The phone rang a little after 7 tonight in the Henry house.
“If it’s Congressman Kanjorski, it’s for me!” I told my husband. He probably thought, “Yeah, right.”
Well shame on the doubters, because it was indeed the congressman from the 11th District calling with his telephone town hall meeting.
Congressman Kanjorski instituted the phone sessions last year during his run for re-election. I was willing to accept his premise that the telephone meetings can reach more people, especially shut-ins like me and all the other ladies who were listening tonight. More on that later. The doubters believe the congressman’s staff instituted the procedure after he got into a verbal scuffle with an uppity constituent that was a You Tube sensation for about two weeks last year.
I want to give the congressman the benefit of the doubt, but I don’t know if I’m able after tonight’s discussion on healthcare which I will cheekily describe as “surgical.” You see, the call began with a 15 minute one way communiqué between the congressman and the people. The congressman dryly stated that the U.S. of A. is 29th in mortality out of the industrialized countries. Later in the discussion, however, he spoke about how people are living into their nineties, thanks to Medicare. I would wonder if this is odd to anyone else.
He proceed to tell the faceless crowd that the cost of services is about twice as much as other people pay for equal or better service in other countries.
“Take a deep breath,” he advised. He didn’t tell us we could snack or drink daiquiris, so I decided to breathe deeply and take notes.
Congressman Kanjorski said there are several bills floating around now about health care, not just a single bill that can get voted on anytime soon. Of course, congress is on their snazzy vacation through the first week of September, so we’re safe until then. He said the vote could happen in October or November, then it would be sent to conference committee for further discussion. He called it a work in progress.
Congressman Kanjorski told us there are “so many misstatements” and “it’s easy to just say no.” He also said public opinion will count, so I urge you to call his office at 825-2200 and add your two cents.
He touted the current Medicare system and V.A. hospitals as proof that the government is already firmly entrenched in the health arena and said a lot of people don’t realize this. He also said that medical doctors won’t be allowed to own examination mechanisms in their own offices as this abuses the system.
Finally, the people were allowed to chime in and a pattern developed: Women asked the majority of the questions, which were even-keeled and not at all like the live action town meetings in the rest of the country where people are making posters of their representatives wearing devil horns and carrying on with passion generally reserved for the Yankees-Sox games. In fact, I don’t even feel like re-capping the Q&A because it was sterile, like a good hospital. One lady did work up the courage to ask how in the world this would be paid for, but the congressman basically talked about how perilous the woman’s premiums would be if everyone sat on their hands and did nothing.
The most interesting statement was about the “hysteria out there” and perhaps people were unhappy with the election last year. You don’t get that at a Doc Kanjorski town hall. It’s as calm as a Norman Rockwell painting. Out here in “real world,” there’s a considerable amount of angst that just can’t be seen if you are phoning it in.
The poll taken halfway through the event was a bit revealing. Of those tuned in, 53 percent said they would fully satisfied with their health care; 25 percent said they were somewhat satisfied with their health care; 13 percent said they were somewhat unsatisfied with their health care; five percent said they were completely unsatisfied with their health care and four percent said they didn’t have any health care. I find this revealing, although it’s only one phone poll. If people aren’t clamoring for a massive overhaul, why is Washington so hot to trot on it? That’s another reason we need a face to face chat with our representatives over the issue.
I’ve invited Congressman Kanjorski to join me on WILK for a two hour discussion on this pressing issue. I hope he can take two hours of his month long vacation to take some additional calls.
Corbett
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