Town Hall Meeting Brings Large Crowd Divided on Health Care Reform

Congressman Gene Taylor addresses crowd in Bay St. Louis

South Mississippians continue to be divided on healthcare reform and at last night’s packed town hall meeting they let Congressman Gene Taylor know how they felt. MPB’s Phoebe Judge reports.

More than 200 people crammed into the Hancock County Courthouse in Bay St. Louis to take part in Congressman Gene Taylor’s town hall meeting. While all topics were open for discussion, the health care debate dominated the evening. Senate Democrats are still trying to work out the details of the latest health care reform bill. No one knows yet exactly what that bill will look like, but Ben Neighbors of Long Beach came to the meeting to let Congressman Taylor know he doesn’t want it,

“I am perfectly satisfied with my healthcare and insurance the way it is. I don’t want the government to have anything to do with healthcare, doctors or anything else.”

Congressmen Taylor has vowed to vote against the healthcare reform legislation, and says while something needs to be done to fix America’s healthcare system, the country cannot afford to take on the estimated $900 billion dollar healthcare bill right now,

“We’ve got our hands full just keeping those promises which we have already made, which include military healthcare, the V.A., Social Security and Medicare.”

Taylor proposes increasing the use of generic drugs, and taking away the antitrust exemption insurance companies were given as two ways to help fix the healthcare system. Lori Ann Manchester of Diamondhead says that isn’t enough though,

“We are in a situation now where healthcare costs are rising so rapidly that we have to tackle this. It is not an issue where if we do not do something it is going to get better. The amount of people every week is going up by thousands that are uninsured. We have needed to do something for years and years and now is the time to do it.”

The Senate Finance Committee resumes debate today in Washington on the health care reform bill.