DNC Chief: Women Must Save Health Care

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz wasn't able to address Portsmouth Democrats directly on Thursday morning after her car got stuck in the mud in Concord, but she still delivered a warning:

Women voters must repel GOP attempts to deny women preventative care.

If Democrats fail to help President Obama win reelection, Wasserman Schultz said a Republican White House and Congress would bring women back to the days when they could not get access to preventative care such as mammograms and breast cancer screenings.

If it were up to the Republicans, Wasserman Schultz said they would allow the insurance companies to decide what kind of care women can have instead of allow doctors to advise their patients.

Via a live Internet feed, she said Democrats can't let GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney hide from the fact that as Massachusetts governor he signed a health care reform plan into law that mirrors the national Affordable Care Act that President Obama signed into law in March 2010.

"We are not going to let him hide in any corner," said Wasserman Schultz, who is also a congresswoman from Florida.

Wasserman Schultz was scheduled to host a panel at the Obama for America-NH office on Brewery Lane to discuss ways the Affordable Care Act has made a difference in the lives of thousands of New Hampshire residents and to highlight Women's History Month.

The OFA-NH office was lined wall to wall with Seacoast area Democrats who told a panel that preventative care is a must. The panel consisted of Portsmouth City Councilor Chris Dwyer, health care reform advocate Mary Rauh of New Castle, pediatrician Dr. Susan Henry and Lindsay Hanson, the director of the Women for Obama NH in 2008.

In Washington and closer to home in Concord, Rauh, a former 1st District congressional candidate, said women's preventative health and contraception is under siege by Republican lawmakers. In the last five years, Rauh said New Hampshire Republicans have imposed more restrictions on women's health since Roe v. Wade was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972.

"My hope is our lawmakers will begin to understand the benefits of the Affordable Care Act for women and men in this community," said Rauh.

Henry, who works at Boston Children's Hospital, said the reform is a blessing for families who cannot get care for their children with pre-existing conditions.

"It's just a gigantic relief for families to have this coverage in place," Henry said. "These children can no longer be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions."

According to the OFA officials, the health care law means this for New Hampshire:

• 434,000 families can now access preventative care;
• 902,000 NH families no longer have t worry about insurance companies raising their rates without transparency or explanation;
• 220,000 seniors are benefitting from a stronger Medicare program and prescription drug discounts are saving 13,000 NH seniors an average of $620.

During the question and answer session, Debbie Franco of Portsmouth asked the panel how preventative care can drive health care costs down. Henry replied that by allowing people who previously could not get check-ups and other preventative care to have it, they can take control of chronic diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and heart disease and stay out of emergency rooms.

As an employer, Dwyer said businesses should support the Affordable Care Act because "you want people to come to work."

Carol Glover, a nurse practitioner from Durham, told the panel she has seen first-hand the benefits of preventative care for her patients. As a result of educating them about eating right, getting enough exercise and having them come in for regular check-ups, Glover said the acute cases she used to see have decreased.

Alexandra Dunberger, 26, of Portsmouth, said she is glad the Affordable Care Act was signed into law and will fully take effect in 2014 because right now she is struggling to apply for COBRA health insurance benefits that are typically offered to people who are unemployed.

Marsie Silvestro, director of the Safe Place in Rockingham and Strafford counties, urged Seacoast Democrats to urge members of the New Hampshire congressional delegation to support the reinstatement of the Domestic Violence Against Women Act that some members of Congress want to let lapse. "The war against women and children is very serious," she said.

She said that if the law is not renewed, crisis shelters around the nation would close.

Kirsten Kukowski, press secretary for the Republican National Committee, rebutted Wasserman Schultz' claims. Kukowski said women are actually worse off right now under President Obama.

"Women in New Hampshire know we need to change direction in Washington after Barack Obama’s record of broken promises and failed policies have taken our country in the wrong direction and left families worse off," Kukowski said. "While Debbie Wasserman Schultz tries to spin Obama’s failed record with women, budgets are being stretched by increasing prices on everything from food to gasoline as Seacoast families wonder how they can afford to pay their mortgage, medical bills or send their children to college."