Congress' recent retreat from the catastrophic health-care coverage it enacted last year is an example of the need to provide solid information to the public about those who are underserved or needy, according to the vice president of United Way.
"They went out on the line for what they thought was a good program and got bashed for it," said Jack Moskowitz, long-time lobbyist and United Way vice president who specializes in federal government relations. "They got burned and I think it will be a long time before they forget it. I've never seen Congress beat such a hasty retreat."Recently, the House voted to repeal the catastrophic coverage legislation, and though the Senate did not repeal it outright, it is working on a compromise that strips the law of many of its key points.
"Polls showed that most people, when they were told about the bill, were willing to pay for it. But most people didn't know the specifics of the legislation. And a survey showed that two-thirds of the people questioned - people who would be eligible for the coverage as Medicare recipients - knew nothing or next to nothing about the law."
Moskowitz's keynote address to the annual Utah Issues conference Friday focused on a report by the Ford Foundation. "The Common Good" examined social needs and policies nationwide, reviewing the social welfare system as a whole. The report concluded that the system is inadequate in a number of areas, including child care for the poor so they can work.
With legislation pending in Congress, we are making "progress toward the key goals in child care," Moskowitz said. Passage of some of the recommendations would be a "breakthrough for the working poor."
He cautioned that unless the issue receives strong bipartisan support, it will fail and said that Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, is proving to be a "key player" in the issue.
"I don't think anyone knows what is going to happen and some of the strongest advocates for day care are bickering over it. If this day-care bill goes to the floor without the administration backing it, we cannot muster the votes to override a veto.
"None of (the report's proposals) will happen unless the present deadlock between Congress and the president is broken. President Bush's `read-my-lips-no-taxes' approach and Congress responding with `You go first, then we'll talk about it,' just postpones everything and the government is immobilized. It will stay that way until the stalemate eventually will become intolerable."
Moskowitz encouraged groups to get involved in providing clear, accurate information about the human needs that exist and ideas on how they can be met.