You just have to trust me

Tensions simmered. Angry utterances abounded. “We don’t need another entitlement program!” one man angrily remarked at the end of his time in the spotlight, a time hypothetically reserved for a question, but in reality a moment to vent.

“I’m against the fraud that is Medicaid!” someone else fumed. Chants of “single payer!” overcame complaints that we can’t bear the tax burden.

Citizens shared rants against Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Sad tales of those denied care, demands for retaining private insurance and tort reform and concerns of interference with the traditional doctor/patient relationship intertwined into one tense, but overall, civil town hall meeting.

Rep. Baron Hill, D-9th District, is a brave man.

Although at times attendees were more hostile toward each other than toward their Congressman, most people, regardless of their take on H.R. 3200, sought to have their voices and concerns heard.

And, Hill managed the meeting well and attempted to soothe concerns as well as offer a sympathetic ear to health care reform supporters.

He avoided the details like the plague, sticking to broad general topics, and he answered most concerns in a straightforward manner. When one woman, who admitted to having read the entire bill, complained, “It’s not fair as a hardworking person to have to pay for someone else’s health care,” Hill responded, “Ma’am, the fact is, you already are.”

He openly explained tax increases and admitted their likelihood. An audience member responded with, “In a recession, that’s slaughter!”

Hill discussed the bill’s basis in the Mayo clinic and the hope to salary doctors. He also admitted the change would be difficult and would probably take more than a decade to accomplish.

He did fail, however, again and again on one particular topic: the retainment of private health insurance. One questioner after another expressed a desire to keep their current health insurance. Again and again Hill repeated President Barack Obama’s buzz sentence: “If you like your current health insurance, you can keep it.”

A fed-up constituent demanded to know how he would guarantee that her employer would not drop her employer-based private insurance for the public option. Hill’s response: “You just have to trust me.”

Generally, those words are only believable when uttered by your mother. They are doubtful even from an academic counselor. And from a politician? They hold no water whatsoever.

Hill’s suggestion that he could somehow guarantee that employers would retain their current insurance plans was delusory and dishonest. There is no way to guarantee such a thing. His transparent ‘trust’ line agitated the crowd and undermined his efforts to appear concerned about the residents of Bloomington.

Hill would have been wise to honestly and openly confront the issue of employer-based insurance. Yes, H.R. 3200 will have a huge impact. Hill and other Democrats should point out their notion that the impact will be positive instead of denying its existence.

This blemish on an otherwise fairly open question and answer session was unfortunate. Hopefully next time Hill can come up with a better line than “You just have to trust me.”