by Carla Bream
The Americans for Prosperity (AFP) town hall bus rolled into Roanoke with former Governor, Senator and now Senate Candidate, George Allen aboard. He made an appearance at the Holiday Inn Tanglewood along with state AFP director Ben Marchi and local doctor, Dane McBride.
Last Monday, Allen formerly declared himself a candidate for the U. S. Senate for 2012. Since that time he has been touring the state with the AFP town hall tour, meeting with constituents and participating in question and answer sessions regarding the new healthcare law and other issues.
Ben Marchi, the 3rd state director for AFP, is leaving his position soon to be a new dad and entrepreneur, forming his own home healthcare company along with his wife. He said, “I intend to create some new jobs because my child was $40,000 in debt at birth.”
He explained that AFP was touring the state with Allen because, “he has been involved from the very beginning, espousing lower taxes and actually listening to people and their problems . . . as Governor he cut wasteful spending and reformed the welfare rules, a full year before the federal government got around to it. He has been a friend to the taxpayers.”
Allen said he was glad to be back in the Star City and to see so many familiar faces. He started right in on the healthcare law by stating that, “we as Americans do not like dictates and mandates, we are for freedom and personal responsibility, for opportunity for all people. The government says you must buy a certain product and that is abhorrent. People don’t realize that when the federal government says you must increase Medicaid, it results in higher college tuition costs in our state . . .We have to defund this monstrosity.”
He spoke at length about the personal health savings account, which individuals would own, that would cover major medical expenses. He said someone should not be tied to a job they dislike simply because a family member has a disease that would not be covered under a new plan because it is considered a pre-existing condition. Under a health savings account, you are not stuck to a certain employer or beholden to the government. The plan goes where you go.
Allen also spoke at length about competition. “You are lucky if you have two insurance companies to chose from at your job for health insurance. There are all kinds of companies that want to offer competition and will do so. There reason that there is not any competition is because it is a government rigged system that does not offer options. Insurance should be sold across state lines and be competitive.”
Chants of “run George run,” echoed throughout the ballroom as Allen finished his speech.
Dr. Dane McBride, a Roanoke allergist, shared his views on the healthcare law. He gave compelling reasons why he thinks Obamacare should be repealed. McBride said there are three points to consider from the doctor and patient perspective. “First, it will rip apart the doctor patient relationship. Obamacare will institute ‘pay for performance’, making the doctor worry about cost of care instead of quality of care. Second, is DUS, ‘Doctor Unavailability Syndrome.’ What good is a shiny new insurance card if there is no doctor available to see you? Third, Obamacare will drive private practice into the ground. It will shift medical care to the large medical centers, where costs are driven up. A private practice doctor will charge a fraction of what the large medical centers will charge. The answer is to unleash markets, not unleash the government.”
One local doctor in the audience spoke up and said he charges $800 for a colonoscopy, whereas the hospital charges $4500, and he had the patient bills to back up his claims. Another audience member said he recently lost his health insurance of more than 30 years and blamed it on the new healthcare law. Now, under the new plan his employer offers, he cannot be covered due to a pre-existing condition.
Marchi closed by reminding people that the time to rally about the healthcare law has passed. “It is now time to reach out to your neighbor, to contact your representative, to send a letter to the editor. You have a unique opportunity to sway public opinion by speaking out.”
