For a Jewish community faced with the choice of building a synagogue or setting aside a fund to provide care for the sick, the option is obvious, says Rabbi Marc Berkson, spiritual leader of Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun.
“Restoring health is an absolute obligation,” Berkson told a small group that gathered Thursday night in his recently expanded synagogue for a learning program sponsored by Tikkun Ha-Ir (Repair of the City).
“God demands that we provide health care for all. But God does not mandate what form we will take.”
Berkson and two other leading voices in Wisconsin’s debate on health care reform — longtime health reform advocate David Riemer, now director of policy and planning for Community Advocates, and Rep. Jon Richards (D-Milwaukee), chairman of the state Assembly’s Committee on Health and Healthcare Reform — were largely in agreement on what needs to be done.
They were also optimistic that Congress would enact reform legislation this session.
Both Richards and Riemer support a public option, an element that divides not just Republicans and Democrats but also loses the support of the so-called Blue Dog Democrats.
“It’s in line with the way the rest of the developed world provides health care,” Richards said. “It’s the way to go.”
Riemer said that while he supports a public option he does not want to see the government as the sole operator in the field. Government, he said, has the responsibility to set the framework but does not have the obligation to run the programs.
On one hand, the government creates laws and then establishes police and courts rather than outsourcing the job. On the other hand, the government establishes food stamp programs to ensure that people eat well.
“But do you want the government to run grocery stores?” Riemer said. “We have to look on a case-by-case basis and ask what the role of government is.”
Richards, whose district encompasses much of the city’s East Side, Downtown and Bay View, says a discussion with Riemer seven years ago convinced him of the need to focus on health care reform.
Key goals of any legislation are to reduce soaring costs, make sure that all are covered and the establishment of preventative programs.
“We’re all one bad thing away from bankruptcy because of health care costs,” Richards said. “Often the people who are most vulnerable to the ‘one bad thing’ are people who don’t have a voice.”
The need for basic health care coverage was made obvious this month when the state had to halt enrollment in BadgerCare, the state health care program for some who have no other options.
“There were 500 people a day calling to enroll in BadgerCare,” said Richards. “This is not a theoretical issue — these are real people with real needs.”
Riemer noted that there is an 80 percent agreement on national health care but still fundamental disagreements on basic issues. Both he and Richards said that it would be a terrible mistake to vote against legislation that does not contain everything.
Riemer likened it to a parent whose child comes home with a C- on a test in a subject that the child had been flunking. Does the parent discourage the child with criticism or build on the progress that has been made?
“We almost never go from zero to 100,” he said. “We’re not going to get it all right away.”
One woman tearfully spoke of having lost her job and her inability to get insurance.
“Do I have to sell my house to get insurance?” she asked. “The cost of insurance is more than my annual income.”
A man who had practiced in the Navy asked why some are afraid of a public option.
“In the Navy, if someone needed hospitalization I didn’t have to ask an insurance company for permission,” he said. “Why are some so afraid of a public option?”
Marie Rohde is a Milwaukee freelance writer.
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