ROBB HEARS HEALTH CARE OVERHAUL IDEAS

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 15, 1993                   TAG: 9304150272
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By CAROLYN CLICK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
ROBB HEARS HEALTH CARE OVERHAUL IDEAS
Intensive-care nurse Jane Lape wondered aloud if Americans, many willing to spend thousands to prolong the lives of dying loved ones, have truly come to grips with death.
"In the last week, six of my 20 patients could not possibly have survived," she said. Yet, their families insisted on keeping their elderly relatives on life-support systems - at a cost of about $35,000 per week - because that prolonged the patients' lives by a slight margin.
Salem resident Anne Bressler pondered the savings if more people practice alternative medicine and learned the importance of herbs and vitamins in sustaining vigor.
"I'm 77 years old and have seen an M.D. only twice in 37 years," she said. "People years ago understood what herbs did for the body."
Roanoke Health Director Don Stern contemplated changes in the nation's health care system that would embrace preventive measures, such as immunizations and prenatal care; allow for rational decisions about the uses of new medical technology; and assess, in real dollars, the cost of using alcohol and tobacco.
They, along with about 75 other Roanoke Valley residents, sat down Wednesday night with U.S. Sen. Charles Robb at Virginia Western Community College to talk about overhauling the American health care system. And while there were few answers, the thoughtfulness of the discussion suggested that the problems and promise of American health care are uppermost in citizens' minds.
Robb predicted that the commission led by Hillary Rodham Clinton will come up with a plan based on the so-called managed competition model, which proposes to group large blocks of people together in order to spread out the health insurance risk. But he said the changes will not come easily.
"It is going to require very strong leadership and a selling effort . . . that exceeds anything we have seen in modern times if there is going to be any public acceptance," he said.
To prove his point, periodically throughout the evening Robb quizzed the audience on such issues as living wills and their preferences for certain health care plans.
Robb is spending this week and part of next soliciting public comment on health care reform. Today, he moves on to Danville and Richmond. His last stop will be Fredericksburg on Monday.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB