Hagan visit emphasizes call for health care reform

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) toured Lenoir Memorial Hospital on Monday, making stops at the Cancer Center and the Minges Wellness Center before tackling the controversial topic of health care reform.

“I think we need health care reform. We spend more on health care in this country than any other developed nation and we have no better outcome,” she said. “We’ve got to make it so that people can afford health care, afford health insurance and we’ve got to do what we can to get more people covered.”

Families USA recently issued a report indicating that family health care premiums rose an estimated 5.3 times faster than earnings for N.C. workers from 2000 through 2009.

According to the report, family health insurance premiums rose by 96.8 percent, while median earnings rose by 18.4 percent.

“People, at some point in time, will not be able to afford that huge increase in health care cost,” Hagan said. “We’ve got to stabilize the cost, we’ve got to be sure that people with preexisting conditions can be covered, we’ve got to do away with fraud and abuse in the system and we’ve got to be sure that if you like your doctor and your health insurance, we’re not going to change.”

The freshman senator said people are concerned about reform and the misinformation floating around only reinforces their fears.

“Please know that there are no death panels — that is absolutely ridiculous,” Hagan said. “We want to be sure that we can provide quality care to people who need it.”

Hagan said two vital parts of reform are in the hands of individuals.

“Wellness and prevention are the keys that we all need to be focused on,” she said. “I think this hospital is doing an excellent job.”

Although Hagan touts health care reform, she said she will not support any bill that increases the federal deficit. She said financing reform is going to be the biggest hurdle to overcome.

“Right now, we don’t have the finance package on how this will be funded,” she said. “When I go back to Washington in September, the finance committee will hopefully have that language put together so we can study and debate it.”

Hagan said despite all the apprehension, the primary goal of comprehensive health care reform is simple.

“We’ve got to make it accessible and affordable so that people can afford health insurance,” she said.

Sarah Campbell can be reached at (252) 559-1076 or scampbell@freedomenc.com.