Published: August 28, 2008 10:22 pm         

Obama’s health care agenda fine with Mercer County doctor

Barack Obama’s health care approach to narrowing the gap between the covered and uninsured is one that provides Marshall Long much comfort.

Long not only was a delegate this week in his first-ever Democratic National Convention in Denver but is a practicing physician while representing Mercer County in the House of Delegates.

Quite naturally, health issues strike a responsive chord with him.

Which explains why he spent much of his time in the Mile High City traipsing from one health care reform meeting to the next, absorbing all the different viewpoints possible in the time allotted.

“A lot of things that Obama wants to do make me very happy,” Long said.

“And I feel very comfortable with what he wants do to.”

One proposal advanced by the presidential nominee would make sure health coverage is available to all, and in this regard, Long applauds the senator’s proposal to prevent insurance carriers from “cherry picking only the young and healthy and denying coverage for everybody else.”

“Another thing is to prohibit insurance companies from charging exorbitant premiums with people with pre-existing conditions or family histories of health problems,” Long said.

“Some people are so afraid the insurance companies will raise their rates that they won’t even give doctors a good history when they see them. That compromises the quality of care we provide. That shouldn’t happen.”

Long sees the advantages of the Obama plan that would entail both public and private entities so that workers with employer-based coverage would stay put.

Another feature is the so-called “safety net” that appears to be a clone of the Access West Virginia plan, the legislator said.

“A lot of things we’ve done in West Virginia are programs and policies that Sen. Obama is also adopting, which I think reflect well on our governor and the leadership of the Senate and House,” he said.

Long was keenly impressed with the camaraderie evident at the convention that has allowed the delegates some one-on-one time with members of the West Virginia congressional delegation.

And some time was spent on celebrity watching. In this, the state delegation had a distinct advantage, since its section was close to an aisle used by luminaries to enter the convention hall.

When Gov. Joe Manchin addressed the event Tuesday night, members of the Illinois delegation graciously swapped places with the West Virginia delegates, putting them up front and center so the folks back home could see them cheering him on.

One concern that seemed to be universal among the delegation is that an Obama presidency won’t leave coal behind in any energy policy.

“He has a good energy policy, it looks like, and that includes clean coal,” Long said.

“But I didn’t hear anything about coal-to-liquids. We’re watching that real close.”

— E-mail:

mannix@register-herald.com