Foxx's 'town hall' by phone is low-key

Format avoids the loud confrontations seen in other districts in U.S.

By: Richard Craver | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: August 21, 2009

The decision by U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx to hold an electronic "town hall" produced a low-key discussion on health-care reform yesterday.

Spokesman Aaron Groen said that Foxx chose the format, rather than an in-person event, as a means of giving more access to her constituents on the hot-button topic.

The format also eliminated the chance for supporters and opponents of President Obama's reform initiative to engage in the kind of intense confrontations that have happened at town halls elsewhere in the country.

Calls were taken one at a time. Groen said that constituents were asked to give only their name and community. "No one was asked about the nature of their comment/question," he said.

Foxx, R-5th, was joined on the call by Dr. Phil Roe, a U.S. House member from Tennessee.

Most of Foxx's comments during the hour-long presentation were mild compared with those she made in late July. At that time, Foxx said on the floor of the House of Representatives that the Republican version of the bill "is pro-life because it will not put seniors in a position of being put to death by their government."

In an opinion piece that ran Sunday in the Winston-Salem Journal, Foxx said that she's "never said that the Democrats' bill will lead to seniors being euthanized."

Foxx said she is against any bill that would take away health-care options and place government officials in the position of dictating the level of service and where it could be provided.

"We want to make sure we have all the options out there available," Foxx said. "The whole idea about what Republicans want to do is give people real choices in how they handle their health insurance and their health care.

"We need sensible health-care reform that is patient-centered, not government-centered or insurance-company-centered," she said. "We want people with low income to have access to health insurance by helping them with tax credits and tax deductions."

Foxx said she is not in favor of a single-payer solution, supported by two callers as a means of providing insurance coverage for Americans. She said she has concerns about that strategy going too far in rationing health care to save costs.

Several callers spoke, often emotionally, of their own health-care issues or those of family members. They were worried about their health insurance being taken away if they have a catastrophic injury or being denied coverage because it becomes unaffordable as a result of a lost job.

Two callers encouraged Foxx to consider viewing health insurance as a right for Americans "like clean air and clean water" rather than it being sold as a commodity.

Foxx has drawn criticism for saying that no Americans lack health care because they have access to care in emergency rooms. In a recent speech, Foxx said that "we do have about 7.5 million Americans who want to purchase health insurance who cannot afford it."

Callers also encouraged Foxx to join Obama in putting pressure on insurers to reduce administrative expenses, particularly executive salaries, as a means of reducing premium costs.

■ Richard Craver can be reached at 727-7376 or at rcraver@wsjournal.com.