Health care changes, universal coverage needed, says speaker
By Jennifer C. Smith
Monitor Staff Writer
EDINBURG — Weekends in the Rio Grande Valley are usually lazy affairs, where roads stay clear until noon and fajita barbecues are high on the to-do list.
Yet, this sunny Sunday meant serious discussion for the 150 people gathered at the University of Texas Pan-American Fieldhouse.
“You may be thinking, ‘Why am I here?’” asked the school’s Vice President for External Affairs Roland S. Arriola, to the sharply dressed audience of university officials, community healthcare and hospital representatives, and health policy analysts seated in red satin-sheeted chairs at blue-napkined tables.
“But Texas has the highest rate of uninsured in the country,” he continued. “It’s something we’re not proud of. It’s time we’re no longer silent about the millions of Americans suffering because they don’t have insurance.”
Applause followed, and so began Day 1 of the National Uninsured Latinos Conference.
The conference, which continues today, pairs nationally recognized healthcare experts, pharmaceutical spokesmen and local elected officials to discuss health policy challenges of uninsured Hispanics and proposals on how to extend them coverage.
The Valley seems to be a natural venue for the event, as 32 percent of Hidalgo County is uninsured.
“Whether you’re on the left or right, Democratic or Republican, we’ve all come to realize the system needs to be reformed,” said speaker Raul Yzaguirre, the former leader of the Hispanic advocacy organization National Council of La Raza.
“We as a nation spend more on health care on a per capita basis than any other nation in the world.”
Panelists batted ideas on changing the system around, but the concept of health coverage for all residents — and possibly undocumented residents — emerged again and again.
With the current healthcare system failing many, people living longer, immigration increasing and medical advancements proliferating, other coverage options must be examined, said keynote speaker John R. Lumpkin, the senior vice president and director of the health group at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The Princeton, N.J.-based nonprofit foundation offers project grants in the United States and U.S. territories to improve health care to all Americans.
“One, health coverage should be universal,” he said, of which several speakers later agreed. “Two, health care coverage should be continuous. We have situations where people are insured one month and uninsured the next.”
“Three, health care coverage should be affordable to individuals and families.”
Several states such as Massachusetts and Maine have proposed universal health care for their residents. Speakers suggested several ways to achieve a national health coverage policy, such as using tax credits, risk planning pools, or single-payer options.
Hemorrhaging healthcare costs is just the economic windfall of the uninsured; the cost in human lives is the greater concern: Every year, 18,000 to 20,000 people die because they lack health insurance and cannot or do not receive timely care.
The numbers followed other mind-boggling figures detailing America’s healthcare crisis, such as nearly 46 million Americans do not have health insurance.
“That number exceeds the cumulative population of 24 states and Washington, D.C.” said speaker Ron Pollock, the Executive Director of Families USA, which recently published a comprehensive study of the uninsured and the cost burdens on the U.S. economy.
“It’s likely to get worse because healthcare costs are rising three to four times that of wages,” he added,
The future is particularly bleak for Hispanics, who have the highest rates of uninsured among any minority group in the country and are most affected by factors that lead to being uninsured.
Panelists ticked off the causes: low-income jobs or being employees of small businesses not having health insurance, uneven or inadequate health care access, and constant cuts to public health programs like Medicaid and the state’s Children Health Insurance Program.
The “why” of the uninsured problem is generally agreed: how to fix the problem is where the debate lies.
A solution is difficult when powerful lobbying groups weave in and out of political circles and partisan tension is rampant, Pollock said.
And politicians are not the only party reluctant to change the status quo.
“The American public feels by and large expanding healthcare coverage to everyone is not in their best interests,” Pollock said.
A blend of government, private and public dollars, not a socialized healthcare network, is the only way to have health coverage for all, several panelists said.
“We can’t allow people to die and continue to die because of political gridlock,” Lumpkin said.
Today’s conference speakers include former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, the 2004 Democratic nominee and a 2008 presidential prospect; former San Antonio mayor Henry G. Cisneros; and U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin.
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Jennifer C. Smith covers health, environment and science
issues at The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4462. For
this and more local stories, visit
www.themonitor.com.