December 23, 2009|By Paul West | paul.west@baltsun.com
She remains an active supporter of Obama's plan, even after the president effectively abandoned a provision that has been a key for her - a government-run insurance option that would compete with private insurers and make health coverage more affordable for the working-class families she treats. Beams worries that many of her patients won't be able to afford required medical insurance, even with government subsidies.
She defends the efforts of activists like herself in pressuring Congress to act, even after the compromises that have weakened the measure beyond repair in the eyes of some liberals.
It "could have died in August," she said, when opponents staged their noisy protests.
"The legislation does a lot of good things," she said, such as preventing insurers from taking away coverage or refusing to provide it in the first place because of a pre-existing medical condition, and allowing parents to retain medical coverage for their children up to age 26. "Some change is better than no change. It probably behooves us progressives to get behind the bill."
With Senate Democrats about to approve a sweeping overhaul measure in spite of unanimous opposition from Senate Republicans and widespread public doubts, Beams said she doesn't view it as a victory for her side.
"I see it as being about patients and working Americans all over the country who deserve a better health care delivery system and deserve better health security," she said. "I see it as something we need to do as a nation, for our people's well-being and the economy's stability. It's not about Democrats and Republicans or our side versus their side."
