Date Published: October 6, 2006   

Spratt, Norman address health issues

Keith Gedamke / The Item U.S. Rep. John Spratt answers questions during the Sumter-Clarendon-Lee Medical Society meeting Thursday at Sunset Country Club.

By LESLIE CANTU
Item Senior Staff Writer
lesliec@theitem.com

State Rep. Ralph Norman, R-Rock Hill, and U.S. Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., laid out their positions on health care — and a few unrelated issues — at a debate before the Sumter-Clarendon-Lee Medical Society on Thursday.

The differences in their philosophies surfaced throughout, particularly in response to the final question, submitted by Tuomey Regional Medical Center.

The hospital asked whether health care is a right and what the government's responsibility is to ensure people have health insurance, noting that 45 million people are currently without health insurance, but doctors and hospitals must provide care, often without any compensation.

"The problem (is) most people are expecting physicians to give it away," Norman said.

He said he sees the attitude all the time in his business, when he runs credit reports on potential renters and they're shocked when he turns them away because of unpaid medical bills.

"A lot of people just expect that to be forgiven. I think that's got to be changed," he said.

Legally, health care isn't a right, Spratt said. Morally, however, he said it is, adding that the gap in health insurance coverage is one of the greatest deficiencies of this country.

"We shouldn't quit. We shouldn't rest until we've tried every alternative," he said.

The lesson of President Bill Clinton's efforts to change health care in the 1990s, he said, is that change must be evolutionary, not revolutionary.

He touted the Children's Health Insurance Program, an initiative to help small businesses pay for insurance and centers like the Sumter Family Health Center as steps that will close the gap.

During the debate, Norman and Spratt responded to five questions, submitted beforehand, and had the opportunity to ask their opponent a question at the end.

The evening got off to a rocky start with some confusion about the proper notice to the candidate that the end of his speaking time was approaching, which marred Norman's first answer, in response to a question about fixing the formula that determines Medicare reimbursements for doctors.

Keith Gedamke / The Item State Rep. Ralph Norman answers questions during the Sumter-Clarendon-Lee Medical Society meeting Thursday at Sunset Country Club.

The society noted that the formula has actually produced cuts in reimbursement rates, which Congress has voted to override as a temporary fix, and asked how each candidate would change the system.

Medicare is a sizeable, and growing, part of the budget, Norman said. He pointed to figures that show it will grow from 7 percent of the budget to 13 percent by 2030.

But the problem is bigger than Medicare, he said. Medical malpractice insurance rates and worker's compensation rates are rising, he said, and when Medicare cuts are considered in conjunction with other pressures, Norman said, "it only spells out one thing — in the federal budget, we have got to cut discretionary spending."

He said he would fight for tort reform and insurance portability, which would help lower health care costs.

Spratt began by calling Medicare a "crowning accomplishment." Fixing the formula for reimbursement, however, is neither cheap nor uncomplicated, he said.

The formula is flawed, he said, saying he favors a bill directing the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission to rework the "too volatile" formula.

He's protected doctors from reimbursement cuts, he said, and will continue to do so.

"I do have seniority. I've got experience, and when we meet on issues like this, I have a seat at the table," he said.

Both men agreed on the necessity of tort reform and caps on punitive damages and non-economic damages, though they argued over whether they actually agreed.

Norman painted Spratt as an ally of trial lawyers and said Spratt's rhetoric hasn't matched his actual voting record. The trial lawyers have given Spratt an "A" rating, Norman said.

"You don't get that unless you vote with trial lawyers day in and day out. That's a fact," Norman said.

Doctors are in a "severe crisis" in regard to tort reform, Norman said.

"I am a leader in the House of Representatives for tort reform," he said, promising to be a leader in Washington as well.

Spratt disagreed with Norman's characterization of his votes, saying he'd voted for the comprehensive tort reform act of 1996, even voting to override Clinton's veto.

On the question of imported drugs and how to monitor the veracity of labeling, Spratt said Americans pay exorbitant prices compared to people elsewhere in the world.

The U.S. should act like Wal-Mart does, he said.

"Let's use the purchasing clout of 45 million Medicare beneficiaries to drive down the cost of drugs," he said.

Norman noted that Americans spend $700 million on drugs from Canada, but the U.S. can't control quality and assure its citizens that they're buying the drugs they think they're buying.

"It's going to be a matter of educating the public that anybody that buys on the Internet, you're taking a risk," Norman said.



Contact Senior Staff Writer Leslie Cantu at lesliec@theitem.com or (803) 774-1250.