Published: September 14, 2009 11:56 pm      

Town hall meeting draws hundreds

GREENVILLE — Dozens of Hunt County citizens voiced their opinions regarding healthcare reform during the “House Calls” town hall meeting conducted by the Texas Medical Association Monday night at the Fletcher Warren Civic Center.

Local sponsors were Hunt Regional Healthcare, Greenville Chamber of Commerce and the Hunt County Alliance for Economic Development.

Featured speakers included Dr. Bohn Allen, a retired general surgeon from Arlington who sits on the Board of Trustees of the Texas Health Resources hospital system, State Sen. Bob Deuell, a Greenville family practice physician with Primary Care Associates, Dr. Michael Sills, a cardiologist who practices at Hunt Regional Medical Center and is the president of Cardiology Consultants of Texas and Dan Finch, director of legislative affairs for the Texas Medical Association.

Several hundred individuals attended the event, with a large percentage of those in attendance voicing their opinions.

“I think there are a lot of misconceptions and some things have been said to scare people,” said Sills. “We are going to need a national dialogue to fix Medicare,” he said, adding that high health insurance costs and a shortage of physicians must be addressed.

Allen asked the audience several questions regarding what they value the most about healthcare about what reforms they would or would not like to see.

Several in attendance stated that they value having a choice of doctors, the quality of healthcare, access to healthcare at any time, patient privacy and cutting edge technology.

Although there were some disagreements regarding what should and should not be reformed, there was a consensus among most in attendance that any healthcare reforms should promote accountability, transparency, communication between physicians and patients, affordable insurance.

A common theme throughout the meeting was a desire to limit the government’s influence in patients’ affairs.

“I don’t think they will do the best job in deciding what is best for us,” said one individual in attendance.

According to Deuell, healthcare should be more accessible to people and there should be a stronger emphasis on the relationship between patients and their physicians.

“We have an access problem and my goal is to not give insurance to the 24 million people living in Texas but to provide access for those 24 million,” said Deuell. “I also see more people that don’t put a hand on the patient getting a piece of the healthcare pie.”

U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall (R-Rockwall) wrote a letter pertaining to health care reform which was available to those in attendance.

“Healthcare reform should not drive more Americans to government run-plans, should not cause waiting lists and the rationing of care, and should not continue to insulate consumers from the true cost of treatments and procedures,” Hall wrote. “Americans need a plan that will reduce costs, expand access and increase the quality of care for all citizens. Washington should not increase its role in deciding what care patients receive. It should create a more vibrant, private marketplace for insurance and create the right tax incentives to make coverage more affordable.”