President Obama faces tougher healthcare questions from voters at Montana town hall

Most Americans are afraid of a public option and decreased quality of care

This afternoon, the President received two tougher questions about healthcare reform efforts in Belgrade, Montana compared to his previous event in New Hampshire. One man asked him how he can cover 47 million people under a public option without raising taxes and another man asked him why he is determined to “vilify the insurance companies.” It is interesting to recognize that President Obama has noticeable switched tracks from “healthcare reform” to “health insurance reform.” The reason for this is that people are not in favor of healthcare reform efforts, but it is easy to paint the insurance industry as villains. Mr. Obama also blamed the Bush Administration for the deficit situation that we are in, failing to acknowledge that his administration has more than tripled it in just 6 months in office.

In answering the questions, President Obama said that taxes would only be raised on the richest Americans and that the insurance industry is the biggest obstacle to reform. It is important to analyze what was said because raising the taxes on the wealthiest Americans will not be enough. Experts have said that the tax increase will be felt as it trickles down and affects middle class Americans. The healthcare insurance industry is an obstacle to a public option for a good reason. A public option means that the government will now compete with the private companies and anyone with half a brain knows that the government will get an automatic advantage in the field, even though it will be poorly run.

There is not one bill in Congress, but rather at least 5, that are being considered and will likely be merged into one. Without a specific piece of legislation to look at, it is difficult to determine what will be done to the system. Mr. Obama is a master of soaring rhetoric and generalities, but he is not getting down to the specifics of the reform efforts that he envisions. No matter what liberals say, Medicare and Medicaid are poorly run and spend way too much money. There is no reason to think that this will change in the future. Public opinion is dramatically moving against reform efforts, specifically a public option.

No matter, the American people are paying attention to this and are concerned. They want specifics that they can understand, so they can decide whether they like the plans or not. Right now, all they want to know is how will it be paid for, will it affect my coverage, and the specifics inside the bill. Democrats are not providing them the answers and therefore they are now firmly in the minority in supporting a public option for healthcare reform.

Interesting note: prominent Democratic Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota, one of the senior members of the Finance Committee, which is currently writing a reform bill, has announced to his constituents that he will NOT vote for a public option. That is a significant development and more moderate Democrats are expected to say similar things.