Ask Joan Davis whether health reform will lead to “death panels” or doctors urging their elderly patients to consider euthanasia and she will look at you with amazement. “That’s a lot of bunk!” she’ll retort.

Rivers, a member of the New York chapter of the Gray Panthers, was one of the “myth-busters” featured in a Community Teach-In on Health Reform sponsored by Raising Women’s Voices on September 10. Aimed at busting the myths circulated during Congressional town hall meetings in August, the teach-in was co-sponsored by Health Care for America NOW of NY, the National Physicians Alliance, the Women’s City Club of New York, NYC for Change and the Public Health Association of NYC.

The event, held at Judson Memorial Church in New York’s Greenwich Village, gave 60 participants the facts about what proposed health reform legislation would do, and not do:

• Health reform will not mean a government takeover of the health system, explained Tim Foley of NYC for Change. Instead, the plans moving forward in Congress build on what we already have – a system of private insurance, purchased largely through employers, and two public programs, Medicare and Medicaid. If the so-called “public option” is included in the final health reform legislation, it would simply provide one option for people seeking to purchase health insurance, he explained.
• Health reform would not require Americans to give up their private doctors and use public clinics, said Dr. Oni Blackstock, a member of the National Physicians Alliance.
• Small businesses would benefit from health reform, because it would offer them the chance to provide affordable health care for their workers, said Freddy Castiblanco, a small business owner from Queens. He explained he has been unable to afford to give his employees health insurance.
• There would be no change in current federal policy about use of federal funding for abortion coverage, explained Alice Berger of Planned Parenthood of NYC. Currently, the federal Hyde Amendment prohibits the use of federal funds to provide abortions for low-income women enrolled in the Medicaid program. That prohibition would continue, she explained, noting that many women’s health organizations believe it is discriminatory against low-income women and deprives them of access to basic reproductive health care. Private insurance plans participating in the insurance marketplace, or “exchange,” that would be established by reform legislation would be able to choose whether or not to provide abortion coverage.
• Undocumented immigrants would be excluded from subsidized coverage made available through health reform, said Jenny Rejeske of the New York Immigration Coalition. She urged the elimination of the current five-year waiting period of legal immigrants to become eligible for Medicaid.

Wondering about some of the health reform rumors you may have heard during the August Congressional recess town hall meetings? Check out the question-and-answer sheet prepared by Raising Women’s Voices, with the assistance of the National Physicians Alliance, Citizen Action of NY and Community Catalyst. Have a question we didn’t answer? Email us.

Want to organize your own community teach-in on health reform? We’re happy to help you. Contact us.