President Obama Addresses Congress On Healthcare Reform, Gets Heckled By Congressman

09/10/09- by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
Last night, President Barack Obama laid out his goals regarding the creation of healthcare reform in order to insure every American, and to bring down healthcare costs. The speech, delivered before a joint session of Congress, not only showcased the President’s plan, but also showcased the Republican contempt for the President both in a personal and a professional capacity.

To begin with, President Obama called for the reform of the insurance companies so that they would not be able to drop people from coverage or reduce benefits should someone get sick or deny them coverage for pre-existing conditions. By closing the loopholes, President Obama hopes to avoid the major problems faced by people who are often dropped from coverage when they need it the most. The President largely pinned the blame for the problems with the insurance industry upon the Wall Street driven need for high profits at any costs. This mentality, though President Obama only alluded to it, ends up squeezing the wages of workers simply because their employers are also trying to maximize profits and often either cancel health coverage or pass along rate hikes to their employees.

President Obama also acknowledged that the ideas on the far ends of both sides- the single payer system and the total free market system devoid of employer interaction. He did state that both ideas had merit, but that they would mean completely tearing down what was already there and that would be far more destabilizing.

President Obama made clear that those who have their own health insurance would get to keep it. This is, of course, true, though it might result in employers cutting off their health insurance coverage in order to cut their own costs. The second big part of his plan is that he would have the government set up in four years a health insurance exchange which would allow for companies to directly compete for people’s health insurance dollars directly. Included in this would be the famed Public Option as one of the competitors. This exchange would include tax credits for those who need coverage but cannot afford it. Until this system goes into effect, there would be a short term catastrophic healthcare net for those who do not have insurance.

The President pledged that this would be a deficit neutral program through a combination of Medicare restructuring and savings as well as getting rid of subsidies to the insurance companies. Another factor in terms of paying for the public option was the payment of dues to the system. Basically, members who are part of the system would be helping to pay for the cost of the reforms.

The Congressional Budget Office is unsure if that is true citing numbers that says that it may, in fact, still raise the deficit. However, the rate at which the medical costs are adding to the deficit would slow down a lot under Obama’s plan rather than keep rocketing up as people are forced off onto public assistance.

Contempt for the President was shown by the Republicans in several ways. Television coverage of the speech showed the Republicans often drifting off, checking their blackberries and not paying attention. They also came out afterwards whining about how the President did not include their idea of scrapping reform all together and letting them dictate how it should happen, which is not at all. The GOP has been unwilling to engage in any kind of debate or exchange in public even though in private their ideas are being weighed and some used. The idea of a catastrophic healthcare net to help people without coverage is an idea that was floated by Senator John McCain, who President Obama singled out specifically.

The highlight of the night came when Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina yelled out in the middle of the speech that President Obama was lying when he stated that this system would not cover illegal immigrants. While there are some criticisms from the Republicans that there are not enough ways to ensure that someone who is illegal will not get on the public option, the bill specifically excludes people who are not American citizens from getting health insurance. The Vermont Health Access Program does a lot of checking including a certified copy of a person’s birth certificate in order to make sure that someone who is applying to VHAP is a citizen of the country.

Representative Wilson showed his contempt for the President by disrupting his speech. What is worse, Rep. Wilson looked angry and even furious over this issue despite the fact that it was he and not the President who was distorting the truth on this particular point. Wilson comes from the party which bemoaned the perception that President Bill Clinton had disrespected the office of the President by having an affair, but this is beyond the pale. While Rep. Barney Frank did point out on the Rachel Maddow Show that the British Parliament does have a tradition of heckling, no one would dream of doing that during an official speech by the Queen or by the Prime Minister, and to flat out call someone a liar would be grounds for censure since that is considered crass and vulgar.

President Obama calmly and unflappably waited for Wilson’s outburst to subside and presented the calm demeanor of a person waiting for a child to stop having a tantrum.

For the LGBT Community, healthcare reform is one of those essentials. Most gay and lesbian families cannot afford coverage of any kind because their relationships are not considered to be valid in much of the country and insurance companies often automatically exclude them from coverage over that fact. For transpeople, the lack of insurance coverage regarding their condition is often a problem given the expense of the transition process and the perception among many insurance companies that it is entirely cosmetic.