Sign language interpreters had a hard time translating simultaneous applause and jeers at Saturday’s Health Care Town Hall meeting.
Congressman Martin Heinrich hosted 600 passionate Albuquerque citizens, many of whom had waited in line for more than five hours, during the forum at UNM’s Continuing Education building. Some 300 people were seated in a nearby overflow room, and about 1,000 more were turned away at the door.
The meeting addressed concerns about America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, or H.R. 3200, a bill that aims to reform the nation’s health care system. The plan includes a public option, paid for by a surtax on households with an annual income of over $350,000.
The bill will also require every American to have health insurance and will prevent insurance companies from denying coverage to people because of pre-existing conditions.
Attendees chosen at random directed questions to Heinrich and three other panel members, including UNMH Emergency Medicine Department Chair Michael Richards, Rio Grande Foundation President Paul Gessing and John Vigil, CEO of Doctor On Call urgent care clinics.
Throughout the meeting, members of the audience expressed concerns about the national deficit, the nearly 50 million people in the U.S. who are uninsured and government overstepping.
In his introductory speech, Heinrich advocated the public option aspect of the health care reform bill, eliciting a thunderous reaction from the audience.
“We need guaranteed choice, and that means if you’ve got Blue Cross Blue Shield you should be able to keep it, if you like your doctor you should be able to keep (him or her),” Heinrich said. “And if you want access to a robust public option you should have that choice, too.”
David Pritt, an armed services member stationed at Kirtland Air Force Base, was warned several times throughout the forum to refrain from outbursts. When he was selected at random to ask Heinrich a question, he said he was concerned about big government.
“I am not against anyone having health insurance,” he said. “I am against the government extending its tentacles into every aspect of our lives.”
Gessing was the most outspoken panelist against the health care reform bill.
“We’re going to spend more money if this is adopted,” he said. “We need to spend less money and improve the quality of health care. That can only be done by putting the incentives back in your hands and putting the decisions back in your hands. The best way to do that is not by providing a public option.”
Nancy Loisel said the cost of the proposed health care overhaul is a major concern.
“This is one-sixth of the United States budget being taken over by the United States government,” she said. “Do you want some government flunkey coming between you and your doctor? If you like socialism, you’re going to love it. A lot of people do, but you can’t fix stupid.”
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Lynn Buhaug, who supports Obama’s plan, waited in line for five hours to attend the town hall.
“‘Socialism’ is a word that people need to quit saying,” Buhaug said. “What they’re doing is turning ‘socialism’ into a really dirty word. Socialism, in itself, just means that everyone is getting a fair shake, that you’re helping your people.”
Joe Livingston, a doctor, asked Heinrich about his commitment to the public option after he said he spent more than three years with the National Health Service Corps in a poor community.
“It seems like some of the things that are truly important for health care reform, like the public option, are at risk,” he said. “But are people who disagree with the public option going to win, or are we going to be able to get true health care reform that will (provide people) with the health care they need?”
Heinrich said he would continue working to reform the health care system even if H.R. 3200 fails.
“If we don’t pull everything into a bill that’s necessary to fix the health care system, we’re not going to quit working on health care,” he said. “We can’t have another 20 years where no changes get made.”
