Early this week, about 500 health professional students from all over California gathered in Sacramento to urge senators and assemblymen to vote yes on Senator Sheila Kuehl's bill for universal health care, SB840 (HR676). After a day of student-led training on how to talk to legislators, we formed groups to create streamlined presentations, marched up to the Capitol for a rally, and set off to our various appointments in the Capitol building. I have lobbied before, several times, but it's always good to remind myself that as a health professional student, I have a political voice and I should make that voice heard.
The only problem is I hate politics.
My dad always says that you can't hate politics because it's ubiquitous: wherever you have two people, you have politics. I can't deny that. Yet, it is so frustrating because reason and logic are either absent or so abstract that their relation to humanity is tenuous.
Our first legislative meeting was with a Republican senator from the Riverside area. We met with his aide, who explained to us kindly and patiently that there was a Political Divide between the Republicans and Democrats on the issue of single-payer health care (in case we hadn't heard). So, if there ever came about a bill that would fix the health care financing crisis (he clearly didn't think SB 840 was a candidate), the Democrats would oppose it purely because it isn't single-payer. And likewise, the Republicans will vote against anything that overhauls our current system. They would rather just plug up the holes.
Now, what about economic efficiency? What about hypertensive patients and diabetics showing up at ER's with blindness and gangrene What about babies dying? What about ranking the lowest of industrialized nations in something so wholesome and universally important as child safety and security?
None of those points, as salient as they are, had a fighting chance in our conversation, because the truth is that they don't matter. Political realities are what matter.
Our next legislative visit was more promising, as it was with an Assemblyman who had not yet voted on the bill. We got to inform his aide that the bill was being reintroduced with Senator Mark Leno (he thought it died with Kuehl), and he listened to our arguments, showed his concern for the issue, and said he would present it to Assemblymember Dutton. He was dubious about Dutton's support for a single-payer solution, but it was the best we could hope for.
The march and rally was overall successful. It was an empowering experience. My only complaint was that a big deal was made of the fact that both Kuehl and Leno are the first openly gay Senators. There was a lot of cheering when that point was made, and it made me angry on a personal level, as well as on a professional level. I came to support SB 840 and health care justice. Insofar as that is a Democratic cause, fine, lump me with the left. But I am NOT in support of every leftist cause, and was offended to be associated with something I don't believe in. Furthermore, I think it hurts our cause as lobbyists to introduce unrelated topics. It makes us seem like nonspecific liberal/hippie protestors who are against The Man, as opposed to future health professionals serious about changing the broken system we're about to inherit.
Was the event a success? Depends on how you measure it. We got 6 more co-authors of SB 840, and educated dozens more legislators about the issues. But Lobby Day is also about empowering students to engage in the political process. A couple of classmates and I are conducting a survey to assess changes in knowledge, attitudes and skills as a result of participating in the two-day experience. Despite my criticism, I am glad I went for the impact it had on me and my future career. I will probably never become a physician-politician, but my involvement in Lobby Day has made me recognize the respect and responsibility of my professional voice.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
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