Home > News Walsh, Costin talk health care reform at LCHC gala benefit By Kait Taylor / The Daily Item

PEABODY Representative Steve Walsh and former Lynn mayor Thomas Costin illustrated the melding of two generations of politicians advocating for universal health care at a benefit for the Lynn Community Health Center Thursday night.

Wisdom to Wellness: Celebrating Visionaries in Healthcare, held at the Peabody Marriott hotel, honored Costin and Dr. Mark Doherty, Executive Director of The DentaQuest Institute, for their contributions and efforts toward the LCHC.

As keynote speaker, Walsh, D-Lynn, spoke about the problems in health care that he aimed to change with the healthcare reform bill that he spearheaded as chairman of the Healthcare Finance Committee in Massachusetts. Walsh said he used to only approach the healthcare budget in a very plastic, very vanilla way when making cuts until his son became critically ill in March 2011.

Walsh said after that incident, he realized, When a loved one gets sick, we dont say, What does this cost will my insurance cover this? We say, I want the best, I dont care what it costs, get my loved one better.

Walsh went on to say that the problems in the healthcare industry are that there are too many hidden costs, that primary care isnt available to patients, and that information technology is lacking, making it difficult to share medical records. Walsh said healthcare centers like the one in Lynn are actually ahead of the times, offering good health care at available hours and at a low cost. We wrote this bill to make sure if anyone is in the position I was in, you dont have to make the choice between getting the best health care or not, he said.

Walsh said the bill was written so it had room for improvement. We left it up to all of you to continue to innovate, to continue to lead, to continue to do the things you do, he said to a crowd of over 100 of Lynn Community Health Center supporters and workers.

Walsh seemed to echo Costins sentiment of encouraging others to join the fight for health care. Costin, former General Postmaster and the youngest mayor and city councilor to have served in Lynn, worked closely with his friend Sen. Edward Kennedy on the Affordable Care Act, his passion being the recognition of alcoholism as a disease. Costin said in the beginning, he had thought, If I could help one person, then I would be successful. Now, he said the Lynn Community Health Center has helped over 20 million people in 41 years, and its been done because one senator put his mind to it, his heart to it and his body to it.

Costin ended his remarks by saying in order for healthcare reform to take place, We have to listen, we have to watch, we have to act with our heart and soul, and if we can do that, Ted Kennedy will always be with us.

Kait Taylor can be reached at ktaylor@itemlive.com.

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Walsh, Costin talk health care reform at LCHC gala benefit