The American Public on Health Care-The Missing Perspective - (Page 64)

Town Hall Snapshot: Miami, Florida On February 13, 2008, the Council held its first interactive, health care town hall meeting with more than 300 South Florida residents at the University of Miami. Community members, students, and experts packed the Storer Auditorium to discuss the challenges, problems, and trade-offs with the American health care system and identified the key health care priorities for the upcoming presidential election. The cost of care, and the confusion surrounding cost information was on the minds of many in the room, including Nilda P. Peragallo, the Dean of the School of Nursing and Health Studies at the University of Miami who said, “Healthcare is the only thing that you buy and you have no idea how much it costs. You walk into a hospital, nobody gives you a menu of prices.” Panelist Lilian Rivera also echoed a finding in the survey research, pointing out that “…the healthcare in the United States is a tale of two systems. We have the best at the high end and we have the worst at the low end for people who are uninsured. And that’s a big challenge that needs to be addressed.” Dan Rosenthal, CEO of UnitedHealthcare of South Florida, continued the discussion of the uninsured and echoed the thoughts of many when he said “it’s a problem not only for us as a community but it’s a problem for the health insurance industry as well because when you have that many people that don’t have insurance, the system doesn’t work well.” The participants were asked to end the event with their own messages to the Presidential candidates. An unidentified woman in the crowd expressed her desire for politicians to be held accountable for details on their plans for reform. “They talk about things like tax deductibility, association health plans, and nobody ever stops and asks them what about people with pre-existing conditions, what about cancer survivors, these people under the types of plans they talk about can’t get insurance and I haven’t heard anybody actually ask them those questions.” Dr. Donna Shalala, President of the University of Miami, took it a step further saying “we’ve never elected a President based on health care. Or rarely on domestic issues, it’s always been on the international or national security issues. I think we send a very clear message to the Presidential candidates that this is your first priority. That you’ve got to find a way to build the consensus in this country, even if you have to scotch tape it together, there are some things that we expect during your first couple of years and this ought to be your number one domestic priority.” What Matters to the People of South Florida? According to our survey research, residents of the greater Miami area point to cost as their biggest health care concern and find information about the cost and other aspects of health care coverage to be complex and confusing. They are paying close attention to Presidential candidates on health care and want more information from the candidates about the bottom line cost for them and for the country. They say the top health care priorities for the candidates should be to provide health insurance to all children, improve prescription drug coverage, and control rising health care costs. Residents also give mixed reviews to the quality of health care in the greater Miami area, but most are satisfied with their own health care. Health Care Spotlight: Miami, FL Miami-Dade County is the most populous county in the state of Florida and the eighth most populous county in the United States. The county is home to 28 hospitals and more than 32,000 licensed health care professionals, the state’s greatest concentration of medical facilities. 2007 Census estimates show that more than one in five Florida residents are currently uninsured, higher than the 15.3% nationally. 64

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