The Manhattan Times

Northern Manhattan joins in national healthcare debate

Northern Manhattan has joined the rest of the nation in debating how to overhaul the country’s healthcare system with a Sept. 1 town hall meeting held by Assembly Member Adriano Espaillat and co-sponsored by Congressman Charles Rangel, State Senator Eric Schneiderman, Assembly Member Herman D. Farrell, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and Council Member Robert Jackson.

“Yes we should have a single payer plan in every state in America,” Congressman Rangel said in his opening remarks, to roaring applause by the audience, which packed the Russ Berrie Medical Pavilion on Amsterdam Avenue and W. 168^th Street.

Rangel, who is at the center of the national debate as the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, predicted that President Barack Obama would eventually give up on his goal for bi-partisanship and the Democrats would advance a bill with their majority votes.

“The fact of the matter is,” Rangel said, “if we miss this opportunity, it doesn’t just come next year or even in the next ten years.”

The 10 invited panelists ranged from prominent community physicians to hospital officials to healthcare advocates. Each gave seven-minute presentations before the audience had a chance to ask questions.

Panelist Ross Frommer, Deputy Vice President and Associate Dean of Columbia University, pointed out during his remarks that in hindsight had the Clinton Administration succeeded in healthcare reform in the early 1990s, the economy would have been in a better position than now to wade through potential shocks that such a broad overhaul might create. In the late 1990s there was a simultaneous boom in the economy while the rate of inflation in medical costs was very low, he noted.

Frommer was joined by Helen Morik, Vice President for Government & Community Affairs of NY Presbyterian Hospital, in pointing out that there are some voices within the debate that are proposing to reduce funding to medical centers in urban areas, a decision that would affect both Columbia University and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

But the presentation of Jose Goris, Vice President of the Corinthian Medical Independent Physicians Association, a group medical practice serving underserved Hispanic communities of Washington Heights and Inwood, questioned the cost effectiveness of care provided by major hospitals in comparison to independent physicians.

Perhaps to avoid the types of outbursts that have caused chaos at similar forums around the country, questions from the public were written and collected by assistants before being read by Espaillat.

Rangel periodically sprang to his feet, and fielded the majority of the questions. When asked why there wasn’t more of a push to have a single-payer system Rangel responded: “I remember this same argument when we were fighting for a civil rights bill.”

There were many voices in the movement that were against agreeing to legislation that was anything less than the ultimate goal, asking, “why should we bargain?”

Rangel argued to the audience that passing some legislation in the right direction is better than nothing.

In response to a question about how, if at all, any of the bills floating around Congress will address issues faced by undocumented immigrants, many of whom make their home in Northern Manhattan, Rangel’s response was made with a whisper.

“They’re gonna get health care,” he said, “But we can’t talk about it.” Describing a culture in Congress where the label “undocumented” is sometimes worse than “terrorist” and many bills automatically come attached with the statement “these benefits should not benefit undocumented immigrants,” Rangel explained that explicit inclusion of undocumented immigrants in the bill would threaten its survival.

“It’s a sin and a shame how we treat immigrants in this country,” he said.

The Manhattan Times is the bilingual newspaper of Washington Heights and Inwood.