Georgetown U. students, faculty weigh in on health care

As the tense national dialogue on health care reform continues in the wake of President Obama's Sept. 9 address before Congress on the subject, Georgetown University students, professors and campus groups have joined the fray.

The Georgetown University College Democrats and College Republicans have arranged to debate plans for comprehensive health care reform, and on the day of Obama's address, the Office of Communications arranged for a number of professors to comment on the topic.

"In a democracy, the future is usually regarded as now. The president believes we have to think further ahead. If we do nothing now, the costs on our economy will get worse in the future," said Stephen Wayne, a professor in the government department.

As Obama works to broker bipartisan support while generating a health care reform bill that is both comprehensive and fiscally responsible, the College Republicans and College Democrats are preparing for a Sept. 30 debate on an issue about which both sides feel strongly.

In recent weeks, the College Democrats have worked to increase awareness of the current health care proposals in circulation with guest speakers, including Terry McAuliffe, former chairman of the Democratic National Convention, who visited last week. The group will also host an Issue Awareness Week focusing on health care.

"Passing meaningful health care reform is of the utmost importance. ... With 47 million under- and uninsured Americans, we cannot afford not to expand health care coverage," said Daniel Gustafson, president of the GU College Democrats. "It is unacceptable for us as Americans to allow people to face severe illness, or even death, simply because there is too much money to be made under the current, broken system."

The College Republicans, meanwhile, are looking forward to discussing the health care issue with the College Democrats, said Kevin Preskinis, the chief of staff of the College Republicans.

"Obama's health care ambitions do not only fail the ideological test of conservatism, they fall short of common sense," Preskinis said. "From the CBO cost estimates to the disconcertingly real potential for rationed care, many Americans are joining us in recognizing that the emperor truly has no clothes on this one."

The College Republicans have not yet held any events on health care this semester, but may do so depending on the trends of national sentiment.

"If progress toward Obamacare somehow does a 360, then we may have to consider getting involved. But so far, the rest of the country is adequately getting the message out, and they're having a real impact we can all admire," Preskinis said.

Several Georgetown professors expressed skeptical views about reforms that may or may not immediately affect Georgetown personnel who already receive insurance through the university.

"Georgetown is a large employer, so professors and staff have better insurance coverage and options than others such as small business employees," said Michele Swers, a professor in the government department. "Obama is promising that if you have a good plan that you like, you can keep it. However, it really depends on what employers decide to do when faced with the new incentives from whatever program passes."

Dr. Robert Barnet, a scholar-in-residence at the Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University Medical Center, was skeptical about how much change reform can enact on the current health care situation in the United States.

"I do not think it is realistic to expect that all of the problems can be fully addressed in President Obama's first term, or even in the next eight years. The situation is too complex," Barnet said. "The issue is not just how to pay for what we have but to also address the fundamental structural problems both in health care and in society."

Swers said she believes that ultimately the question remaining is not whether reform will happen but what type of reform Obama can achieve.

"I think he will get some type of reform passed. The question is whether it will be expansive enough to meet the high expectations he has already developed," Swers said. "Obama is trying to get something more comprehensive and it remains to be seen what he can get from Congress."

Despite the skepticism and the critiques by both supporters and detractors of the proposed health care reform, Wayne remained adamant about the need of some kind of reform.

"While many Americans may not perceive health care to be a crisis for them today, the economic and social costs of fixing the problem will increase substantially, particularly for young Americans who (believe it or not) will get older and sicker as time passes," Wayne said in an e-mail. "Acting now is smart for tomorrow."