Loyola students grab the reins at health care forum
Victoria Valet
Issue date: 9/29/09 Section: News
On Tuesday, September 22nd, Loyola students gathered in Knott Hall B03 not only to witness a Tri Beta sponsored health care debate, but to take part in the discussion as well.
The forum, which attracted approximately 35 students, began with an introductory presentation by senior Alice Stoddart of Project Health, entitled, "The U.S. Health Care System: What's Going On," in which she discussed the United States' health care expenditure as compared to that of other countries, the uninsured population of America, and the effect that the recession will have on these people in the future.
After educating the audience about the United States' recent past with health care, Nicholas Centanni, the President of the College Republicans at Loyola, took the floor, discussing a range of topics from the Clinton administration's health care plan failure, to the presentation of his own three point plan, involving the promotion of interstate competition between insurance companies, caps on medical litigation, and a decreased regulation on doctors.
In closing, he summed up his health care philosophy by quoting former President Ronald Reagan, stating that "… if you don't do this and if I don't do it, one of these days you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children, and our children's children, what it once was like in America when men were free."
Representing the College Democrats of America at Loyola was their President, Timothy Sugrue, who, unlike Centanni, supported Obama's health care plan, which aims to reduce health care costs so that bankruptcy may be avoided, develop the quality of care, provide coverage to those who have lost their jobs, end insurance coverage barriers to those with pre-existing medical conditions, and overall, guarantee health care plans for all Americans.
Throughout his discussion about the current administration's plans for the health care system, he continuously referred to the age-old concept of quality over quantity, and reinforced his points by sharing a heart-breaking anecdote about a woman, who after being diagnosed with cancer was dropped from her insurance company due to the expensive treatments she would have to undergo.
The forum, which attracted approximately 35 students, began with an introductory presentation by senior Alice Stoddart of Project Health, entitled, "The U.S. Health Care System: What's Going On," in which she discussed the United States' health care expenditure as compared to that of other countries, the uninsured population of America, and the effect that the recession will have on these people in the future.
After educating the audience about the United States' recent past with health care, Nicholas Centanni, the President of the College Republicans at Loyola, took the floor, discussing a range of topics from the Clinton administration's health care plan failure, to the presentation of his own three point plan, involving the promotion of interstate competition between insurance companies, caps on medical litigation, and a decreased regulation on doctors.
In closing, he summed up his health care philosophy by quoting former President Ronald Reagan, stating that "… if you don't do this and if I don't do it, one of these days you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children, and our children's children, what it once was like in America when men were free."
Representing the College Democrats of America at Loyola was their President, Timothy Sugrue, who, unlike Centanni, supported Obama's health care plan, which aims to reduce health care costs so that bankruptcy may be avoided, develop the quality of care, provide coverage to those who have lost their jobs, end insurance coverage barriers to those with pre-existing medical conditions, and overall, guarantee health care plans for all Americans.
Throughout his discussion about the current administration's plans for the health care system, he continuously referred to the age-old concept of quality over quantity, and reinforced his points by sharing a heart-breaking anecdote about a woman, who after being diagnosed with cancer was dropped from her insurance company due to the expensive treatments she would have to undergo.
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