When Fifth District Congressman Chris Murphy showed up in the Alexandria Room at Edmond Town Hall August 9 to gauge the mood of his constituents in Newtown, he ran into a roomful of frustration. The topics his constituents had come to discuss were varied, but the underlying theme of their comments was the same: Washington, DC, has become isolated and insulated from the cares and concerns of ordinary people. Notwithstanding town hall meetings like the one in Newtown last week, members of Congress give the impression through their actions — or sometimes the lack thereof — that their true constituencies are not to be found on Main Street in their home districts, but on K Street in the nation’s capital. No issue brings that disconnect into clearer focus than health care, which many people had come to discuss last Thursday night.

Rep Murphy heard the story of a preschool teacher and single mother trying to get by with no child support and no health insurance. “If anything happens, I would lose my home,” she told him. President Bush’s recent offhand suggestion that Americans without health insurance can always go to the emergency room for care would have seemed a rude insult in the face this sincere expression of desperation, and Rep Murphy had the decency not to repeat that suggestion. But his practiced expression of concern and shared frustration, along with his sincere sympathy, were, as a practical matter, little better than the President’s insensitive quip.

When 45 million Americans cannot afford to pay health insurance premiums, let alone actual medical and drug costs, another sympathetic friend is not what they need. They need a Congress and an Administration willing to look beyond the K Street lobbyists for inspiration to create the kind of universal health care system that emphasizes patient health over corporate health. When the individuals and small businesses owners who can still afford health insurance must pay higher and higher premiums and co-pays for increasingly restricted coverage, another expression of concern is not what they need. They need a Congress and an Administration willing to remove underwriters, actuaries, and other risk assessment experts from their current positions as health care gatekeepers, and replace them with medical professionals.

No one says health care reform is simple. Our country has some of the best medical centers in the world, yet top-notch care is not available universally — especially the uninsured who sit for hours in emergency rooms. If enough ordinary citizens, like those who showed up at Edmond Town Hall August 9, spontaneously express their frustrations on this issue to every congressman, senator, and presidential candidate to come within earshot in the next 15 months before the 2008 elections, perhaps the message will break through the isolation and insulation of those we have elected to represent us in Washington, DC, to inspire them to do the hard political work that needs to be done to reform our current system to bring universal health care coverage to all Americans. That would be the most convincing expression of concern and sympathy.