| Norton Holds Town Hall Meeting on Health Care Reform |
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| Regional Archives | |||
| By Shantella Y. Sherman - WI Staff Writer | |||
| Thursday, September 17, 2009 | |||
 Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) starts off the Norton Health Care Town Hall Meeting at the U.S. Department of Commerce on Tue., Sept. 15. She is joined by residents Jennifer Abbott, Joseph Cobb and Rachel Newman who gave their personal stories about health care and how it effects their lives. Photo by Roy LewisOne participant, James Jasper of Northeast, pointed to the reports that uninsured residents were using the Fire and Rescue workers and Emergency Medical Services attendants to access and stabilize their conditions. “It used to be that residents ran to the emergency room if they had a problem because they had no insurance or access to a regular doctor. Now that the emergency rooms are so overcrowded, there are a lot of people that just dial 911 and wait for the paramedics to take [their] blood pressure, give [them] some type of indication they aren’t going to die, and then when they get to the hospital, they bail out,” Jasper said. Jasper, 39, said that he has primarily worked as a mechanic’s assistant and in the retail industry. Neither career offered health insurance or enough money for him to afford individual health coverage. He said he attended Norton’s town hall meeting to find out how President Barack Obama’s reform would help him. “If you are dirt poor or you have children, you can get assistance without a second glance. But if you are among the working poor, you can’t get insurance from your job and you can’t afford to pay for it by yourself. I wanted Eleanor to speak to the working poor, the struggling and the barely above water folks. Frankly, I’m still a bit confused,” Jasper said. Few hard answers were provided at the event, although there was plenty of dialogue about what should be offered. Some, like Michelle Peyton, who wanted specifics on how the District’s clinics would be impacted by free health care, walked away with no clear answers. Questions about the exclusion of illegal immigrants from coverage, excessive senior citizen co-payments, and the risk of compromised information via a new computerized record-keeping system recommended with Obama’s reform bill, garnered only vague responses. In fact, to the concerns about computerized records, Norton said, “There are incidents when somehow social security numbers got put out in the streets. Until I am satisfied that they can keep my business private they will have a hard time getting people to accept digitization of information.” Norton did, however, stress the importance of having every District resident insured so that the economic strain attached to medical bills could be eliminated. “If some are lucky they won’t have to use the insurance and that is good. But we don’t want you to take that chance of needing coverage and not having it. We don’t want people to jump in and out of health insurance plans because they cannot afford them or to not pay for health care until they think something is going to happen to them or they need surgery. People have to come into the health care system understanding that coverage is a good thing,” Norton said.  Residents listen intently during a town hall meeting on health care reform held by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) on Tue., Sept. 15. Photo by Roy LewisAt the end of the two-hour session, even Norton appeared dismayed. The likelihood that most of the residents’ concerns would be fulfilled by Obama’s reform bill seemed improbable. “I believe it will fall far short of what is needed as health care reform,” Norton said.
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