioned that there is a lack of information out there and people were hearing things that just weren't true.    (2) There is nothing in the bill that forces a doctor to provide an abortion.  The Congressman said the Hyde amendment, a provision that bans federal funding for abortions, would apply to this bill.  (3) There is nothing in the bill that calls for euthanasia.  He alluded to “some politicians out there stoking the fire,” but the only thing the bill does is allow doctors to talk to patients if patients want to be talked to, about a living will, end of life planning, etc.

Many of the questions seemed similar to what people have brought up at other town halls.  He did point out that the bill, if passed, would not take effect until 2013.  I didn't quite catch this part, but I think he then said that the House passed, on a bipartisan voice vote, a provision to make certain that if the bill passes, it goes into effect before 2013.  

When answering a question about preventive health care, Loebsack mentioned individual responsibility and made a joke about the donut he had on the way to Iowa City.

There was a lot of applause again when Loebsack pointed out that he was a co-sponsor of HR 676, the single payer bill that he described as Medicare for all.  He emphasized that this is NOT government take-over, that it is publicly funded, but privately delivered.  This was where someone shouted, “Socialism!” and the crowd applauded…then laughed, so chill, conservatives.

Someone shared a health care horror story about being denied coverage because her son had a pre-existing condition – acne.  Loebsack said simply that the bill he voted for would not allow that:  “The point is to make sure that never happens again.”

A commenter wondered if health care could be modeled after credit unions.  

A smalll business owner with four employees said his health care premiums had increased by 60%.  Loebsack took the opportunity to discuss what the bill would do for small businesses, and said that employers with a payroll of under (originally) $250,000, (changed to) $500,000, would be exempt.    He shared that reform would be a good deal for small business because they currently have a hard time competing with large businesses because of the high cost of health care.

A questioner said she was college-educated, middle class, pregnant, has a 2 year old and a husband with asthma and allergies and they had paid $10,000 out of pocket in medical expenses.  “When am I going to get something?”

Loebsack explained that under the bill he voted for, she would not have to pay that.  He talked about cost containment and the public option (applause).  He mentioned that in Iowa, two insurance companies dominate the market and that the goal is to provide more choices.

Loebsack described his own health insurance plan, sharing that when he arrived in Congress he had as many as 12-14 plan options.  He said his premium is $300 plus (couldn't hear exact amount) for him and his spouse.  He said as a Congressman, he got a good deal, and that he wants everyone to have at least that good of a deal.  He said the public option should be one of the choices.  (Here, an out of turn talker was shouted down).

There was a question about cooperatives, but not much information seems to be available about details on that idea.

Loebsack talked about the different committees involved in writing the health care legislation and when he mentioned Grassley there were boos and heckles.  Loebsack talked about the legislative process being complex,  but “that is the way of Democracy.”  Applause.  

Question about costs.  Loebsack said the Congressional Budget Office, which does pretty well at being non-partisan, estimated that by 2019 only 4% or 12 million people will be on the public plan.  He explained that the public option will be one of several options under the health insurance exchange – that consumers will get to choose.  Loebsack said the government funding is for start-up, and that the program will be paid for by premiums and will be self-generating.

I didn't hear the next question but Loebsack responded by saying something about the American Medical Association supporting reform.  Then he said, I thought rather wearily, “I'm not going to vote for anything that's going to lead to rationing and euthanasia, and the President is not going to sign anything like that, folks.”  I exchanged looks with my progressive friends next to me, and we shook our heads at the absurdity that he would even have to say that.

The next speaker wondered how the reform bill might affect hospice care.  When the speaker said, “I volunteer at hospice,” someone yelled “shut up!”  The speaker continued, “As an RN, I've seen the best and worst of end-of-life care, and hospice is more compassionate than anything I've seen in any ICU anywhere.”

Loebsack said, “I've been to every hospital in the District – medical professionals all say the same thing about end of life care.”

He reminded the audience, “Iowa is one of the oldest states in the nation – we are the highest for 85 and over – I don't want to take this opportunity away from individuals and families. “

Loebsack thanked the audience for attending, and invited the crowd to give ourselves a hand for  participating in the democratic process, which we did.