Senator Boxer Talks Health Care Reform At Local Hospital

The battle over health care reform continues to be a hot topic. Monday, Senator Barbara Boxer, who lives here in the Valley part-time, met with Riverside County doctors.

News Channel 3 talked to the Democrat about her goals for health care reform.

Senator Boxer walks the halls of the Riverside County Regional Medical Center in Moreno Valley. This hospital is where many of the county’s Medicaid and uninsured patients go.

The Senator is a part-time Rancho Mirage resident. She met with doctors and nurses, hearing their concerns about uninsured patients.

Nurse Howard Hawley asked, “At what point will we reach a saturation point when we’re able to provide adequate care for those people who have no place left to go?”

Democratic senators are debating whether to push for a public health insurance option or support small health care co-ops.

Senator Boxer tells us she’s willing to compromise, “I think a public interest option in important. I’m not wedded to any particular model. You need a public interest system. Meaning, an insurance option that doesn’t worry about paying a CEO $20 million a year.”

Some Republican senators say they think health care reform should get the support of 75 to 80 senators. Senator Boxer laughs at that, willing to stand with a 51 vote majority if that’s what it takes.

Boxer adds, “To vote for the status quo, to me it is a hostile act. It’s as if I saw, in the parking lot, you were about to get hit by a car and I was standing there and I didn’t yell and scream and pull you back, I would be committing a hostile act by not taking action. That’s how I view the status quo in health care right now. People who have health insurance are the ones in the most trouble.”

14,000 people lose health insurance each day nationwide. Those who keep their insurance often watch their premiums climb higher.

If something is to be done in Washington, Senator Boxer may end up being one of the key architects. But those health care reforms will rest on the shoulders of these local doctors.