Candidates offer opinions for health care

FLORENCE - Two former Alabama physicians from both sides of the political aisle offered different approaches of how to fix a health-care system where 47 million Americans lack health-care coverage.

The talks came at a time when a national program to increase health-care coverage, called SCHIP, was recently vetoed by President George Bush.

On Friday, Dr. Hugh Cort III, presidential candidate for the Republican ticket in his first official visit in his native Alabama, suggested that private health insurance "breaks down the barrier between the states to get a free market to buy insurance where it is the cheapest."

In other words, Alabama residents would be able to buy cheaper private health insurance from Michigan. Cort also argued that illegal immigrants drive up health-care costs.

"Get borders under control and that will help our health care," he said. Other factors he said are driving up health-care costs: "frivolous lawsuits and outrageous torts."

Cort made clear in his talk, sponsored by the Florence Kiwanis Club, that free market politics, plus getting rid of litigation and illegal immigrants, were keys to rejuvenating the health-care system.

Last week, Alabama Sen. Parker Griffith, D-Huntsville, spoke on the same issue before a Florence Kiwanis Club meeting and took a different take.

"People throw around the term 'socialized medicine,'" Griffith said. "But imagine if we called public schools socialized schools.

"This is no longer a privilege to have health care in America; it is a right," Griffith said.

To solve the low access to health care, Griffith suggested setting up clinics in low-access areas with nurse practitioners, clinical pharmacists and nutritionists. If additional care or information was needed, the clinic would help connect patients with a specialized doctor.

"We can discuss abortion and homosexual marriage after every child is reading at grade level and every mother and father have health insurance," Griffith said.

Cort's political platform includes national bans on abortion and homosexual marriage.

Ellen Beasley, a nurse practitioner, listened to both men. "Competition among third party players could be - might be - an option," Beasley said. Her concern is that insurance companies reimburse nurse practitioners less than doctors.

In 2009, the state senate pro- jects a $600 million shortfall in Medicaid. Griffith, co-chairman of the state health committee, said the state was planning to meet with the major players in health care and state funding to work out solutions, including the Medical Association of Alabama, the Alabama Education Association, the Business Council of Alabama and Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

Trevor Stokes can be reached at 740-5728 or trevor.stokes@timesdaily.com.