Debate Just "Game-Playing"

Elderly Community's Take on Health Care Reform

EL PASO---There's been a lot of talk about how seniors will fare in a "reformed" health care system.
NewsChannel 9 found varying opinions among the elderly we spoke with, and some confusion.

At the Memorial Park Senior Center in Central El Paso, people come to enjoy the company and "friendly" competition.
But some of the seniors say they feel like what's going on in Washington, D.C. with the health care debate is game-playing at a different level.

In billiards, for instance.
Like a rack after the first shot, Angel Valero thinks our health care system is broken.

"We have a big problem, especially in El Paso. There's a lot of people that don't have any insurance at all," he said. In fact, 1 out of every 3 El Pasoans is living without any insurance.

Valero says he wouldn't mind paying a little out of his own pocket to help cover the costs of insuring the poor.

But then there are card-players like Linda Buck.
She says the debate is much like cards; she's not sure what she'll be dealt.

"I'm scared to death of it. I have no idea what it's going to mean, good or bad," she said in regards to the health care bill waiting on the desks of U.S. congressmen.

"The information has been confusing coming from both sides, that you really can't sort out what's true and what isn't," she said.

Buck relies on both Medicare and a side policy to cover her health care expenses.
But she says everyone, young and old, has to play with the hand they have.

"I suppose because of my age, a little socialized medicine. For the country itself, I don't know if that's good," she said.

She says either way, it all feels a bit risky; feels like the players in D.C. are the ones holding all the cards.