ELIZABETH LLORENTE, Staff Writer
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
12-07-1993
HEALTH DEBATE VISITS NORTH JERSEY -- LOCAL PULSE LAWMAKERS HEAR MISGIVINGS,
HOPES
By ELIZABETH LLORENTE, Staff Writer
Date: 12-07-1993, Tuesday
Section: NEWS
Edition: All Editions -- 3 Star, 2 Star P, 2 Star B, 1 Star Late, 1 Star Early
A restaurateur told a Congressional panel on Monday that President
Clinton's health-care reform bill, with its requirement that employers
provide coverage for workers, would drive him to financial ruin.
The vice president of an international company said the burdens of
health-care reform would hinder his company in the global marketplace.
And a representative of an insurance giant said the best kind of reform
comes from the market, not government.
But it was two North Jersey mothers who brought the auditorium in
Paramus to a hush.
Amid abstract discussions of costs, profits, and premiums, Deborah
Legutko of Ringwood said that out-of-pocket expenses for her son, born
six years ago with defective lungs, run about $10,000 annually -- despite
an 'excellent' health plan.
'His long-term prognosis is grim, and he is dependent on costly
medical technology. Will there be a place for him in our new health-care
system?' she asked.
'Please remember Frank when acting on health-care reform,' she
said. 'His life and the lives of others like him may depend on your
decision.'
Eighteen people -- representing business, insurance, pharmaceutical
manufacturers, physicians, hospitals, and consumers -- gave three hours
of testimony to Rep. Marge Roukema, R-Ridgewood, and two other members
of the House Labor Committee's subcommittee on labor-management
relations. The hearing was held at Bergen Pines County Hospital.
It was the subcommittee's first field hearing on health reform.
What emerged was a snapshot of the complex, often conflicting public
views of what's right and wrong with the present system -- and Clinton's
reform plan.
Eric Mund said his eight New Jersey restaurants would go bankrupt
if reforms forced him to fund full health-care benefits for his 240
employees.
'To suddenly throw a $4,200-per-employee charge on my company would
bankrupt me,' Mund said.
The Clinton plan proposed subsidies to help small businesses afford
the new requirement to pay 80 percent of the cost of their employees'
health insurance.
'We are very concerned with the proposal to provide subsidies for
one segment of business, the small company,' said Robert Ripston, vice
president for human resources at Woodcliff Lake-based Ingersoll-Rand
Co., which provides health coverage to about 85,000 employees in the
United States. 'Who will be forced to shoulder the additional burden?
Large international companies cannot absorb additional burdens and
compete effectively on a global basis.'
Another concern of big business is Clinton's plan for states to
organize 'health alliances' that would negotiate with health-care
providers for low-cost coverage.
Dana Benbow, director of group underwriting for The Prudential
Insurance Co., endorsed managed care, saying it 'makes consumers active
participants in the health-care system.'
But he said that a 'huge, heavily regulated, government-controlled
system is not the best solution.' He said Prudential and other insurance
companies had already instituted managed care-type reforms that were
driving costs down.
'The private market,' he said, 'can bring health-care reform if
given the freedom to innovate, to market, and to price.'
Richard Quinn, director of corporate benefits for Public Service
Electric and Gas Co., expressed misgivings about state and alliance
bureaucracies that would eliminate a company's input on health care for
its employees, while still forcing employers to foot 80 percent of
health benefits.
He said he feared 'an administrative nightmare that'll be worse
than the administrative problem Mr. Clinton has identified.'
Senior citizens want to make sure Clinton's proposed $124 billion
in Medicare savings will not curtail their access to health care. Dudley
Lesser of the American Association of Retired Persons said: 'The
Medicare program could not sustain such enormous reductions without
creating quality and access problems for beneficiaries.'
But two North Jersey mothers -- Legutko and Lisa Yourman of Fair
Lawn -- showed how the issues affect households.
Yourman, whose two children have cystic fibrosis, said any
reforms also must protect middle-class people like her and her husband,
who are trying to pay the bills of their 3-year-old daughter, Sarah, and
1-year-old son, Jeffrey.
'We are willing to pay our fair share of expenses,' she said. 'But
why should someone that is uninsured benefit from our struggle to pay
for health insurance and health-care expenses?'
'You're precisely the kind of a person who health-care reform is
designed to help,' said Rep. Pat Williams, D-Mont., chairman of the full
House Committee on Education and Labor.
Later, in an interview, Roukema said the hearing had emphasized 'a
uniformity of opinion that the No. 1 issue to tackle is insurance
reform, but a wide difference of opinion on how much it will cost and
who will pay for it.'
The testimony heard in Paramus, and that presented at other field
hearings across the country, will serve as a guide in congressional
discussions and revisions of a health-care reform plan, Roukema said.
The Labor Committee, along with the Ways and Means Committee and
Energy and Commerce Committee, have jurisdiction over formulating a
reform plan to be presented in Congress next year.
Roukema said she doubts that a final plan would be ready early
next year for legislation. She said discussions and revisions could take
'all of next year.'
She said she firmly believes that the reform plan that ultimately
becomes law would be phased in slowly.
Illustrations/Photos: 2 COLOR PHOTOS 1 - 'My son's long-term prognosis is grim,
and he is dependent on costly medical technology. Will there be a place for
him in our new system?' Deborah Legutko of Ringwood. 2 - 'A huge, government-controlled
system is not the best solution. The private market can bring reform if given
the freedom to innovate, to market, and to price.' Dana Benbow, Prudential Insurance.
Keywords: CLINTON. USA. GOVERNMENT. HEALTH. INSURANCE. MEETING. NEW JERSEY.
OPINION
Copyright 1993 Bergen Record Corp. All rights reserved.
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
12-07-1993
HEALTH DEBATE VISITS NORTH JERSEY -- LOCAL PULSE LAWMAKERS HEAR MISGIVINGS,
HOPES
By ELIZABETH LLORENTE, Staff Writer
Date: 12-07-1993, Tuesday
Section: NEWS
Edition: All Editions -- 3 Star, 2 Star P, 2 Star B, 1 Star Late, 1 Star Early
A restaurateur told a Congressional panel on Monday that President
Clinton's health-care reform bill, with its requirement that employers
provide coverage for workers, would drive him to financial ruin.
The vice president of an international company said the burdens of
health-care reform would hinder his company in the global marketplace.
And a representative of an insurance giant said the best kind of reform
comes from the market, not government.
But it was two North Jersey mothers who brought the auditorium in
Paramus to a hush.
Amid abstract discussions of costs, profits, and premiums, Deborah
Legutko of Ringwood said that out-of-pocket expenses for her son, born
six years ago with defective lungs, run about $10,000 annually -- despite
an 'excellent' health plan.
'His long-term prognosis is grim, and he is dependent on costly
medical technology. Will there be a place for him in our new health-care
system?' she asked.
'Please remember Frank when acting on health-care reform,' she
said. 'His life and the lives of others like him may depend on your
decision.'
Eighteen people -- representing business, insurance, pharmaceutical
manufacturers, physicians, hospitals, and consumers -- gave three hours
of testimony to Rep. Marge Roukema, R-Ridgewood, and two other members
of the House Labor Committee's subcommittee on labor-management
relations. The hearing was held at Bergen Pines County Hospital.
It was the subcommittee's first field hearing on health reform.
What emerged was a snapshot of the complex, often conflicting public
views of what's right and wrong with the present system -- and Clinton's
reform plan.
Eric Mund said his eight New Jersey restaurants would go bankrupt
if reforms forced him to fund full health-care benefits for his 240
employees.
'To suddenly throw a $4,200-per-employee charge on my company would
bankrupt me,' Mund said.
The Clinton plan proposed subsidies to help small businesses afford
the new requirement to pay 80 percent of the cost of their employees'
health insurance.
'We are very concerned with the proposal to provide subsidies for
one segment of business, the small company,' said Robert Ripston, vice
president for human resources at Woodcliff Lake-based Ingersoll-Rand
Co., which provides health coverage to about 85,000 employees in the
United States. 'Who will be forced to shoulder the additional burden?
Large international companies cannot absorb additional burdens and
compete effectively on a global basis.'
Another concern of big business is Clinton's plan for states to
organize 'health alliances' that would negotiate with health-care
providers for low-cost coverage.
Dana Benbow, director of group underwriting for The Prudential
Insurance Co., endorsed managed care, saying it 'makes consumers active
participants in the health-care system.'
But he said that a 'huge, heavily regulated, government-controlled
system is not the best solution.' He said Prudential and other insurance
companies had already instituted managed care-type reforms that were
driving costs down.
'The private market,' he said, 'can bring health-care reform if
given the freedom to innovate, to market, and to price.'
Richard Quinn, director of corporate benefits for Public Service
Electric and Gas Co., expressed misgivings about state and alliance
bureaucracies that would eliminate a company's input on health care for
its employees, while still forcing employers to foot 80 percent of
health benefits.
He said he feared 'an administrative nightmare that'll be worse
than the administrative problem Mr. Clinton has identified.'
Senior citizens want to make sure Clinton's proposed $124 billion
in Medicare savings will not curtail their access to health care. Dudley
Lesser of the American Association of Retired Persons said: 'The
Medicare program could not sustain such enormous reductions without
creating quality and access problems for beneficiaries.'
But two North Jersey mothers -- Legutko and Lisa Yourman of Fair
Lawn -- showed how the issues affect households.
Yourman, whose two children have cystic fibrosis, said any
reforms also must protect middle-class people like her and her husband,
who are trying to pay the bills of their 3-year-old daughter, Sarah, and
1-year-old son, Jeffrey.
'We are willing to pay our fair share of expenses,' she said. 'But
why should someone that is uninsured benefit from our struggle to pay
for health insurance and health-care expenses?'
'You're precisely the kind of a person who health-care reform is
designed to help,' said Rep. Pat Williams, D-Mont., chairman of the full
House Committee on Education and Labor.
Later, in an interview, Roukema said the hearing had emphasized 'a
uniformity of opinion that the No. 1 issue to tackle is insurance
reform, but a wide difference of opinion on how much it will cost and
who will pay for it.'
The testimony heard in Paramus, and that presented at other field
hearings across the country, will serve as a guide in congressional
discussions and revisions of a health-care reform plan, Roukema said.
The Labor Committee, along with the Ways and Means Committee and
Energy and Commerce Committee, have jurisdiction over formulating a
reform plan to be presented in Congress next year.
Roukema said she doubts that a final plan would be ready early
next year for legislation. She said discussions and revisions could take
'all of next year.'
She said she firmly believes that the reform plan that ultimately
becomes law would be phased in slowly.
Illustrations/Photos: 2 COLOR PHOTOS 1 - 'My son's long-term prognosis is grim,
and he is dependent on costly medical technology. Will there be a place for
him in our new system?' Deborah Legutko of Ringwood. 2 - 'A huge, government-controlled
system is not the best solution. The private market can bring reform if given
the freedom to innovate, to market, and to price.' Dana Benbow, Prudential Insurance.
Keywords: CLINTON. USA. GOVERNMENT. HEALTH. INSURANCE. MEETING. NEW JERSEY.
OPINION
Copyright 1993 Bergen Record Corp. All rights reserved.
