Cheering Yes we Can, Yes we Can!
It was standing room only at Forest Hill Presbyterian Church in Cleveland Heights where healthcare advocates joined concerned citizens in a rally for health care reform. Among the speakers was senator Sherrod Brown. The Ohio democrat has been critical of the US health care system for years, and came to outline his plan to change health care for Ohioans.
BROWN: We're not going to have the government take over the doctors and hospitals, we're simply going to have the government offer a public plan option, so people can choose to go into a private insurance plan or a medicare type plan, give them the option to get the health care they need.
The details of the plan were pretty vague - but the primary focus was on providing a government run insurance option - something akin to Medicare - that anyone would be eligible for, independent of age, or pre-existing health conditions. The crowd was predominantly enthusiastic of Brown's mandate for change - but there were a few skeptics - like Peggy Kacerek of Bedford, who feels like the only real reform is a single health care plan for everyone.
KACEREK: It cannot be done. I do not believe that there's a way to give everybody full health insurance without it being a totally public thing, with everybody being on the same plan.
However, Brown says the public plan will be more simple, efficient and cost-effective for patients and physicians, and will ultimately compete with private insurance plans, forcing them to be more honest. He expects to have the new plan in place by the end of the year.
Gretchen Cuda, 90.3