Liveblogging Castle’s Townhall Meeting

Filed in National by on August 27, 2009

Delaware Dem and I are here. There’s a big turnout of pro-reform people. No one looks angry yet. Plus, Mike Protack is here.

Castle speaking…

Why are people so excited?

Because everyone has an interest in health care. Castle says this is his third live townhall + 3 telephone townhalls. Lots of police here – are they worried?

Problem with American health care: 46M uninsured.
Statistics 7M families earn >$80K
9M are not U.S. citizens
12M are eligible for existing programs – Medicaid eligible but not enrolled, children not in S-CHIP
100K uninsured in Delaware, 27K are eligible for these programs.
Caring for uninsured is expensive for hospitals. ER care is very expensive, treats minor problems.

2nd issue: cost of health care
Costs are rising very fast, second only to college tuition costs.
$2.2T spent last year on health care, 16% of GDP, scheduled to rise to 25% of GDP by 2025. To me he sounds pro-reform!

President Obama didn’t write the legislation – House and Senate have written it. Castle is on one of the committees (he voted no). Republicans have not been supportive, Castle says (that’s an understatement). Castle has not seen the final bill. Castle says the HELP committee bill won’t be considered in the Senate. Castle says the bill isn’t paid for and then talks about how it’s paid for. He says it will be a job-killer. Castle says the assurances aren’t incorporated, thinks the ways of paying for are weak. Castle says individual mandate is controversial. Castle says Obama’s proposal doesn’t have savings.

Castle says we need health care reform. Supports Medicare and Medicaid reform – sustain these programs. Pre-existing conditions and portability issues, Castle supports reforms for these. Supports one form for all reimbursement claims. Favors medical malpractice reform, but not eliminating it. Malpractice reform is a state issue, according to Castle. New ways for individuals and businesses to purchase insurance. Wants to be able to cross state lines. Outreach to get people to enroll in existing programs. Addition of wellness – annual physicals, reduction in obesity and smoking. Wants to make sure we have more physicians, especially primary care physicians.

Concern that people will be forced into the public plan. Wants to make sure you retain your insurance. Next steps – SFC done in mid-September. Votes in House in mid-September. Talking about budget reconciliation. Castle says filibuster is not good for America.

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  1. Thoughts On Mike Castle’s Townhall : Delaware Liberal | August 28, 2009
  2. Mike Castle’s Town Hall | Delmarva Dealings | August 28, 2009
  1. Delaware Dem says:

    No freakouts yet. I guess only Sussex countians are insane. Kidding

  2. Castle asking everyone to be polite. Question 1: Fred from Hockessin. Thanking Castle for having open meeting. I agree we need reform but we need to do it in pieces.

    Castle agrees. Let’s slow down is Castle’s answer.

  3. Q2 Donna Watson from Newark. Health care professional, health care reform should not be a rush job. Analyze current system and fix them. Develop plan to fix the flaws, don’t try to fix what’s not broken [applause]. We should decide, not government. Read the bill. Lots of applause.

  4. Q3: Doctor from Stanton. How realistic is malpractice reform? Talks about defensive medicine.

  5. Castle says Democrats don’t favor malpractice reform. It’s because of the evil trial lawyers according to Castle!

  6. pandora says:

    *sigh*

    BTW, thanks for doing this.

  7. Q4: Roger from Wilmington. Another slowdown guy, another tort reform guy. Illegal aliens – how is that going to happen. Will that problem go away? Does he want us to refuse service?

    People who are not legally in this country should not have access to our government-supported system. Will still have access to hospitals. Castle is agreeing with the president.

  8. pandora says:

    Do you guys have your hands raised?

  9. Q5: Uninsured because of pre-existing conditions. I don’t hold out a lot of hope for real health care reform – why can not simple leg be passed to make it illegal to discriminate by high prices. 2x-12x for services because of uninsured.

  10. Miscreant says:

    Ask him when he’s coming back to Sussex.

    I promise to behave.

  11. Q6: Paul from Wilmington

    Don’t throw the whole system out, for systems that can be fixed. Stuff being written by people who are not legislators. He’s a death panel guy – trashing Dr. Ezekial Emmanuel. Calling Obama an extremist, and basically making a speech. Getting applause. I think the room is about 50/50.

  12. Q7: Take advantage of community organizations like Planned Parenthood. Castle supports.

  13. Q: Going across state lines, how can we take advantage of what’s being done in other states? Castle talks about state insurance commissioners doing more – but doesn’t really know the answer.

  14. Q: Preventive care – government has duty to educate the American people. Invitation only came out yesterday. Bigger townhall? American people feel like their being ignored by the government.

    Castle agrees. Cites example of smoking – that was from education. Castle makes fun of John Boehner – says he smokes like a chimney.

  15. Another angry wingnut. The government can take it all away. “In God We Trust” and now everything the government touches is bankrupt. Hates the post office. The government will kill you! People are telling her to shut up and ask a question. Castle agrees with her about small business.

  16. Conservative questioner: you and inside the beltway are the problem. You are lecturing us. Bills are outside the reach of the federal government, are unconstitutional.

  17. Health care is unconstitutional according to wingnut.

  18. Castle disagrees with that guy. He says you would kill a lot of programs under that logic.

  19. Q:Some guy reading section 113, study about markets. Rating sounds innocuous. Rationing guy again. This guy’s question doesn’t make much sense. Something about 18 months and change of rating rules.

    Castle agrees with him? Deferred study could be disruptive. Will examine.

  20. Q: Asks about enrolling people in the federal employees healthcare plan.

    Castle sees argument for expanding the plan. 30%/70% 12 different insurers you can choose from. Overhead is 3%.

  21. Q: Disappointed in the lack of focus in Congress. Some more bs about a 1000-page bill. Congress is incompetent. Wants to do nothing, basically.

    Castle doesn’t disagree. Wants to break the bill into pieces.

  22. Another deficit guy. Castle believes this bill is not deficit neutral.

  23. Another 1000-page bill person.

  24. Q: Lab professional organization – Laboratory Medicare fee schedule has not been revised since 1981. HB1452 to mandate modernization of laboratory fee scale.

    Castle: I will research this. We don’t want co-pays on senior citizens.

    I zoned out on this question.

  25. Q: Another slow down person. Our health care is the greatest in the world!!!! USA! USA! (sorry I’m feeling punchy) Discuss the 2012 date – why wait if it’s so important. (Hey I’m with that, why wait?)

    Castle didn’t know this. Castle talks about slowing down again.

  26. Castle somehow manages to call on all the wingnuts, despite them only being about half of the crowd.

  27. Wingnut wants to know who wrote the bill. I want you to tell me and do your job. Wingnut is strongly against.

    Castle: Miller, Waxman and Rangel wrote the bill.

  28. Q: Wingnut praises choice and competition. Speechifying now. Says the bills don’t offer competition.

    Castle asks the wingnut – open up federal health care system. Force interstate competition. Break monopoly of large corporations and labor unions. Give people portability – let people pick their own. Sunset federal health care regulations. The government is the problem, not the solution. The government is broken. Blah, blah, blah, now.

  29. Guy with a good question about our costs vs. our outcomes.

    Castle doesn’t believe statistics are important. It’s other issues – it’s not just healthcare it’s obesity and our lifestyle.

    Incetivize teaching nutrition. Epidemic of teenage diabetes. We need education.

  30. Last question, another wingnut. We need hcr, let’s slow down. This bill is about loss of liberty. Speechifying now. Boring… Defend our liberties! My tax info will be given to health bureau. I’m concerned.

    Castle: I disagree concerning electronic health records. I think these are important and helpful.

  31. I’m sorry about my stream of conciousness blogging. Perhaps someone could turn this into something understandable.

  32. I had my hand up but I didn’t get to ask a question. He managed to pick up mostly the wingnuts.

  33. cassandra_m says:

    Stream of consciousness blogging is the very art of live-blogging, UI. Thanks so much for doing this!

    Lots of wingnuts and lots of wingnut talking points, that’s for sure…

  34. Miscreant says:

    “Perhaps someone could turn this into something understandable.”

    Understandable? It was easy to understand. I’d settle for a little objectivity.

    BTW, thank you for live blogging the meeting.

  35. delacrat says:

    Unstable,

    First…. Thanks for doing this.

    I surmise that Castle called on mostly wingies because he recognized them from previous occasions. The wingies may not be numerous, but they do turn out.

  36. Miscreat, you know you don’t visit for the objectivity.

  37. Delaware Dem says:

    Yeah, Miscreant, we are biased. We have LIBERAL in our name and everything. LOL.

  38. OK, I wrote up a post of my impressions scheduled to go up in the morning. I hope Delaware Dem will also write his own impressions.

  39. Miscreant says:

    “Miscreant, you know you don’t visit for the objectivity.”

    True. I visit for the entertainment.

  40. Miscreant says:

    “We have LIBERAL in our name and everything. LOL.”

    What? DELAWARE PROGRESSIVE was taken?

  41. First, Thanks for stopping by and saying “hello” and blogging the event.

    Your depiction is pretty accurate as for the intro and sequence.

    I was disappointed because a lot of the questions were mini sermons and not appropriate for the event. The reservations by the ‘wingnuts’ you speak were heartfelt but more specific questions would have drawn out more information.

    I raised my hand , did not get called on. My question was pretty simple. “Would you support Wyden/Bennett as an alternative? It encompasses pooling, regional exchanges, portability and 99% coverage with private insurance.

    As a follow up there will be a Town Hall on health care co sponsored by the Alliance for Health Care Reform and Founders Values at the Talleyville Fire Hall the second week of September.

    Delaware Liberal is invited to co sponsor.

    Mike Protack

  42. No persons of color were given a chance to ask a question. The WNJ article just says Mike didn’t call on the obvious red-shirted union people. The reporter knowingly misrepresented what really happened or else his editor cut it out of the article because a bunch of us told him that we were angry that photos were being taken of the AA’s in the lobby yet they never got a chance to say anything for the record. I said that they shouldn’t use those photos unless they mentioned the whole story in the article –Castle denied them a voice at all. Guess not.

    Castle had to be embarrassed into calling on females when people started shouting ‘call on a woman’ half way through the Q&A and when he finally did, they were all his buddies up in the front of the hall who had gotten there well ahead of time.

    What a waste of time. Screw you Mike Castle.

  43. Delaware Republican says:

    Now now. Two of the most vocal opponents were women including the woman from Newark, who has her picture in the paper.

    The signs were excluded but again they made it into the article by way of a photo.

    The balance of who was called and not was not based on gender. At the point when the call was made to call on a woman Castle had called on four men in a row.

    People of color were no more excluded than the 95% of us who had our hands up but did not get called on. I assume people of color had the same concerns we all did, for or against.

    I would tally up the room as roughly 65% against and 35% in favor of Obama/Dem Plan.

    Mike Protack

  44. June says:

    The crowd was never 50/50. There were way more of the right-wingers. You could tell by the applause and cheers. Mike Protack said 65-35. I was going to say 70-30.