Yesterday I attended the so called "town hall meeting" with our Congresswoman, Carol Shea Porter in Manchester. Let me first start off by saying, the venue she chose could only hold 100 people. While there were two scheduled "town hall meetings" Saturday, both had a limited capacity.
Knowing that town hall meetings have been packed across this country over this issue, it was disappointing that she chose a venue that held such a small amount of her constituents. It left many wondering if she simply wanted to make the argument that she had a town hall without really giving her constituents the opportunity to voice their questions/concerns.
This was proven again once the town hall meeting began. Ms. Shea Porter began by asking two individuals to tell their personal stories of how they felt disenfranchised by the health care or insurance industry. This took a valuable 20 minutes in a ONE hour town hall meeting.
We were given tickets and those who were able to ask a question did so if they were chosen in a lottery type of system. I felt this was a fair way to draw questions. Each person was given 2 minutes to ask their question and/or voice their concerns. Again, I felt that was a fair amount of time.
About 20 minutes after the meeting began and after listening to her chosen speakers, people were allowed to ask their questions if their number was drawn. One thing I observed throughout this meeting was, how much Carol Shea Porter loves to hear herself speak. With a limited amount of time, I would have thought a public servant would be more inclined to "HEAR" from the people, rather than sell us this legislation. That was not the case. It was her opportunity to sell this legislation to the people rather than hear from her constituents.
AS the questions FINALLY began, I noticed people had 2 minutes to ask the question, but Carol Shea Porter took several minutes to answer them. Because she rambled on with each answer, only a precious few questions were asked. Some of the people attending were clearly getting irritated by her long-winded answers, knowing they had little chance of speaking .
While a few of those chosen to speak seemed to favor a govt. run option, the majority appeared to be in opposition. At one point, the lady sitting next to me, having worked in the health care industry asked what was being done to bring down costs, for instance, by addressing things like Tort Reform.
Ms. Shea Porter’s answer seemed to imply that while Tort Reform is not included in the bill, it wasn’t that important, either. She referred to Texas and quoted stats that made it "APPEAR" as if Tort Reform wasn’t working in Texas.
Standing up and referring to her misleading statements on Texas Tort Reform, I read from the post I wrote last week here on GraniteGrok, Hey Carol, DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS and quoted the excellent op-ed from the San Francisco Examiner:
"Changes were seen immediately, and continue to be felt. All major liability insurers cut their rates upon passage of our reforms, with most of those cuts ranging in the double-digits. More than 10 new insurance carriers entered the Texas market, increasing competition and further lowering costs. "As a result, Texas doctors have seen their insurance rates decline by an average of 27 percent. "The number of doctors applying to practice medicine in Texas has skyrocketed by 57 percent."
I told her that Texas Governor Rick Perry believes Texas’ tort reforms have benefitted patients, noting he is on the record saying
"And what about the money that used to go to defending all those frivolous lawsuits? You can find it in budgets for upgraded equipment, expanded emergency rooms, patient safety programs and improved primary and charity care."
I further informed her that, according to the Texas Academy of Family Physicians, tort reform has resulted in an improvement in the quality of health care in Texas, with the percentage of complaints about medical care actually going down.
I then finished with a question: NOW that we know the TRUTH, how can you reconcile a bill that leaves out Tort Reform??
Unsurprisingly, she answered me by questioning my sources, so I handed her my paper with the resources for her to contact. Perhaps she’ll call Gov. Perry sometime soon and check with him directly? I probably won’t hold my breath…
About noon, they wrapped up the meeting, giving only a few people the opportunity to speak. However, we did we hear a lot from Carol….TOO MUCH!
The bottom line is I don’t think anyone’s mind was changed, especially hers. She’s pushing forward with this bill whether we like it or not. 
