AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PNHP (Physicians for a National Health Program) MEMBERSHIP

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PNHP MEMBERSHIP

By Laurence Jacobs, MD PNHP Finger Lakes Co-chair

On Thursday, August 6th, I attended Eric Massa's Town Hall meeting on health care reform in Honeoye Falls. I'd like to share some observations and conclusions with you about what happened there; it's a reflection of what's been going on in many parts of the country.

My wife and I arrived twenty minutes or so before the start time, only to find that there were already long lines waiting to get into the community center. Shortly, because it was clear that the several hundred people who were there couldn't be accommodated inside that structure, the meeting was moved to an adjacent outdoor pavilion. Though it was hard to assess what portion of the crowd was against reform and what portion for it, because so many antis were loud and boisterous, my best guess is that between 60% and 2/3 were against and perhaps 1/3 or 40% for.

Eric Massa was very impressive in his attempts to set ground rules for civility of the discussion and in his insistence that people who wished to speak be heard. However, there were many in the crowd who repeatedly ignored those admonitions. The atmosphere created by the crowd was full of rancor and vitriol. Many individuals heckled speakers, and the attitude expressed was one of intolerance and unwillingness to listen. A great number of untruths were expressed; at one point, I found myself in a brief but heated disagreement with a man standing next to me about whether or not US longevity was less than that of Canada! Many of the anti-reform protesters professed belief that HR 3200 and legislation like it will: result in euthanasia for the elderly ill; promote payment with federal funds for abortions; result in costlier and lower quality care for all citizens; and the like. An additional view, widely applauded, was that there's really no need to reform our health care system, because after all, anyone can get care in an Emergency Room, since by law no one can be turned away from such facilities.

It seemed very clear that these people had turned out in large numbers specifically to protest, to drown out those interested in rational discussion of issues. It seems very likely that some central organization(s) were a major stimulus for the turnout; both big Pharma and the health insurance industry have been implicated in similar events in many parts of the country. Some emails have turned up which explicitly promote disruption and angry behavior.

Some of the folks protesting displayed racist as well as intolerant attitudes ("Go back to where you came from" to a physician who spoke with an accent; "What are YOU doing here? You don't live here!" to a black man). So who are they, and what are any lessons we may learn from what's going on?

They are Conservative folks, who are believers in the infallibility of market forces in all environments, whose ideal government is very small but somehow provides all the services they want at minimum cost, and which otherwise leaves them alone. They appear to have no interest in any kind of social contract, and are livid at the notion that any of their tax dollars might go to pay for health care for "those" people (i.e., people who are different from themselves).

Why have they been so susceptible to this kind of organized display of intolerance and anger? I think it's largely because they're genuinely afraid of health care reform. They fear losing what they have, and in the larger governmental financial arena, they're afraid that we are spending too much money, that the Obama administration (and democrats in general) will spend us into bankruptcy (one man voiced the view that we will become a "third world" country). They want health care reform to go away. These are the same unthinking people who in one breath claim that government can do nothing right, and in the next breath praise Medicare (though they're worried about Medicare going bankrupt as well).

This is the politics of fear. Misinformation is rampant. Anger is everwhere.
Discussion is virtually impossible, as when facts opposing their views are voiced, they simply shout "Lies!" and don't listen.

What can we learn from this? The main lesson, it seems to me, is that we cannot leave the action to the protesters. We have to turn out in large numbers to local meetings, not only our political representatives' Town Hall meetings this month, but all sorts of other gatherings as well - church groups, business groups, community organizations, etc. We can't sit back and wait for invitations; rather, we should get a bit assertive, and approach organizations in which we hold membership to suggest forums on health care costs, and possible reforms. Very few of us have read HR 3200; I haven't, yet. But I know, based on the amendments of one week ago, that this bill does not represent anything like the reform we need. It's been emasculated, and Eric Massa indicated he will not vote for it in its current form.

Massa is holding another Town Hall meeting on August 26th, in Fairport. We need to turn out in maximum numbers to counterbalance the turned-on conservative right. We'll need to keep calm, keep pushing the facts into the public arena of discussion, and be persistent. Our opponents have their own internally consistent (but false) world view, and won't hear anything which tends to challenge or contradict it. We can't let them dominate the public airways.

I hope to see you in Fairport on August 26th!!

Larry Jacobs, MD

Next Local Town Hall Meeting with Eric Massa is Wednesday, August 26 at 5:30-7:30PM at the Perinton Community Center, 1350 Turk Hill Road in Fairport, NY