Seniors talk about health care reform at roundtable

Ruthie Polansky decided to forego expensive shots that her insurance would only partially cover, even though her doctor warned her otherwise.

“My doctor said, ‘you'll end up dying,'” Polansky, 68, of Marion, said of the $441 weekly Procrit shots needed for her anemia. “I'm $16,000 in debt and four years ago I owed nothing.”

Polansky was one of five seniors discussing health care reform today during a round-table panel sponsored by Iowa's Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee.

The event was moderated by former state senator Steve Sovern.

Unlike recent health reform meetings, today's panel at the Cedar Rapids Ecumenical Center was fairly low-key, at least until Polansky said she asked her representatives how to revoke her citizenship.

“Illegals have more benefits,” she said, to which retired Rockwell employee Lee Belden objected. No one, he noted, would be turned away from a hospital emergency room.

Belden, 73, of Alburnett, said Polansky would likely benefit from the reform bill because it includes catastrophic coverage.

“Most people are satisfied with their insurance until it's really needed,” he said.

Myrt Bowers, 70, of Mount Vernon, executive director of the Witwer Center in Cedar Rapids, said she sees situations similar to Polansky's every week at the center.

“We need to have medical care for all Americans,” she said.

Jane Carney, 74, of Coggon, who worked in dietetics at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, said her calls to Medicare about medical charges she didn't incur were ignored, including $15 for two Tylenol pills that she didn't receive during a hospitalization.

“Those bills should be checked,” she said.

Bobbie Paxton, 68, of Iowa City, a retired nurse, said the bill should include incentives for preventing health problems.

“Preventive care should be from the womb to the tomb,” she said.