Chicago pol touts health bill

From the Sunday, June 29, 2008 edition of the Northwest Herald:

Chicago pol touts health bill
By DIANA SROKA - dsroka@nwherald.com

McHENRY – An opportunity for residents to voice their opinion of the health care system turned into a lively debate Saturday over a universal health care bill proposed in Illinois.

A mixture of about 45 local political figures, bill proponents and residents attended the hearing led by the bill’s sponsor, State Rep. Mary E. Flowers, D-Chicago.

The bill would provide publicly funded health care to anyone who lives in Illinois – including illegal immigrants, Flowers said.

“It would not deny health care access to undocumented immigrants,” Flowers said. “Who are we to choose who should live or die?”

But that won’t go over well with Illinois residents, said State Rep. Michael Tryon, R-Crystal Lake.

“It would probably be a magnet for illegal immigrants to come to Illinois,” said Tryon, a verbal opponent of the bill.

While the crowd at the hearing was mostly comprised of proponents of the bill, some residents came with questions for Flowers.

Harvard resident Sal LiVolsi said even though he would likely spend less money under the proposed system, he suspected that it would run inefficiently, like other government agencies.

“When you say the quality of care will be better, I have a doubt,” said LiVolsi, who sits on the board of the Hemophilia Foundation of Illinois.

However, Flowers emphasized throughout the hearings that Illinoisians already experienced an inefficient system.

“I don’t know how long the lines are going to get but I know we have long lines now,” Flowers said.

Flowers also said during the hearing that she had seen people lying on gurneys – not waiting for care but for their insurance companies to let their doctors know whether their treatments would be covered.

“We should be mad as hell and say we won’t take it anymore,” Flowers said.

She lamented the profits that insurance companies reap and insisted government-run health care systems were more efficient than the private sector.

But for some, it wasn’t a matter of efficiency but of the constitutionality of the bill.

“By instituting a single payer system, you’re limiting my right to choose,” said Don Chinlund of Oakwood Hills, after quoting a passage from the Declaration of Independence. “What we don’t seem to realize is the government is the problem.”

Tryon praised Flowers’ efforts at the hearing but said he didn’t foresee the bill succeeding.

“Illinois would be the only state in the country to attempt something like this – government takeover of health care.”

In spite of the vocal opposition of some of the hearing’s attendants, Flowers considered the event a success.

“Hopefully we cleared up a lot of misinformation,” she said. “There’s a difference in reading about single payer and having a discussion.”