CHARLESTON August 02, 2009 03:54 am
— After conservatives have drummed up opposition across West Virginia to proposals of the Obama administration, labor leaders and Democratic politicians arc rallying for policies they say are crucial to bettering the country's economy.
Chief among those issues is health care, with the state AFL-CIO in particular pushing hard for a so-called "public option" that would enable virtually all Americans to have health insurance coverage. That puts them at odds with conservatives in West Virginia, who recently rallied against such a public option, and who are discussing the possibility of more demonstrations when Congress takes its August break. National AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Rich Trumka, United Mine Workers President Cecil Roberts, Gov. Joe Manchin and US. Rep. Nick Rahall are among those scheduled to attend the rally at the state Capitol on Sunday.
The rally is designed to stir up support for a bill in Congress called the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier for workers to join unions and create stiff penalties for employers that illegally seek to bar them from doing so. The rally will also touch on global trade, with unions wanting stronger guarantees from the country's trade partner regarding human rights and the environment. But health care reform has come to the forefront of organizers' agenda.
"It's time we said, Don't slow down. We need health care reform now," said state AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Larry Matheney.
In particular, Matheney said a public health plan is an essential ingredient of meaningful reform, arguing that it will make private health insurers change their practices to be more attractive to consumers. The health care reform legislation that narrowly passed a key congressional committee Friday night includes a public option. "A public plan is the way to increase competition, and lack of competition is the real problem," Matheney said.
West Virginians already rely heavily on the federal and state governments for health insurance. Although participation in plans like Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program fluctuates, close to 800,000 residents get their health coverage from a public entity.
"I know no one who has said, I don't want Medicare," Matheney said, "or, I'm a veteran but no thank you, I don't want VA coverage."
A public option, though, would amount to forcing private insurers out of business, according to opponents of the idea.
About 50 people demonstrated outside U.S. Rep. Alan Mollohan's office in Morgantown last month, urging the Democratic congressman not to support any legislation that includes a public option.
"We're concerned about the government takeover of health care that's coming out of Washington, D.C. We believe it's socialization of medicine," said Cindy Frich, a former Monogalia County lawmaker who organized the demonstration.
Frich is also concerned that a federal plan will amount to a massive financial imposition on states, who will be charged with carrying out unfunded mandates handed down from Washington.
Health care reform is already under way in states and in the private sector, Frich said, citing West Virginia's creation of an insurance plan for people whose pre-existing conditions make them ineligible for private coverage.
The debate over a public option may be stealing focus from more substantive, and less controversial, matters,
according to Perry Bryant, executive director of West Virginians for Affordable Health Care.
Unlike Matheney, Bryant doesn't see a public option as a make-or-break component of health care reform.
The legislation could also tackle higher premium rates for women and people with pre-existing conditions;
the rate structure of medical payments that favors a fee-for-service model; and invest in preventive care, among other elements that he said would amount to major changes.
"They don't get the play that [ think is warranted," he said. "The public option debate obscures some of these really important matters."