Published: October 30, 2009 11:18 pm      

‘Reform needs to happen’

Goshen businessman heading to Washington to meet with Congressmen

GOSHEN, Ind — A Goshen night club owner will travel to Washington, D.C., next week to urge legislators to take action on health care reform.

Jason Oswald, owner of Constant Spring, will be part of delegation of more than 100 small business owners who will meet with Congressmen and at the White House to push for health care reform.

“I think something has to happen,” Oswald said as he ate his dinner of chili Friday evening. “Reform needs to happen. My mom is in the health care business and she gets very frustrated at how things work. It seems like there is a lot of waste and costs keeps going up. At least we need to talk about it.”

When he was contacted by USPIRG, a nonprofit, non-partisan organization recently about his willingness to visit Washington, he agreed.

“I said ‘sure,’” Oswald said. “It sounds interesting.”

He said he told the USPIRG contact that he has one employee who is unable to join his company’s health insurance program because of a pre-existing condition. He said he may meet with Rep. Mark Souder and Rep. Joe Donnelley. The business representatives are also scheduled to visit the White House for a briefing on health care by Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of Health and Human Services.

Oswald said he flies to Washington on Monday, will join the meetings on Tuesday and return that night.

He added he expects to learn more during his trip to the capital.

Oswald opened Constant Spring three and one-half years ago. He said he has 10 employees, with about half of them full-time.