TALLADEGA — Whether doctors focus on specific parts of a patient’s body or the person’s overall health, health care reform is a hot topic from the lobby to the examination room.

With President Barack Obama’s speech about health care reform Wednesday, Sept. 9, doctors and legislators hoped for clear answers and solutions to problems currently facing health care in the United States.

Problems at the forefront seem to be finding ways to provide insurance to people without it, providing insurance to people who have lost their jobs and possibly finding ways to increase competition among insurance companies to provide more affordable insurance.

Dr. Jimmy Davis, who has a geriatric and internal medicine practice out of Baptist Health Centers-Talladega and consults with Talladega Healthcare Center, said he had hoped for more direct discussion in Obama’s mid-week address.

“The president’s speech was muddled about what changes he plans to make,” Davis said. “I didn’t hear him say anything to address certain parts of the equation such as having more primary care physicians to see patients.”

Davis sees a way to reduce insurance costs in some small way by decreasing duplication of tests and increasing the number of primary care physicians, who typically receive a lower insurance reimbursement than specialists. However, he said it first has to be determined how to make those professions more attractive since there is less money in being a general practitioner.

Another less appealing solution might be to have Americans pay more for their insurance in deductibles, copays and monthly payments. But Davis said he didn’t know if people would be willing to do that.

He agrees with Dr. Keith Williamson, an ophthalmologist with a private practice on Coosa Street in Talladega, that everyone who currently has insurance should be able to keep it, and that solutions should be found to provide insurance to those who don’t.

Williamson also thinks that while the current system has not been perfect by any means, it has worked well so far and needs to be improved upon to continue providing successful health care to Americans.

“I think the biggest disagreements are on a way to handle having less Americans without insurance,” Williamson said. “One camp is for government control and the other wants it to remain in the private sector. Right now I think we have the worst of both worlds.

“I am disappointed by the lack of serious discussions. The lobbyists, government and media are instead using scare tactics and buzzwords to scare everyone (away from) reform," he said.

And, while Williamson does think the existing system can be improved, there are some serious obstacles to making it truly viable.

"Obviously something needs to be done, but I think with a few streamlining actions on the existing system, we could improve things and get all these teams working together," he said, later adding, "We need people to put aside the screaming, name calling, and scare tactics to come up with some real answers."

Williamson said his office currently deals with 20 to 30 insurance companies, and he has one full-time employee whose days are devoted to billing and posting with insurance groups.

He believes every American should have some form of catastrophic health care that would prevent them from losing everything when they have a major medical issue.

Of course, one of Williamson’s simplest suggestions to Americans as a group is to strive to take better care of themselves. He said patients who put off seeing a doctor or have trouble paying their bills should try to find doctors who will help them despite their lack of funds or insurance.

“You and you alone are responsible for your health,” Williamson said. “No doctor or business can do anything for you if you won’t first do something for yourself.”

But what about when the circumstances are beyond the patient’s control?

Davis said he is disappointed in the way disability is currently handled in America, and hopes it will be one of the issues addressed in Obama’s reform plan.

“When it comes to someone being on disability, it takes 18 months to two years before they can get any Medicare benefits,” Davis said. “That is a terrible window. There is COBRA insurance, but if you are on disability you have probably lost your job and COBRA is expensive. I don’t see any reason to withhold those benefits for so long.”

Being in geriatric medicine, Davis has a positive opinion of Medicare and programs providing insurance for veterans.

Since Davis believes in keeping those insurance programs alive, he also thinks the government has an important role in the future success of health care in this country. But he knows private insurance companies also play an invaluable role in keeping most of the country healthy and insured.

“Nothing is insolvable,” Davis said. “We have to look at the big picture and see that there are bright people out there trying to come up with ideas and see what models will work.”

Williamson said he tries to be cautious when discussing health care reform with his patients because he knows everyone is extremely passionate about their views on the subject. But he believes something should be done to improve the situation with rising health care costs before it is too late.

“Rigid ideology on both sides won’t fix this trillion-dollar debt,” Williamson said. “There are no easy fixes and no easy answers. But to do nothing is dooming ourselves to economic disaster. We have to save ourselves from going further into bankruptcy.

“We are the greatest country on Earth and we need the greatest health care system on earth. We as a nation can do better.”