Congressman Mike Michaud held a Health Care Forum in Fairfield

Last Tuesday, September 1st, Congressman Michaud held a health care forum at the Kennebec Valley Community College in Fairfield. I was one of the invitees. It was an honor to be invited. I was one of the twenty-five or so guests. Many came as professionals representing organizations, many came as individuals. Some of the organizations represented were the SEIU, AFL-CIO, AARP, the Maine nursing home lobby, and a residential facility in Waterville. Some of the individuals there were health care professionals, such as myself, a physician, and a psychologist. I told the congressman what it is like, being a direct care worker, taking care of elders and those with disabilities in their homes, and making low wages and having no health insurance. I told him I'm a health care worker with no health care coverage. I told him that workers like me, making low wages, need to have the public option in health care reform. I told him that no matter what Congress comes up with in the end for reform, the public option needs to be part of it. The public option will help workers like me get affordable, decent coverage. I also told Congressman Michaud my personal story with health insurance in the private market here in Maine. I told him of my discovery of having a $30,000 deductible, instead of what I thought was a $10,000 deductible, to be met before my family's health insurance would kick in a penny. I told him that this is also another reason to keep the public option in reform. I got a round of applause after I had my say. There was only one person that spoke against the public option, saying that health care needs to stay in the hands of private insurers. Everyone else that spoke to health reform, said that the public option is the way to go. The surprising thing that came out of this forum was the overwhelming support for a public option and even a single-payer system. Congressman Michaud's staff was completely surprised by this. They wanted to get views from both sides. The folks representing nursing homes spoke of the problems with low Medicaid reimbursement, the problems with the length of stays Medicare will cover in a rehab center, and the problems faced when drastic cuts are made to Medicaid. Congressman Michaud told us that he wants to make sure the Medicare Trust Fund stays solvent and around for years to come. He also stated that he does not yet know which way he is going to vote. He supports shoring up Medicare. He wants to see what the final health care reform bill looks like before he decides which way to vote. Congressman Michaud was reassuring in that he encouraged all of us to keep up the noise when it comes to reform. He said that he wants as many different views on health care as he can possibly get. I thought that was great. After the event, I personally thanked Congressman Michaud for co-sponsoring HR 868. This is a bill that is going to change or do something with Social Security to increase the wages of direct care workers. I don't yet know the specifics on this, but I do know he is one of the bill's sponsors. We are making noise and it seems to be paying off in small bunches. When it comes to health care reform, we've got to keep making our voices heard. Especially now that Congress is preparing to go back to work on this later this week.