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Published by The Janesville Gazette.
Paulette Garin
An organization working for a national health care system plans two events in Janesville on Tuesday.
Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Healthcare opposes the Obama administration and congressional leaders’ plans for a public/private health insurance system.
Paullete Garin, who ran for but lost the Democratic nomination for the 1st District congressional seat in 2008, is Wisconsin coordinator for the group. She has been holding sessions around the state to discuss what is called a single-payer healthcare system.
Garin is also state coordinator for Progressive Democrats of America. The Leadership Conference is an offshoot of the PDA, she said.
These health care events are an attempt to get people to urge their representatives to pass healthcare reform, Garin said.
“The biggest thing is to educate people because this is going to affect every single one of us,” Garin said.
Garin opposes both the public/private option that congressional Democrats and the president are contemplating and Republicans’ plans.
That includes the Patients’ Rights Act proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan, the 1st District Republican, and other Republicans.
A government approach means higher taxes, Ryan said. He proposes instead tax benefits that would help people buy private health insurance. He said his plan would also bring about universal health coverage, but it would be a totally private insurance system.
Ryan said his plan would allow patients to make their own coverage and healthcare decisions.
Garin calls it a right-wing scare tactic to suggest that the Democrat-supported plans would put the government between the patient and doctor.
A single-payer plan would have the government pay for all coverage, but doctors would not become government employees, and consumers would make healthcare decisions with their doctors, Garin said.
The insurance would be socialized, as Medicare now is, Garin said, but medicine would not be.
Garin said she would support the congressional Democrats’ plan if that’s all that is politically possible, but she would prefer to get insurance companies, with their high-paid CEOs and lobbyists, out of the equation.
Garin said she is coordinating the state Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Healthcare as a volunteer.
“My greatest concern is it all will implode, and nothing will happen,” Garin said of the push for reform. “Then it’ll come back to the states (to do something).”
Garin of Kenosha was asked if she will run for Congress again.
“Maybe,” she said.
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