Large, mostly polite crowd turns out for health care public hearing

About 200 people turned out at Apalachicola City Hall Wednesday to talk about health care with Congressman Allen Boyd. Boyd has held 14 town hall meetings across North Florida this month to hear from constituents on the health care debate. The local crowd seemed divided on the issue, with some looking for a public health care option while others want to keep the system in private hands. Congressman Boyd said that at this time it seems that the public option is off the table, but he added that serious changes will have to be made to America’s health care system. He pointed out that currently the US spends nearly one out of every 6 dollars on health care – 20 years ago we spent only half that – and even though we spend more per capita than any other country in the world, or health care system only ranks 37th worldwide. That’s a system Boyd called unsustainable and we have to address it. He also pointed out that an estimated 48 million people are currently without any health insurance and insured people are already paying for them through higher insurance rates and medical care costs. Boyd said there are about 5 plans in congress at this time, all of which are still being worked on, but he added that any plan he votes for will have to meet 4 principles, those being that they provide patient choice and let people keep their current health care if they like it; That it reduces the overall cost of health care, that it provide at least basic health care to all Americans, and that it can be paid for without putting the US further in debt. When questioned about how a plan would be funded and still remain debt neutral, Boyd said he felt there are a number of ways to save money in the existing system which include lowering administrative costs, removing some of the waste, fraud and abuse, and helping doctors who he feels are now providing “defensive medicine” to protect themselves from lawsuits. Many people in the crowd felt tort reform should be at the top of the list in bringing down health care costs. And while health care was the primary topic of discussion, people did manage to bring up a few other issues including cap and trade, agricultural subsidies, and global warming.