Congressman John Tanner says insurance reform can lead to substantial savings in healthcare costs, but he doesn’t see a “critical mass” of support for a public option.
And like many who spoke at a meeting with Tanner in Dickson Wednesday, the representative says he worries about the potential effects of overhaul on the federal deficit.
Tanner stressed that Congress doesn’t yet have a final proposal in hand for healthcare overhaul, making it hard to discuss specifics. But he wants lawmakers to “do something” about pre-existing conditions, which keep some people from getting private insurance. Tanner didn’t specify a remedy for that.
Stay-at-home-mom Susan Hasley worries a public option will undermine her private insurance. Like some others in the audience, she felt Tanner didn’t appear well-read on the proposed changes.
“I felt he skirted around a lot of the questions that were answered – Didn’t feel like he had even read the bill to know what we were talking about.”
Many in the audience wanted to make sure that illegal immigrants aren’t covered under any healthcare overhaul. Neither the audience, nor Tanner, brought up insurance co-operatives, but afterward he called them an “interesting idea.”
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Tanner spoke to a crowd of about two hundred at the invitation of Dickson Mayor Robert Stone.
Tanner will hold telephone townhall meetings Friday and Monday. See how constituents can sign up for those “telehall” meetings.
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