Boyd gets an earful as Mayo weighs in on healthcare reform

Frustrated crowd at least pleased to hear Boyd disavow one legislative proposal

By Stephenie Livingston, Reporter

Thirty minutes before Allen Boyd arrived at his town hall meeting at Mayo's Community Center Monday, people were already milling about and sharing their views with the ever-growing crowd. The prevailing sentiment was clearly of a conservative nature.

Chan Perry, president of Drummond Community Bank in Mayo, was the first to stand and speak.

"From what I hear, at the other meetings he's been to, he hasn't answered the questions," Perry said. "I think we should all agree to basically force him to answer the questions by not allowing him to move on without doing so. He's gonna dolly or not answer the questions at all."

Perry was followed by someone shouting, "He's gonna be out of work next year!"

Troy Thomson stood up next.

"I understand government says he's not gonna unplug me and grandma," Thomson said, pausing as the crowd chuckled. "Well you know what the problem is? He's not gonna plug us in to start with."

The comment was followed by cheers and applause.

Boyd entered the room and interrupted Thomson by saying, "Anytime I can gather a crowd for you, let me know."

Boyd began on a pessimistic note.

"I think for the first time we're in danger of the quality of life going down for the next generation instead of up," he said. "The one thing I want to do in politics is make life better for my children."

He added, "In the 20 years I've attended town hall meetings in Lafayette County, the issue of healthcare has always come up."

Boyd said he wanted to slow the process of healthcare legislation so that he could get out and hear public opinion.

"We shouldn't put an arbitrary timeline on this, we should do it right," said Boyd.

He then held up HR 3200, one of the bills under consideration in Congress, and said, "I will not support the bill in the form its in now."

The remark was followed by cheers from the audience.

Boyd said the possible changes to the bill suggested Monday by President Obama are just a start. (These changes include the possible elimination of a public option in the reform package.)

Boyd said a responsible healthcare reform should have: lower cost for everyone, patient choice, improved access to coverage, and must be paid for, and not add to the deficit.

The crowd of about 200 found many of Boyd's answers to their questions confusing or unsatisfying. The meeting was punctuated by catcalls and angry outbursts from the audience.

Robin Doyel said that she was uninsured because, being a small business owner, she could not afford the premiums. "I get a payment book at the end of a hospital visit. What's the difference in making my payments at the end instead of before?" she said. Boyd went on to suggest that it is the uninsured that make insurance premiums go up. "Are you saying I'm a leach on society?" asked Doyel. Boyd shrugged his shoulders and lifted his hands.

Cecelia Koon, a student at Lafayette High School, asked the congressman, "I want to go to college, get a good job so I can afford my own healthcare. But why should I do that when I can graduate high school, get a low income job and have the government pay for my healthcare?" said Koon. Boyd never seemed to directly answer her question.

"Are you going to use the same healthcare as us?" asked Linda Timer. "Will you have to pay the 8 percent (proposed tax)?"

Boyd answered, "Nobody wants to be told what healthcare they have to have." He was interrupted by someone shouting, "Well you're telling us!"

Lana Morgan, Lafayette County's supervisor of elections, stood up and said "Allen, this looks like socialized medicine to me."

Afterward, most seemed happy with the tone of the meeting, but many were confused by the congressman's answers or, as they saw it, lack thereof.

Afterward, Koon said Boyd handled himself well under the circumstances.

"I think it went good considering the fact that most of the people here are Republican not Democrat, except that he never answered the questions himself," she said.

Timer echoed Koon's remarks about Boyd's evasiveness.

"He never gave us any answers," she said after the meeting. "He never answered the questions."

"It was all a little confusing," said county commissioner Ernest Jones. "I agree that we do need to do something, but I don't think it should be done by the government. Still, I do think we need to do something."

Jones said he respected the congressman for coming, considering that most of those present were more conservative than the Blue Dog Democrat.

Some said they've seen progress due to citizens' efforts nationwide.

"There have already been changes to the bill, and that's because of these town hall meetings," said one unidentified visitor. Most are also happy that he does not support HR 3200, and if bill does go through, most are confident Allen Boyd and the other "Blue Dog" Democrats would vote against it.

Many, however, remained skeptical.

"I'm upset with the healthcare reform as it is. I'm upset with the representatives. We're not getting answers. Those of us who disagree with government healthcare are labeled as radicals or that we're being paid to be here, which we're not," said Jennifer Donaway, of Mayo.

Donaway's daughter, Florida State student Sara Donaway, said she was still forming her opinion on healthcare reform.

"It is going to affect us (young adults) now and in the future, so I need to be informed," said Sara. "Right now I'm leaning towards not supporting a government healthcare system."

"I thought he was stuttering and sidestepping a lot," said Piece McKain, 19, whose father Paul C. McKain is running against Boyd for the District 2 congressional seat next year.

Greg Gatzke, 24, said "It's basically a faulty system that they're proposing. It's the rewording of the same tired ideology as was used in Marxist societies like the Soviet Union and in Burma."

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