Sarasota Health News

Editor's notebook, Sept. 14

David Gulliver - posted 1 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14

As I had hoped, Sarasota's town hall meeting on healthcare reform was largely a civil affair. I just wish it had been as factual and focused on the issue at hand.

Of the dozen speakers picked at random to ask the first 12 questions, just one really hit on the issue -- a small business owner who asked if anything could be done about how insurance premiums and hospital and doctor fees spiral upward in a vicious circle.

But the rest of the hour was taken up by angry statements about ACORN, the liberal housing advocacy group that Fox News has been investigating; by people lamenting the country's slide into socialism; by people reading poems and speeches and asking for the crowd to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

While newspapers and television stations focused on the civil tone, I went in hopes of analyzing the claims and charges that have surfaced at many town hall meetings this summer.

As it turned out, little said by the crowd was anything that lends itself to check. But there were some facts presented, both from the crowd and from Rep. Vern Buchanan, who sponsored the event.

I hope the fact-checking article serves as part two to the reform primer I posted last week, and serves as one more example of the substantive local healthcare coverage that you can find only here.





	Editor's notebook, Sept. 14 David Gulliver - posted 1 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14 As I had hoped, Sarasota's town hall meeting on healthcare reform was largely a civil affair. I just wish it had been as factual and focused on the issue at hand. Of the dozen speakers picked at random to ask the first 12 questions, just one really hit on the issue -- a small business owner who asked if anything could be done about how insurance premiums and hospital and doctor fees spiral upward in a vicious circle. But the rest of the hour was taken up by angry statements about ACORN, the liberal housing advocacy group that Fox News has been investigating; by people lamenting the country's slide into socialism; by people reading poems and speeches and asking for the crowd to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. While newspapers and television stations focused on the civil tone, I went in hopes of analyzing the claims and charges that have surfaced at many town hall meetings this summer. As it turned out, little said by the crowd was anything that lends itself to check. But there were some facts presented, both from the crowd and from Rep. Vern Buchanan, who sponsored the event. I hope the fact-checking article serves as part two to the reform primer I posted last week, and serves as one more example of the substantive local healthcare coverage that you can find only here.