Sitting among the insurance executives, business leaders, and Washington lobbyists in the audience of yesterday's roundtable on health care reform were a handful of frontline caregivers from SEIU. They came from across the country to be on Capitol Hill yesterday, and they served as a powerful reminder of the people the debate over health care reform is really about - patients and their caregivers.

Two SEIU Healthcare leaders - Dr. L. Toni Lewis, MD and Cathy Stoddart, RN - took notes on their time in Washington and offered to share their perspective as caregivers. For Dr. Lewis, the importance of yesterday's hearing set in before she even arrived on Capitol Hill:

On the way to the Senate, we were talking about health care reform - sharing our thoughts on how we KNOW it's happening this year because so many people are so committed to it. Our cab driver, Germaine, asks if he can share his story. He tells us that he is 64, works more than 12 hours a day and still can't afford health care - Germaine has diabetes, and the cost of his supplies, medications and follow up are overwhelming. Mind you, Germaine is not upset - he understands hard work and appreciates that - he is glad to tell us his story. Germaine believes that we are getting ready to get this done - so he gives us an encouraging smile as we leave the cab and enter the Senate building.

In the hearing, Cathy Stoddart was encouraged by many of the senators' serious commitment to fixing health care:

Senator Menendez rocks! He did not mince words, which I think the American public are tired of. He asked straightforward questions and focused on the fact that the time is now - and that no one assembled was against reforming health care.

Senator Schumer was right on, too. He talked about the playing field for a public health insurance option vs. present private insurance plans. He talked about the lack of trust Americans have in private insurance companies and how they have been the gatekeepers of access to care; they are, in essence, rationing care for my low and middle income patients.

The discussion left Dr. Lewis excited that we're finally talking about true health care and not the "sick care" that our current system promotes:

I loved the fact that there was a discussion not only on coverage, but also on oral health, home care, end of life care, prevention and wellness, and primary care. We're actually talking about comprehensive coverage!

Both Toni and Cathy agreed that the people who need to be leading the movement to fix health care aren't the ones in Washington - it's the caregivers at the bedside. Cathy summed it up well:

There is something about returning someone to health so that they, too, can contribute to a better society. It feels good; it's a legacy to be proud of. It is what people deserve and it is why I become a nurse. We have a big role to play in this movement. We've all got to put our hand in and steer it in the right direction.

Today, SEIU President Andy Stern joined with a panel of health care advocates, insurance industry reps and other stakeholders at Sen. Baucus' second roundtable on health reform--the topic, reforming health care coverage.

During the hearing, Sen. Chuck Schumer, who's been tasked with leading the Committee's work on a public health insurance plan, played a dramatic counterweight to insurance industry representatives. (And this comes on the heels of an agreement by insurance companies to stop charging women higher premiums than men. Wonder if they're considering paying back women customers for the difference all these years?)

Schumer essentially dismantled arguments against the public health insurance plan, challenging folks squarely on the issue of transparency and competition. Ezra Klein sums up Schumer's points nicely:

Schumer went on to argue that opposition to the public plan is predicated on a high-functioning insurance market that doesn't now, and hasn't ever, existed. Private insurers, Schumer exclaimed, can't even tell you what a given treatment costs. They won't release their data on either quality or prices. This is not an elegant market that should be protected from further competitive pressures. This is a mess in desperate need of new players with new incentives. "To not have a public plan and let it compete the way [Senator Baucus] outlines in his white paper is, in my view, closeminded," said Schumer. Then he paused, and smiled, looking out over a crowd think with industry representatives. "In my view," he continued, "it may even be a little self-interested."

Schumer went on, "The bottom line is you need somebody who is not a private insurance company to be in the mix and there are many of us who feel very strongly about that... It would be giving all of you in the insurance industry an unfair advantage not to have a public plan."

SEIU President Andy Stern hammered home the fact that--despite insurance industry claims--consumers do not currently enjoy choice and competition. Stern spoke about the lack of "choice" for workers in Maine and New Hampshire, for example, who have higher costs than public workers in other states, but similar coverage.

From Andy's Twitter feed: "Senator Schumer aggressively fights for public plan. Go Chuck! Discussion on employer responsibility [sic] missing."

(And as President Stern alluded to in his tweet, stay tuned for SEIU's continuing work on shared employer responsibility. )