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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 2006)
Sen. Gordon Smith sees eventual health care change WASHINGTON, D.C. (PAI) — The aging of the “Baby Boomers” will force Congress to confront the twin crises in the U.S. health care system — declining availability and rising cost of health insurance — say two senators who are crafting legislation on the issue. But since the Baby Boomers are now only starting to retire, the two said on Sept. 21, nothing much may hap- pen before 2008, if then. “The health care issue is ripening, but it’s not ripe,” said Senate Aging Gephardt visits Operators’ conference Mark Holliday (right), business manager of Operating Engineers Local 701, poses for photo with Dick Gephardt, former Missouri congressman and Democratic Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, during an unscheduled appearance at the annual Western Conference of Operating Engineers held the week of Sept. 11 at the Benson Hotel in Portland. The keynote speaker at the conference, which attracted nearly 150 operators from 13 states, was Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski. General President of the Operating Engineers Vincent Giblin opened the gathering with a moment of silence to honor the 47 stationary engineers who lost their lives at the World Trade Center on 9/11. In honor of the dead, local firefighters marched through the assembly to the tune of “Amazing Grace” played by a local bagpiper. The tragedy pre-empted the Western Conference in Seattle exactly five years ago, just as that meeting began, and participants gathered in the hotel lobby to watch incoming television news reports about the terrorist bombings. Q Quest Investment Management, Inc. Committee Chairman Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) in an interview after the ses- sion. “It’ll be ripe when the public de- mands we come up with a different formula to solve it,” he said. That demand will start with the 2008 election, he predicted “when the Baby Boomers start really showing up on the rolls” of Medicare and Medic- aid. “All governments will get squeezed. The changes will be driven by demographics,” Smith said. The session, hosted by the New America Foundation, discussed the fu- ture role of private business in the health care system. Smith and Sen. Blanche Lambert Lincoln (D-Ark.) both made the point that the vast ma- jority of people in the U.S. get their health care coverage through private businesses — and both said they’re leery of switching. But they also noted health care costs are rising, that businesses are eliminating health insurance or forcing workers to shoulder more of its bur- dens and that a record number of peo- ple, almost 47 million, are uninsured. Further, said Smith, many busi- nesses would give up health care cov- erage if they could. His family frozen foods business, which employs 400 unionized Teamsters year-round and 600-800 seasonal workers during times of high harvests and production, has found that health care is the Num- ber One topic at the bargaining table. “I’d gladly give up the money we paid for health care, and give them a 503-288-5537 1638 NE Broadway, Portland In or out of court, the trial lawyers at Landye Bennett Blumstein LLP know how to get you the best results. 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Oregon’s system covers a higher percentage of Medicaid recipients than any other states, Smith said, but lines up health procedures in order of prior- ity — the top 300 — and limits spend- ing on each set of procedures. He said it could be a model for the country, but that it needs more flexibility in decid- ing which procedures to pay for or not. Lincoln noted individuals “can’t negotiate for themselves” with health insurers. While Smith is working on catastrophic care legislation, Lincoln is crafting a bill to let people and small businesses join the federal workers’ health care pool. There, “for 40 years,” the Office of Personnel Management has used the weight of numbers to negotiate lowest prices for procedures and drugs, she said. “It’s got 25 to 30 op- tions” for health insurance coverage, Lincoln said of OPM’s menu of plans, which is also available to lawmakers and their families. “It allows you the opportunity to provide everything at a lower price.” 10 percent raise, and say ‘Thank you for taking it off my hands,’ ” he said. Most businesses would gladly do the same, he stated. The Teamsters — like other unions in talks nationwide — refuses, for good reason. “They want certainty and they’re willing to leave wages flat as long as they get pensions and health care preserved,” Smith said of his fam- ily business’ bargaining with the union. And he disagreed with Service Em- ployees International Union President Andrew Stern, who said the system is broken and needs replacement. Stern’s union is the largest health care workers union. Smith, by contrast, says the em- ployer-based system “can be sal- vaged.” Lincoln pointed out that many workers do not want to give up the present system, despite its holes and hazards. “They’re fearful of being left to a marketplace that won’t provide them with a quality product at a price they can afford,” Lincoln said of a revised system. And they’re not sure a govern- ment-run system would not lead to ra- tioning, Smith said. The catch is, there is rationing in the present system already, by price, the senators said. And the present health care system also isn’t entirely rational, Lincoln noted. By contrast, a decade ago, Oregon instituted its own Oregon Health Care system as a federally-approved plan : Automobile, truck, and airplane accidents Landye Bennett Blumstein LLP www.lbblitigation.com NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS Committed to Your Best Interests PAGE 7
