At a forum organized by the Asian Americans for Political Participation, held on the 24th, Dr. Liang of Physicians Council for Responsible Reform, Liu Weining and Pengi Pu of the Hakka Association of Greater New York, and other representatives from the community gathered to discuss how the health reform bill might impact the Chinese community.
Unlike the conservative attitudes of other physicians, Liu is very optimistic about the health reform. Although the reform would affect doctors' income in treating individual patients, Liu believes the reform will increase the number of paying patients and prevent a decrease in their incomes. Moreover, being a doctor is not just about the study of medicine, but also promoting ethics and public health. The effect on a doctor's income should not be only thing measuring the reform, he stated, indicating that doctors need to make short-term sacrifices to give back to the community. In addition, the reform will provide better services to the community so the entire insurance industry will go through positive changes for the public.
Robert Young, a bank manager, believed that the public need not be too concerned for the economic impact of the reform. Doctors' incomes have always been stable, he indicated, and high-income and middle-class families would be able to get deductions to pay for the increase in Medicare tax. As the premiums get reduced, he said, the effect of the reform will have a balanced impact on everyone.
According to Pengi Pu, the health reform is positive news for the Chinese community, and he used himself as an example. After he stopped working at large company to start his own business, getting insurance before age 65 became too expensive, leaving Pengi Pu uninsured. He was forced to fly back to Taiwan for physical examinations and medical treatment. He views the health reform as a solution to many hardworking small businessmen and women in the Chinese Community.
Pian Hua Liu, who is also a small business owner, pointed out that health insurance is a major cost for middle-sized and small companies. Although still unclear on how the reform can benefit these companies, he felt that if the reform was a help for the general public then it was good.
Asian Americans for Political Participation President Yan Chou expressed great admiration for President Barack Obama's courage to promote the health reform. She believes it is important for the community to have a comprehensive understanding of the health care to see that it will bring about good changes in long-term despite the short-term pains. She sees this bill will be of great benefit to the Chinese community, especially for the new immigrants, low-income people, employees of small and medium enterprises, as well as for people suffering from acute diseases.
