Area doctors sound off on Obama health care plan
Nearly 150 doctors gathered Wednesday in Medinah to share their views on how President Obama's proposed health-care reforms will affect their practices and patients.
The forum was sponsored by U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam, a Wheaton Republican and member of the House Ways and Means Committee that is considering health-care legislation.
Roskam expressed concerns about a key point of Obama's proposal, "public option," a taxpayer-sponsored insurance plan Democrats want to offer alongside a menu of private insurance choices.
"Congress, as an institution, is unable to allow one of its creations to compete in the marketplace," Roskam said. "If it's not working they will subsidize it, they will change the rules."
Many of the physicians passionately echoed Roskam's worries, as well as concerns about Tort reform, bureaucracy impeding patient care, and cost of care vs. prices that might be charged by government-provided insurance.
Stephanie Hillenbrand, who for about 30 years has managed the office for her psychiatrist husband, Dr. Charles R. Hillenbrand, said she worries Obama's plan will be a bigger version of Medicare.
"Anyone who served in the military knows what this is going to be like," she said. "We served in the Army for two years and the care was horrendous."
The group broke into applause several times as members commented on Obama's proposals "taking the joy out of medicine," expanding the roles of nurse practitioners, and making medicine unprofitable for doctors who rack up medical school debt and often already care for the underinsured.
Not everyone at the forum fears Obama's reforms. Dr. Brian Koecher, a primary care physician practicing in Addison, said he supports public option as a means of keeping insurance giants in check.
"If we don't do something radical, insurance companies will still call all the shots," he said. "These people are complaining how bad their situation is, but most of them are dealing with private insurance companies. They're becoming too powerful ... the public option will at least compete."
Obama has offered an outline for overhauling the health-care system and wants Congress to work out the details and pass legislation this year. As Roskam heads to Washington, D.C., to represent roughly 2,800 doctors in the Sixth Congressional District - all who were invited to Wednesday's forum - dermatologist Dr. Michael Greenberg implored him to consider the human side, too.
"All of us went into this because it was a calling ... and I don't hear care or compassion in any of these proposals, I hear money." Greenberg said. "If you can take that voice of compassion back to D.C., you'll be speaking for us."