More than 350 people came to the Troy Theater at Wheeling Jesuit University to address Mollohan.
State Delegate Mike Caputo, D-Marion, was one of them.
“There’s about 50 million folks right now who have absolutely no health care, and two of that 50 million are my two children,” he said.
“I think this is long overdue.”
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The attendees listened intently as Mollohan made his opening statements on health care.
But when Mollohan asked for questions, the shouting began.
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When one woman said she believed one of the bills should be defeated, she was greeted with a chorus of applause and boos from the crowd.
Critics of one proposed measure, House Bill 3200, say the legislation will lead to socialized medicine.
They are worried health care will be rationed, and question whether the federal government should play such a large role in health care reform, but some said health care reform should happen now.
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One speaker addressed the crowd about her daughter, who is in a wheelchair and desperately needs health care after she leaves school.
At another point, a woman stood up and said we need to provide health care to our brothers and sisters—to which another woman replied, tell them to get a job.
After the heated discussion was over, reviews of the event were mixed. Wheeling resident Becky Prettyman was disappointed by Mollohan’s answers.
“He could not give us a direct yes or no answer,” she said.
Prettyman’s husband Jeff was also disappointed after the meeting.
“Our health care is not perfect, it needs a little tweaking here and there, but we don’t need to throw it out and start all over again,” he said.
But Sally Starkey says health care needs to be reformed now.
“I’m disabled, and I’m 52,” she said, “I’m on Medicare, but there is not one insurance company in the United States that offers supplemental insurance to people who are disabled and under 65.”
Former State Delegate Cindy Frich brought House Bill 3200 with her to the town hall.
She dropped the bill on a table to emphasize how extensive it is.
“That’s quite a weighty bill, it’s big government, and that’s why it’s so large,” she said, “there’s a lot of frightening things in this legislation.”
Frich is worried that House Bill 3200 would lead to more public funding of abortions.
Congressman Mollohan says that issue should be clarified in the bill.
“I think you need to be respectful of the fact that people don’t want their tax dollars to be used on something they consider to be morally wrong,” he said.
Mollohan says he will talk with his colleagues and anti-abortion organizations to discuss how the issue should be addressed in the final bill.