BY ANDY TAYLOR
Montgomery County Chronicle

COFFEYVILLE — While some members of the U.S. Congress have been confronted with angry constituents at town hall meetings in recent weeks, U.S. Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, found himself amid civility at a pair of town hall meetings on Tuesday.

The Obama administration’s proposed changes to health care drew more than 110 constituents to a meeting in Independence and about 150 constituents to a meeting in Coffeyville. Both meetings were civil and without the foodfight atmosphere that has clouded other town hall meetings across the country.

Only one quiet disruption took place in Coffeyville when, halfway during Tiahrt’s question and answers, a constituent rose from a chair, slapped Tiahrt on the back and said, “You have just convinced me not to vote for you.” The constituent then walked out of the meeting.

Unfazed by the constituent’s reaction, Tiahrt said, “Thanks for coming anyway,” and then proceeded to continue to answer questions from constituents.

Tiahrt was adamant in his opposition to the Obama administration’s planned changes to the health care system, which he presented in a chart designed by his Republican cohorts in the U.S. House of Representatives. The chart was a jumbled maze of agencies and bureaucratic offices — all symbolizing the morass that could confront the nation’s health care system if President Barack Obama and the Democrat-led U.S. Congress have their way, Tiahrt said.

Tiahrt also was stern in his denouncement of the “public option” component of the health care proposals, which, he said, would eliminate the private insurance companies out of the health system.

“If you have a subsidized public option program, the government will underbid and undercut the marketplace and eventually you’ll have only one option for health insurance in America,” he said. “And, I think there is some risk involved with that.”

However, one constituent at the Coffeyville meeting asked Tiahrt what he would propose in terms of changes to the health-care system. While admitting that health care was in need of reform, Tiahrt said he would propose several elements, including tort reform, which would lower liability and medical malpractice insurance; addressing the “defensive medicine” practice, which includes unneeded tests and screenings that, he claimed, increase health costs by as much as 10 percent; prohibit insurance providers from eliminating insurance because of pre-existing medical conditions; and guaranteeing Americans the right to choose their physicians.

“This would reform the current system rather than having a public option that eventually takes over the whole system,” he said.

Cory Yates of Coffeyville expressed a concern about the costs of health care reform, which is estimated at $1.5 trillion over a 10-year period, adding that the growth and cost of government would make the United States comparable to Zimbabwe, which has hyperinflation rates of as much as 10,000 percent.

Steve Smith, a disabled military veteran from Coffeyville, expressed a concern about the health reform proposals’ impact on veterans’ benefits.

Tiahrt responded he was hopeful that the reforms would not impact the quality of care provided by the Veterans’ Administration.

“It’s not without flaws,” said Tiahrt about the veterans’ health system. “The benefit side has tremendous delays, but the health care side is pretty dang good and we don’t want to take that away from our veterans. If they are willing to sacrifice for us, we ought to make sure they have a good health system available to them.”

Asked about how Medicare would be impacted by the health reform bills, Tiahrt said Medicare premiums will likely be cut to the tune of $326.1 billion over 10 years.

“Physicians, clinics and hospitals are never fully reimbursed by Medicare for the services they provide,” he said. “It’s like going to the grocery store and buying $100 in groceries. You go to the checkout line and tell the clerk, ‘I’m only going to pay $47.50 for $100 worth of groceries, and you’ll get your $47.50 in 90 days.”

Tiahrt said 34 percent of Kansas doctors and clinics no longer accept new Medicare and Medicaid patients because of the lack of full reimbursement for the medical services provided to patients.

“We have to reform health care, but this plan might not be the right answer, especially when we take away as much as $326.1 billion in the form of Medicare,” Tiahrt said.