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1,200 fill 'raucous' health care forum
Last Modified: Tuesday, September 1, 2009 at 7:23 a.m.
An overflow crowd of about 1,200 people attended a boisterous town hall meeting Monday night in Petaluma on the national health overhaul, many expressing support for a proposed government-run program and others shouting it down.
The two-hour meeting, run by Democratic Rep. Lynn Woolsey, was the first and only chance for many Sonoma and Marin County residents to ask questions and air comments before Congress reconvenes after Labor Day to consider the pending legislation.
Dozens spoke on both sides of the debate amid constant jeers and chants from an audience that filled every seat in the hall and spilled out into a second room and the front lobby.
Exasperated by catcalls, Jason Davies of Petaluma, who supports a public option plan, told health care overhaul opponents they missed their chance to control the discussion under the Bush administration.
"You guys had your way!" the software executive yelled into the microphone, drawing waves of cheers and boos. "This is our time to take our country back. We won!"
Opponents such as retired Novato veteran David Nusser countered that most people are satisfied with their current health insurance. Liberals are trying to force a socialist system that would create more taxes, he said.
"Mrs. Woolsey," said Nusser, "you and your group of thieves should go back to the drawing board."
People began arriving at the Petaluma Veterans Memorial Hall about an hour before the meeting. A line snaked out the front door and around the building into a back parking lot.
Many carried signs or argued their positions with others in line. Some filmed the scene with video cameras.
About a half-dozen Petaluma police officers, some in plain clothes, looked on.
There were no arrests, Lt. Mike Cook said.
Woolsey took the stage to polite clapping and some heckling. She fended off vocal opponents as she made arguments for changes she said would improve the efficiency of the medical system while controlling costs.
An opponent in the back blurted out, "That's crap!" and supporters chanted, "Let her speak!"
After getting booed when she asked people to lower their signs, Woolsey lightened the mood by citing Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass, who said in his own town hall meeting that talking to opponents was like arguing with a dining room table.
"I promise not to label anyone as dumb as a dining room table, and I have confidence you will do the same," she said.
Despite the circus atmosphere, many people had serious concerns and questions.
Some wanted to know if they would be covered under the proposals if they lost their jobs and medical benefits. Others wanted to know if they could get medical insurance with a pre-existing health condition.
Others asked who would pay for it. Woolsey said the most wealthy Americans who earn more than $250,000 a year would pay a surcharge.
Sher Sheldon, 57 of Novato rolled up to the microphone in a wheelchair. Multiple sclerosis has prevented her from getting coverage, and she has a prescription drug bill of $1,000 a month, she said.
Woolsey said her problems would be solved under the plan.
"Isn't medical coverage for all a moral issue?" Sheldon asked to applause.
Lela Landman, 63, of San Anselmo said health care should be treated like any other government service that is funded by tax dollars. The current system is arranged to benefit private companies, she said.
"We pay for public safety. We pay for fire," she said. "Health care should not be for profit."
But opponents were out in force.
Robert Klag, a Mill Valley accountant, worried an overhaul would make him change a doctor he has had for 32 years.
"My health care coverage is something I understand and know how it works," Klag said.
Rod Hug, a retired enginer from Santa Rosa, said three-fourths of American don't want "Obama-care."
And Catherine Bragg, 50, a Novato business owner, revved up the crowd by accusing Woolsey of elitism.
"Reform is being rammed down our throats," she said, throwing her arms in the air. "If you let the free-market system work everyone could have insurance."
Woolsey hadn't planned on hosting a town hall meeting.
The former Petaluma city councilwoman presided over a telephone conference and attended smaller forums scattered across her 6th District, which encompasses all of Marin County and most of Sonoma County.
But last week, amid criticism she was denying the public a chance to speak, she announced the Petaluma meeting.
In a brief interview afterward, she called the meeting productive. She said she would consider the remarks before returning to Washington.
"That was a raucous meeting," she said.
You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 762-7297 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com.
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September 1, 2009 8:03:42 am
RE: Link
God bless both sides of the issue and God bless America.
OK people... Let's be nice. - JM!
September 1, 2009 8:18:21 am
I second the motion by Petaluma Pete. However, I am not putting any money behind it ;-)
September 1, 2009 10:15:53 am
Sooner or later, we have to make a decision.
I prefer to make my decision myself, and not let Government to take over me and decide for me. I send this question to Rep. Lynn Woolsey, and, I think, I am not along who is looking for the answer.
Where can I find a published proposal of new health care plan for America?
I tried many different links, but I cannot find published health care reform.
I would like to read it myself, all pages of it.
I do not want to hear from one side how good, and perfect, and non-expensive it will be for us.
And, I don't want to hear from other side how controlling, and expensive, and no-care it will be for us.
I would like to read it from the beginning to the end by myself and make my own opinion.
Being low-middle class American, I know that this reform will be
paid by my taxes, my labor, my time, my health.
I know that government will not pay for my health care, because government is not making any money.
It exists on money that Americans paying in form of tax to the government to serve American people.
I know that "richest" people will not pay for my health care (as most of
the congress members say), because "richest" people always find the "loop".
I will pay for it.
Therefore, I want to know what is going to be on my shoulders.
I want to make a decision whether I want to put it on my shoulders or not.
So, where can I find it, full and complete proposal of a new health care system in America?
September 1, 2009 11:00:57 am
LC asks a fair question. Part of the problem is that there is no single proposal. As I understand it, there are at least five different bills in Congress.
Until the process produces a single bill that can be read, LC and the rest of us will have to endure listening to arguments based on slogans.
September 1, 2009 11:21:23 am
Isn't the issue "really" about insurance?
The cries I hear are that people and business either can't affford current insurance rates or that they are denied coverage with little or no alternative.
If that's the case, what is being proposed to fix that?
In the proposal the government offers a low-cost alternative. Who loses on that - well the insurance companies for one since most people would be attracted to a lower premium for the same coverage. So is this about the "state" health care (which is another topic altogether) or providing medical insurance coverage for low-income people and struggling businesses?
And why do folks persist in politicizing the issue? This is not a Democrat vs Republican issue. This is about providing coverage regardless of party affiliation.
Also, how do we pay for it? Well how did we pay for the wars? Iraq cost us 20-30 billion a month. Afghanistan I don't even know. Wouldn't even half that money cover this?
Just wondering.
September 1, 2009 1:25:51 pm
Hey LC, you are one of the few who actually want to or have read the bill. Too many people are just listening to what the politicians tell them and they believe it. It would be like going to a used car lot and asking if the car runs good and gets great fuel economy. Of course they will say yes it runs great and get fantastic fuel economy. I have read this document and it is horrible. Read it and by page 429 you will need a bucket because you will have an uncontrollable urge to puke.
Link
There is the link to HR3200.
When you have read it you'll ask others to stop telling you how great it is until they read it.
Some of my favorite parts:
Pg 16: SEC. 102. PROTECTING THE CHOICE TO KEEP CURRENT COVERAGE. lines 3-26 of the HC Bill â?? OUTLAWS PRIVATE INSURANCE by forbidding enrollment after HR 3022 is passed into law.
Pg 30: SEC. 123. HEALTH BENEFITS ADVISORY COMMITTEE of HC bill â?? THERE WILL BE A GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get.
This one is never talked about!
Pg 59: SEC. 163. ADMINISTRATIVE SIMPLIFICATIONHC Bill lines 21-24 Government will have DIRECT access to your BANK ACCOUNTS for electronic funds transfer. This means the government can go in and take your money right out of your bank account.
PG 425: SEC. 1233 This whole section is what made me puke. I won't use the term used by others but I will say they were dead on. Read it and tell me what it is going to be. pages 425 through 430 should make you raging mad that you have been lied to and all of those people who think they will be covered even though they have an existing illness are in for a rude awakening. Also say good bye to anyone with a long tern illness and if they are older say your good byes now.
Once you read this document you will understand why it was so hard to find. Please pass it along so others may know what the liberals are doing to this country.
September 1, 2009 2:07:05 pm
Thanks JB for this link. I will respond after a month long of reading all of this and then reading it again.. WOW. I need to find a faster printer before I die. TTUL.
September 1, 2009 2:11:19 pm
PTOWNKIDSTAXI, you are welcome. Pass it along. I have just been reading the pdf since it's 1700 pages. Here is the site I found it on. Some other good info there as well.
Link
JB
September 1, 2009 3:01:19 pm
I am a disabled American taxpayer, whose long-term private disability was terminated by the Hartford insurance company (recipient of $17 billion in taxpayer bailout.) Thanks to a government program called Social Security, I now have disability coverage and health insurance, and I now make my own healthcare decisions - not the insurance companies. My father, a veteran of World War 2, Korea and Vietnam, was covered by another government program called the Veterans Administration. Don't listen to the insurance companies, Rush Limbaugh and the right wing kooks: we can have health coverage for everyone without increasing the Bush-Cheney deficit - it will lower healthcare costs, provide all Americans the coverage enjoyed by Congress and our military and retired, and it won't kill Grandma or drive insurance companies out of business. Yes, we can do this - together! (Divided we fall.)
September 1, 2009 3:20:30 pm
Well it is a serious issue and one thing is clear the current way of doing things is not working well. The comment of give the free market a chance to fix it is ridiculous. The free market created the problem it has had decades to fix it how much more time does it need?
I know my health plan from work keeps getting more expensive each year and covers less and less with higher deductibles and co-pays. If I lost my job there is no way I could afford private health insurance. People with serious or Chronic health problems like Diabetes, MS, Parkinsonâ??s etc who need Insurance most are turned down for it. The system is broken. I have not read the multiple versions of the bill with the 2 billion pages (Exaggeration) so I can't say it is better or not yet but as Marc said currently Military and Government officials are covered by a Government run Healthcare plan and I have heard excellent things about it.
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