Health Care Protesters: Ask Them Questions At Obama's Grand Junction Town Hall

We've all seen how contentious the demonstrations outside and inside the health care town halls have become. Amidst all the screaming it's getting harder to understand what these protesters really want.

This Saturday we're going to head out to President Obama's town hall in Grand Junction, Colorado to see what makes these people tick. Here's the catch: we want you, the HuffPost community to ask the questions.

There's going to be a lot of people on both sides of the issue gathering at the town hall. Some of them are likely to be interested in having a serious discussion; others are just there to be confrontational. This is the chance to get them on the record with thoughtful questions.

You can leave your questions in two spots: the comments section or via the participate button below.

To help keep us organized please let us know if the question is aimed at a person who is for reforming health care or for someone who is against the changes laid out in the president's plan.

If your question gets an interesting answer we'll include it in our post about the Grand Junction town hall.

Grand Junction Town Hall

 

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— Grand Junction Town Hall

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Comments

[DEJM]

Will healthcare reform include changes to the government run healthcare program for veterans?

Or will that remain separate?

[willvis]

We live in a strange land where people hate government programs, but use them a lot----Medicare and Medicaid, for two. We hate government spending, but we're a little shy about talking about our biggest expense----ok, ready for this?----the Military. There are a lot of claims lately about how happy everyone is about their health care. But have you spoken to someone who has had to actually use their health insurance for a long term illness lately?

Our doctors and hospitals are very good.

Our coverage is too expensive and you can be dropped like a hot potato at the drop of a hat.

Socialism? What of the GI Bill, Medicaid, Medicare, the Interstate Highway system?

If you want the government out of your life, give up all benefits. I'd like to hear about someone who has done this.

My wife and I are both self employed and we run small businesses out of our home. We are insured at high cost (though we are very healthy nonsmokers who exercise every day and eat extremely healthy) and with a high deductible.

[caught]

they use government programs because they have to...I wish NONE OF THEN would of never been made law(I could be rich by now..and so could you),,,government is a big problem in the future of this country...All Entitlement programs are failures

[Truthseeker1969]

Yet, another talking head. The major problem with your theory is that you would never have the capital to compete with the Mega Corps. They would either push you out, or buy you out of business.

[Graham Hall]

In the Uk the NHS covers all residents here. However, it isn't geared to allow you to report an illness day one and get treatment the next. Whereas with private treatment (we have that too here ) you can get referred to a specialist, have any necessary tests done one after the other and then scheduled for a routine treatment easily inside 2 weeks, in the NHS things will take longer, tests done one at a time, tests reviewed on a next visit etc because the system is geared to meet the needs of the system rather than the individual. Hospitals have wards, for many patients, rather than individual rooms. The total cost of the NHS per head is $3,000 per annum financed through central taxation. Many people through employment or by paying privately have additional insurance to go private - so you get the quicker treatment, individual rooms carpets on the floor and satellite TV to while away the hours. My wife and I (59 and 60) are covered for this at $2,250 per annum - non tax deductable. So in the UK its NHS for excellent medical care on the cheap, with no frillsbut universal coverage, or private care for quick treatment of acute conditions. You pays your money you takes your choice.

[redinmaryland]

Here is an idea:

Crunch the real numbers as to who in America is uninsured. Look at the people who are here illegally and send them back to their prospective countries with the information as to how to become legal citizens and have them enter like all the milllions who follow the rules to get into this country to acess the quality services our country has like one, healthcare. Look at the numbers of people who can access healthcare but 1. chose not to because they would like to spend their money on something else, like a boat or vacation and 2. chose not to acess services available because they do not/will not fill out paperwork and follow through with what is already there. Then we can get to the real number of people who cannot get health care, about five milllion people. Now let them be covered by the same plan the Congress is covered by. Do not fix the part of the system that is not broken. For those parts look at prevention thorugh better nutrition and lifestyle choices, decreasing liability claims that will reduce costs of doctors forced to practice defensive medicine and pay outrageous malpractice insurance. Finally, teach ABC like in Kenya to reduce unwanted pregancies and eliminate the practice of using abortion or the murder of innocents as a convenient tool for birth control.

[Erik Kartmann]

OK, second question after the fact: Who told you there were proposed "death panels", and those that told you that got their paychecks from who ?

[Bushdepression]

8. Isn't it true that Medicare currently finances the most costly patient group--the elderly and infirm--so that extending it to the rest of the population--most of whom are young and healthy--would be much cheaper, per person?

9. The AMA, the Pharmaceutical Industry, and the Insurance Industry all bitterly opposed Medicare in 1964-5 when it was being debated in Congress and passed into law, with the right, led by Ronald Reagan, calling it creeping socialism. It became a life-saver for the elderly and didn't turn the US into a soviet republic. Why should we give a tinker's damn what those same three industry groups and the Republican right think of expanding single-payer now?

10. The executives of Canadian subsidiaries of US companies all support Canada's single-payer system, and even lobby collectively to have it expanded and better funded. Why does Congress listen to the executives of the parent companies here at home, and not invite those Canadian execs down to explain why they like single-payer?

http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/9181

[Bushdepression]

Here are some:

http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/9181

1. If Canada's single-payer system is so god-awful, why have repeated Conservative governments at the provincial and national level in Canada never touched it? Canada is a democracy. If Canadians don't like their health care system, why haven't they gotten rid of it in 35 years? Since the system there is run by the separate provinces, many of which are very politically conservative, why has not one province ever tried to get rid of single-payer?

2. Why is rationing by income, as we do it here, better than rationing by need, as they do it in Canada?

3. Wouldn't single-payer mean that companies could no longer threaten working people with the loss of their health insurance? Why is this a bad idea?

4. The bigger the insurance pool, the better. So doesn't having a national pool, as with single-payer, make the most sense?

5. Why should we be allowing politicians who are taking money from the medical industry to write the new health care legislation?

6. How can the Congress be developing a health system reform scheme and not even invite experts from Canada down to explain their successful system?

7. If Medicare--a single-payer system here in America--is so popular with the elderly, how come it's no good for the rest of us?

[hsr0601]

Good News !

A staff writer at The New Yorker and some experts have examined Medicare data from the successful hospitals of 10 regions, and they have found evidence that more effective, lower-cost care is possible.

Please be 'sure' to visit http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/opinion/13gawande.html?hp for credible evidences !

Some have followed the Mayo model with salaried doctors employed, Other regions, too, have found ways to protect patients against the pursuit of revenues over patient.
And a cardiac surgeon of them said they had adopted electronic systems, examined the data and found that a shocking portion of tests were almost certainly unnecessary, possibly harmful.

According to analysis, their quality scores are well above average. Yet they spend more than $1,500 (16 percent) less per Medicare patient than the national average and have a slower real annual growth rate (3 percent versus 3.5 percent nationwide).

Surprisingly, 16 % of about $550 billion (the total of medicare cost per year) is around $88 billion per year, except for Medicaid (total cost of around $500 billion per year), medicare 'alone' can save $880 billion over the next decade.

In addition, under the reform package, along with the already allocated $583 billion, the wastes involving so called "doughnut hole" , the unnecessary subsidies for insurers, abuse, exorbitant costs by the tragic ER visits etc are weeded out, the concern over revenue might be a thing of the past.

[munki]

Shame... protesting for something NO ONE really understands...
including GOP...

[GerryS]

I am in fear of my health insurance company cancelling my coverage.

I am 55 years old and, what I thought was great health. I crashed on my mtn. bike last year and had some major bills to get my hand back into shape. This year I had a TIA, or mini-stroke. I think this years medical issue was directly associated with last years injury.

Regardless, I had 2 major health insurance bills, back to back. My insurance deductable is $5k per year.

What will Pres. Obama's plan offer someone in my position?

[bolivare]

Ummm...not having to worry about it ever again?

[yakmeat]

I was at an "anti-tea bagger" rally today at the town hall in Bozeman. The willful ignorance on display was breathtaking. You can ask these folks anything you want, but you'll mostly get the same answer, regardless of the question. The short version is "if Obama wants it, it must be bad."

The one question that seems to at least get them to pause for a moment (if they're senior citizens) is:

Since you are against government run health insurance, would you be willing to give your Medicare coverage to someone who isn't?

[DEJM]

That's not helpful to senior citizens who face healthcare bills you would not believe.

Someone's real-life experience may make them legitimately anxious.

How about representing and ask the questions that tell Congress what they need to fix in this new bill.

[Anthony Walker]

With a public option will we have to call the same government bureaucrat that the republican congressmen have to call for their three month check ups? Republicans are always complaining about this guy (bureaucrat), what's his name?

[greymom]

Do you have health insurance? How much does it cost you each month? If your insurance is provided by your employer, what would happen if you would lose your job?

Do your kids have health insurance? Are they adults and what would happen if they were to lose their health insurance? Do you think a waitress who makes $400 a week can afford $600 per month for health insurance?

My friend has a pre existing heart condition and she is too young for Medicare. She had one quote for health insurance for $1200 a month but then the company refused to insure her at all. She makes about $35,000 per year and she is a widow How do you think she should solve her problem? She is afraid that if she has a medical emergency, she would lose her home that she has worked hard to pay for.

Did you know that we are the only industrialized country without a public health care plan? Why is that do you think?

Did you know that 86% of Canadians are thrilled with their health care system?

Did you know that if you are in an emergency room at a hospital in a country with government health care, you won't wait long for attention because people don't come to the emergency roome because they don't have a regular doctor?

[Graham Hall]

The UK has the NHS. The vast majority of healthcare is free and it costs circa $3,000 per head per annum. But because things are free people demand more - even when they don't need it. People will attend an emergency facility rather than go to their normal General practictioner because its a weekend or they can't wait 2 days to get an appointment. Waiting is prioritised through Triage - the worse an injury the quicker you are treated. But the maximum wait is 4 hours. Our emergency room are filled at the weekends with drunks who abuse the doctors and nurses with voilent words and deeds - but medical ethics usually means that they are treated nonetheless. The main difference is that in the US you can get treatment quickly (assuming you have the necessary insurance or pots of money) because the hospitals carry spare capacity to meet surges. In the NHS Hospitals work to more or less full capacity all the time, and surges are met by adjusting waiting times for the less vital treatments. Thus our healthcare sector is smaller proportionately than in the US and costs a mere fraction of yours per head despite covering the entire population. In all things though the more you pay the more you get - our health service could be even better if we paid more into it. Likewise yours could cover the whole population if you wanted it - in a civilised country many would regard it as a

[Tobiasism]

Do we not have the right to advanced directives and living wills?
Should they not be promulgated wisely so that they can be followed and have the power of the law behind them?
Or should we allow the government decide to keep us alive, suffering beyond all expectations as the government tried to do with Terry Schiavo??

[BluesRok]

Do you really believe that the USA has 'the best hearthcare system in the world", as many pundits have stated?

If yes, why?

If no, what should be done to make it better?

[hauruck]

I live in Grand Junction...I may have to go see how it goes.