Article Photos

JOHNSTOWN - Fulton-Montgomery Community College students got a fast-paced lesson in health care reform during a guest lecture at the college Monday.

Brandeis University professor Sarah Elisabeth Curi addressed a group of FMCC students, teachers and staff at a lecture as part of the William M. Barto memorial lecture series. Curi said the topic of health care reform is a complicated one but felt an overall knowledge of health care is important for people to have so they can make educated decisions about health care reform.

On Saturday night, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives narrowly passed health care legislation designed to expand coverage and place stricter regulation on insurance agencies. The legislation is now being considered by the Senate.

Curi addressed what she said are some common misconceptions about health care in America, including the assertion that American health care is the best in the world and change is not necessary. She cited a study that ranked America's health care at 37th in the world, just above Cuba and far below France, Saudi Arabia and other countries.

Curi also pointed out the American system of health care is the most expensive in the world, whereas Italy and France, which are ranked in the top tier regarding health care, spend less than half per person than the United States does.

"Our system is the most expensive in the world," she said. "That wouldn't be as much of a problem if the quality was on par with the cost."

Curi also pointed out a number of statistics that seemed to shock audience members, including the fact nearly 11 percent of children in America are uninsured, and roughly 44,000 people a week lose their insurance.

The biggest barrier preventing most uninsured Americans from obtaining health care is financial, Curi said.

"People say, 'it's a choice.' But what choice are they really making? The choice between health care and a roof over their head? Food?" Curi asked.

Curi said the fundamental question regarding health care reform boiled down to whether one believes health care is a commodity or a basic human right. She pointed out that many argue a government-run health care system would introduce socialism to the United States. Such an argument is misleading, she said, because there are already a number of socialized programs functioning in America, including public schools, libraries, fire and police services, and Medicare and Medicaid.

"Fifty percent of health care spending is done by the government [in the form of] Medicare and Medicaid," she said. "The government is your Medicare ... We already have socialism in this country. We just don't call it that."

FM student Victoria Darrach said she found the lecture to be enlightening and interesting.

"The fact that the United States is ranked so low, that was a huge surprise to me," she said.

FMCC Professor Lou Fagan said he was glad to invite Curi to speak at the college.

"I think she has a lot of interesting things to say," he said. "[The lecture] really gave some accessibility to the information."