West Side MoveOn Vigil Highlights Health Care Woes

About 1,000 people showed up for a candle-light vigil in Columbus Circle Wednesday night and listened to New Yorkers who have been screwed by the health care system. The event, held just inside Central Park opposite the Time Warner Center, was part rally, part group-therapy, as people spoke about their difficulties receiving the care they needed and paying for it. Signs held by crowd members or hung from statues read “We Can’t Afford to Wait” and “Public Option Now.”

Volunteers from MoveOn, the liberal group that originated during the Monica Lewinsky scandal to get the country to “move on,” set up the vigil. It had a disorganized sort of energy — during some speeches, crowd members would yell “public option!” or “health care now!” but rarely in unison. One heckler walked through the crowd yelling “tort reform!” and two people got into a loud debate about homelessness at the margin of the vigil, but there were otherwise few confrontations.

One speaker named Barry said he had to have open heart surgery at the age of 26 and has health care bills of at least $7,000 a year now. “I had too much money for Medicaid but not enough for my monthly payments,” he said. He pays $470 a month for Cobra and hundreds for pills, he said.

Susan Epler, a registered nurse, said she has seen American health care become “a two-tiered system” during her 40 years as a nurse. “It’s gotten worse and worse and worse,” she said. “Some patients can’t even afford over-the-counter medications. Some diabetics can’t afford to take insulin.”

“I’ve waited for the health care system to change for 40 years. When is it going to happen? The time is now,” she said.

Andrew Kreutter, a MoveOn volunteer coordinator, said the event was set up to highlight that the health care debate is “about how we want to take care of ourselves, not just about the costs for insurance companies.” MoveOn wanted to highlight “real people, the common man who has to deal with this issue.” MoveOn is pushing Congress to include a strong public option in any health care legislation, he said.

Mike, an Upper West Sider who has health care through his job as a recording engineer, said he went to the event to support universal health care, but wasn’t thrilled with the presentation.

“It’s a little sensationalist, but it’s for a good cause,” he said. “But what do you expect from MoveOn.org?”

Andrea, a substitute teacher from Brooklyn, said she is on Medicaid and wants Americans to have more public insurance options. “It’s very sad to hear these stories,” she said.

But was the vigil effective?

“I’m not sure. I hope so. We need Fox 5 out here or Eyewitness News,” she said. “If the people at CNN just open their windows, they can hear us too,” she said, gesturing to the Time Warner Center.

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