Press Releases

Washington, D.C. – Tenth District Congressman Donald Payne held a telephone town hall meeting focusing on  the issue of health care reform last evening with his constituents from  Essex, Hudson and Union counties.  Over 40,000 households were contacted and invited to participate in the discussion.

In his opening remarks, Congressman Payne outlined the goals of the health reform package under consideration in Congress. "We want to stop insurance companies from denying patients health care coverage because of a pre-existing medical condition," Congressman Payne said.  "Under our current system, millions of patients have either been denied coverage or suddenly dropped by their insurance company when they developed a serious condition."

"In order to address the high out-of-pocket costs that patients must now pay, we want insurance companies to abide by restrictions on how much they can charge. To promote prevention of serious illnesses, we want insurance companies to fully cover the cost of tests, such as mammograms and colonoscopies, that help prevent the spread of such diseases. We also believe that a change needs to be made to prevent insurance companies from dropping or weakening coverage for patients who become seriously ill," Payne added.

Constituents from all areas of the 10th district called in to express their opinions about the health care proposals put forth by President Obama and members of Congress.  Many expressed concern about the difficulty in finding affordable health insurance policies.

A poll was conducted electronically of all listeners on the line for the telephone town hall meeting.  The results showed that 66% supported the idea of including a public option in the final health care plan.  A public option would allow greater competition by enabling those who otherwise couldn’t afford health care to purchase policies priced on a sliding scale, according to income.

"I want to thank all of those who participated in this important discussion," Payne said.  "The stories people shared this evening of personal hardships highlight the pressing need to change the status quo."

Payne serves on a key panel, the House Education and Labor Committee, which recently approved a comprehensive health care proposal.  He voted in favor of the measure.