Press-Citizen: About 100 attend health care forum

One hundred and five people turned out for Senator Joe Bolkcom’s Health Insurance Reform Town Hall meeting in Iowa City last night.

The Iowa City Press-Citizen covered the event:

Speakers said Tuesday night that although they think there is a need for health insurance reform, there are many unknowns as to what change might bring.

The small business market and individuals are the ones who get “hammered” by the current health care costs, Damiano said.

Peter Damiano, director of the University of Iowa Public Policy Center, said that although the private health insurance market has been “falling apart” for the past 20 years, it’s hard to know if creating a public option would create enough pressure to bring private insurance costs down.

“I don’t think we know because we’ve never seen anything like that,” Damiano said. “There are still a lot of things that need to be worked out before we can really say.”

Damiano was one of three speakers at a health insurance reform town hall Tuesday night hosted by Iowa Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City. About 100 people attended the event at the Iowa City Public Library.

Breast cancer patient Raquel Kimball of Iowa City said that although everyone knows the current health insurance system is broken, people need more details before they can make a decision.

“We have to think about what this reform means. What are the specifics?” Kimball said. “The information they have given us is not enough.”

Click here to read the full story at the Press-Citizen’s website.