By Rick Dandes
SUNBURY — Emotions and hostility ran high Tuesday as more than 150 people crammed into a Northumberland County courtroom to confront U.S. Rep. Chris Carney in a town hall meeting that centered on the pending national health care overhaul.
Before taking questions in Courtroom No. 1, the Dimock Democrat said he did not know if he could support the current bill (H.R. 3200).
"But I know the final bill we vote on won't be the same bill we see now," Carney said. "It will be something different."
A health care bill Carney would support "must include a provision whereby insurance is portable, meaning you could take your health insurance with you if you switch jobs. It would also cover pre-existing conditions," he said. "And finally, it has to bring cost down and not allow small businesses to be crushed by insurance premiums."
A public option is not a deal-breaker, one way or the other, Carney said.
"If we get those three things I just talked about, I could live without a public option," he said. "If not, then perhaps a public option might be necessary. We'll see what the final bill looks like."
Federal lawmakers are scheduled to return to Washington Tuesday. During legislators' summer recess, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported that none of the pending health plans would control long-term spending, and that ones with the elements President Barack Obama wants would expand the deficit by about $1 trillion over the next decade.
Yet about 70 percent of the crowd in Sunbury seemed to favor health care reform. Many carried placards and were vocal in telling Carney that there must be a public option included in any reform bill.
Others in the audience vehemently opposed any form of governmental intervention.
Ed Wueschinski, of Milton, was applauded when he told Carney: "Name me one government program where government has performed better than a private company.
"I'm a disabled veteran. Nobody pays for me. I don't rely on the government to take care of me. The country I served, we can't even get our budget right."
The town hall meeting started raucously, Carney admitted afterwards, "but fortunately we live in an area where even if people don't agree, they are willing to politely listen to each other's views. This meeting was fairly calm compared to the other four meetings I've held since the August congressional recess."
Nick Gingrich, of Freeburg, came armed with statistics about what he called the expanding, out-of-control deficit.
"We're mortgaging our kids' future if we don't get spending under control," he said. "If the government couldn't predict the revenues they needed for Cash for Clunkers, how are they ever going to run health care?"
Constance Miller, of Bloomsburg, insisted that universal health insurance is needed.
"The idea of health care reform is not socialism," she said. "The public option should be there for people who can't afford private insurance, or maybe for those who have lost their insurance. We are drowning in debt, and a lot of it is because of health care bills. But more than that, the public option is fair. It's the moral thing to do."
It's un-American that only the rich or those with certain jobs are able to afford health care, she said.
A similar notion was expressed by Catherine Rossiter, of Athens, the wife of a surgeon.
"Go ahead, cap my earnings," she told Carney. "But people who are not as fortunate as I am should be covered."
Carney said he did not know how Sen. Edward Kennedy's death might affect the health care debate. Kennedy was a leader on health care issues, and a potential 60th vote to overcome a Republican filibuster.
"We can all learn a lot from his example in how he got things done," Carney said of Kennedy. "He was able to come to terms with people he disagreed with politically and actually made policy.
"I don't think there is any question that health care reform is necessary. We need to make it more affordable and to cover more people. The question is how we get there. Mr. Kennedy's example is that we have to stay at it until we get there. And I think we will."
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