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Town Hall Raw: Town Hall Meetings Continue Through Congressional Recess

Aired August 22, 2009 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good afternoon, everybody I'm Drew Griffin in for Fredricka Whitfield.

This is "Town Hall Raw." You know August is make or break month for health care reform. We put this newscast together with the phenomenon of all these town hall meetings across the country, from inside the town halls where you the taxpayers are voicing your concerns to the streets where people are gathering for and against the current proposals and reform.

We'll begin with the outrage that took place this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BARNEY FRANK (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Disruption never helps your cause. It makes it look like you're afraid to have rational discussion. You just drive people away. I'm not here -- I don't expect anybody to be acting like they are a police officer. So, you can boo, you can disrupt. You won't have much done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Congress that we got today reminds me of a jackass running in the Kentucky Derby.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm happy -- I'll wrap it up quickly. I'm happy with what you call the socialist Medicare. I'm happy with the V.A. Ask any veteran.

(BOOS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell these people you can't unscramble that egg, but you can be careful what you do with the next one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: We're going to start with what's called the public option portion of the health care reform. This is really government run health care. It's been an increasing center of attention since Sunday when Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius went on CNN "State of the Union" with John king and said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: What we don't know what the Senate Finance Committee is likely to come up with. They have been more focused on a co-op, not for profit co-op as a competitor, as opposed to a straight government run program.

And I think what's important is choice and competition and I'm convinced at the end of the day the plan will have both of those. But that is not the essential elements.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: That got a lot of heads turning and got people wondering what's going on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the public option goes away, President Obama is already a lame duck president. If he does not get at least the public option, he's a lame duck president.

I'm a progressive and I voted for him, but I can't see him -- the Republicans will smell blood, as my grandson said.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: So the option of a government run health care, will it stay or will it go? Speaking to his core volunteer group, the president addressed the issue this way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me just be clear. I continue to support a public option. I think it is important. And I think it will help drive down costs and give consumer choices.

The only thing that we have said, and this continues to be the truth, and sometimes you can fault me for being honest to a fault, is that the public option is just one component of a broader plan.

So, let's just talk -- let's just use the example of making sure that insurance companies are treating their customers right. One way that we're doing this in this health reform bill is very directly through insurance reforms.

We're saying to them, you have to take people with preexisting conditions, you cannot have caps on lifetime expenses or yearly expenses that people bump up against and suddenly have to pull out a lot of money out of pocket that they may not have.

So we're putting in place a whole bunch of insurance reforms that regulate the behavior of insurance companies.

Now, alongside that, if there's a public option that is also offering a good deal to consumers, then the insurance companies have to look over their shoulder, and they say, gosh, if the public option is providing that good of a deal to consumers, then maybe we can't just charge exorbitant rates and then mistreat our consumers.

So it gives them a benchmark from which to operate. Now, my point is, this is sort of like the belt and suspenders concept to keep up your pants. The insurance reforms are the belt. The public option can be the suspenders.

And what we're trying to just suggest to people is that all these things are important, and that if the debate ends up being focused on just one aspect of it, then we're missing the boat. If all we're talking about is the public option then the 80 percent of the American people who already have health insurance in the private insurance market, they say to themselves, well what's in it for me?

Their attitude will be this is not relevant to me. And, in fact, they start getting scared, thinking maybe what the public option means is that you're going to force me to give up my current private insurer and go into a public option.

That's what those who are opposed to reform have been counting on is to try to twist the debate and feed into Americans' natural suspicion about government, and to use that to cloud the fact that right now people are not getting a good deal from their insurance companies.

So I just want to make sure that we're focusing on all the elements of reform, what will benefit people without health insurance, what will benefit small businesses, what will benefit people who do have health insurance, so that we can build the largest coalition possible to finally get this done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: And another part of this health care reform debate is the question of what the states and the federal government should split over whose going take care of which part.

Republican Senator Tom Coburn tackles that question in his town hall raw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) safeguarding our access to those patients who are medicare because currently our country would not be involved directly in the plan unless there was something like the Ross amendment that could be supported.

(INAUDIBLE). Thank you for your patience. (INAUDIBLE) lower costs is what our group can offer, and I know you have some good answers for us.

SEN. TOM COBURN, (R) OKLAHOMA: The scope of practice should be (INAUDIBLE) -- you know, we don't want the federal government making those decisions. If Oklahoma -- Oklahoma has some of the most liberal laws in the country for optometrists. Oklahoma decided that.

We should have the federal government do anything. It should be left up -- it's called the 10th amendment. It's our choice. There's nothing in the constitution that says we should be mandated that. So we should be neutral as far as the federal government and let Oklahoma decide and Oklahomans decides who will have what scope of practice. Once you have a national scope of practice, we're in trouble. We need to fix the system, the parts that broken. It's not all broken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Health care reform has many of you speaking out on "Town Hall Raw."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Government is telling us what we can and cannot do and that's not what America is about. America is about liberty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Members of Congress listening to you, and some are finding themselves caught in the middle of this debate. That's the case for Virginia Democrat Tom Periello, who is holding a town hall meeting right now. And our Kate Bolduan is there -- Kate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Drew.

You can see the town hall still going on behind me. It's why I'm speaking a little quieter as to not interrupt what's going on. There are about 35, 40 people here at this town hall.

The congressman, I spoke with him before, I spoke with him on phone as well as when he walked in. He said this is a smaller crowd than he's seen in the past town halls. This is his 14th this month, 21 of them are scheduled.

But he said he actually was looking forward to this, a more intimate setting where he could really offer some more time to talk to people. It's been very civil so far.

He is a freshman Democratic senator in a conservative district, and you're definitely hearing some conservative voices among the crowd today. Some of the things I've heard people raising concerns about, they are concerned about the growing role of government.

A woman stood up and also said she was really concerned about how Congress really proposes to pay for this massive health care overhaul. She's very concerned about the growing deficit and what it means for her children and grandchildren.

A 71-year-old woman then stood up and said she and her husband really like their health care right now and she's afraid they will lose it if this health care reform goes through.

But we're also hearing, Drew, from the other side of the debate, if you will, a man who says he's currently uninsured. He stood up and very passionately said he and others have waited far too long for health care reform for more people to be able to get access to affordable health care, and he really pushed for the congressman and Democratic leaders to move ahead.

And he said forget bipartisan support. He wants them to move ahead and push and a pass this health care reform when he gets back in September -- Drew?

GRIFFIN: Kate, that really does look like a small meeting. It looks like they were preparing for many more. But what you have behind you is basically a coffee clutch. Are people just running out of gas on this issue or just tired of it?

BOLDUAN: It could be a combination of things.

I talked to his staffers over here. They said he did schedule 21 of them, and maybe it's because there are so many on the schedule that many people aren't showing up. It is thunder-storming outside. Weather could also have become a factor.

But even though it's a smaller group of people, you're definitely feeling the passion. These people call themselves good southern folks. They are very kind and civil to each other.

But they are very passionate. They are standing up and saying I have that correct that gentleman who just said that because I feel very differently. It's been a really interesting conversation, and possibly offering a little more insight as we're sitting here with a much smaller group of people.

The congressman is definitely listening. He's you can see he's sweating a little bit trying to answer these questions. But he's trying to get through them.

GRIFFIN: It's interesting to see how closely people are following every nuance of all these bills.

Kate, thank you so much.

BOLDUAN: Every nuance.

GRIFFIN: And we did hear about the hail out there, in fact on the satellite shot, so thanks for bringing it to us.

People just like you continue to ask you representatives and senators specific health care questions. Let's listen to one Chicago man on preventative care and wellness. It's "Town Hall Raw."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As part of health care reform, will there be a wellness portion to teach most Americans about how to take care of themselves so instead of just eating on burgers and steady clogging the arteries and saying it doesn't matter because I'm going to be covered anyway, is there a portion where you can say, you know, teach people that you don't have to -- just necessarily because you're covered you just can't let your body go waste.

(APPLAUSE)

REP. JESSE JACKSON JR. (D) ILLINOIS: The provision that you're talking about in the bill will fall under the preventative services, no cost sharing for preventive services portion of the bill.

The reform will establish standards for benefits that will make key preventative services free for patients. Some preventative services such as vaccines and smoking cessation counseling saves money. Other preventative services such as cancer screening are relatively cheap ways to save lives.

Eliminating the cost barriers to proven preventive services will make it easier for people to take advantage of them.

And I think we have to go one step further, and that's why the debate is meaningful. And that includes, you know, working out. It includes adequate facilities and the appropriate tax credits for people who sign up for health benefits for different dietary concerns that we need to consider in our community.

I remember one time Magic Johnson said it's hard to find a salad in the black community. You have to drive Hyde Park just to get close to a salad.

(LAUGHTER)

I mean, the closest we get to salad is coleslaw in some Harold's chicken.

(LAUGHTER)

So there is a component of the bill that is still being debated because the bill is in formation where those of us who are arguing for preventative care, because the better we take care of ourselves, the better off we are in the long term.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: You know you have plenty of questions. I have just gotten about ten more questions just listening to Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.

Well, in about 90 minutes we're going to focus exclusively on those questions and answers on health care reform. So stay with us in the NEWSROOM. When "Town Hall Raw" continues we're going to tackle preexisting conditions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want an answer. We want an answer. We want an answer. We want an answer.

Obamacare, no. Obamacare no. Obamacare, no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: During this August recess of Congress, you've seen pictures of crowded halls, finger pointing, and one senator or representative trying to answer all the questions.

In Dallas earlier this week both a Democrat and Republican decided to do it together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will the proposed health reforms offer better ways to help individuals manage chronic conditions? Now, you mentioned that the market is moving to address it, but I think it would be fair to say, slowly. So would the market provide coverage for preexisting conditions on its own?

REP. PETE SESSIONS, (R) TEXAS: The marketplace should. United Healthcare is doing that today, just as one example. Other insurance companies are also providing an incentive for wellness.

And I think it's important to understand, as much as we need to understand about chronic illness, we need to understand enough about wellness.

Both of these are opportunities in the marketplace for someone really to focus on an illness that they have that would really require an intensive amount of, not just insurance, but an intensive amount of medical care.

If we have a better marketplace, more insurance, bigger pools that can be accomplished by allowing individuals to have the same pre- tax opportunities that corporations get, then we can give the individuals, by getting them in the marketplace, a larger pool, and then let that health care provider work with them on wellness as well as chronic illness.

But the bottom line is, is that insurance today should and must move to where we eliminate the preexisting conditions, and then we focus on the problem of wellness and chronic illness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congresswoman Johnson?

REP. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, (D) TEXAS: Well, I can't disagree that we will focus on wellness and prevention.

Right now most insurance coverage plans will not cover primary care. And that is a way to cut the cost for health care delivery, because if someone knows how to take care of themselves and not end up in the emergency room for just a sick visit, then the care, the cost would be cut.

But the costs insurance companies do not cover, primary care, which is preventive care, it does create a problem. Many people that have a large co-pay or don't have any coverage at all will wait until they are sick then end up in the emergency room. The highest cost of any health care is the emergency room care.

And it has been a lot of that in this area, where there's no other outlet for people to get sick.

There is a difference in having primary care and not having primary care. An example is that we have a number of community health centers. When people get in the habit of going and getting instructions as to how to take care of themselves -- let me just use diabetes as an example.

They learn how to take care of their own diabetes, whether they need medication, they know how to check their own urine, versus someone who does not get any of that and start to have difficulty with their diabetes ending up in the emergency room with no prior record that the physicians can look at and see what the problems have been in the past.

They get more tests. Many times there is even a communications problem, not understanding words and what have you. It's a lot more costly for someone to allow their diabetes to get out of hand and end up in the emergency room with all types of IVs and all kinds of tests because they have no history there.

That's the one thing that is a key priority for the current president. And that is to use technology, because it will cost much less when a person ends up in the emergency room or anywhere else and they can pull up and see what the history has been.

Because we don't have that now and because we don't have primary care covered by insurances, we pay a lot more for sick care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Well, those guys were all over the map on a lot of things, Josh Levs. I didn't quite follow either one to the extent they we're talking about preexisting conditions.

Let's just lay it out. A preexisting condition, Josh, right? You have a job, and let's say you're sick, you have diabetes, and you want to move to another job. You switch insurance. And a lot of those insurance companies don't want you, because, let's face it, it costs money.

Does that also relate when we talk about pregnancies, because pregnancy also costs money?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It does. This is something a lot of people don't realize. Pregnancy is a preexisting condition under most cases.

So for those women, and obviously not all, but for those women who find themselves in a situation of potentially losing group health insurance at the time that they are pregnant, all of a sudden they have this preexisting condition, and then under certain insurance changes that you might make, you therefore would not be covered. In fact, politifact.com has been a reality check on this. Let's zoom in on the screen right behind me. They do a great job. There's the one's we talk about the truth-o-meter. Politifact.com asked this question, is it a preexisting condition for some?

And here they show their ruling. The ruling is true.

Now I will tell you, over here at CNN.com/healthcare, we have to the House and the Senate bills, for example, the House bill right here.

What you will find, and this is one of the places, Drew, where actually Republicans and Democrats as a rule are on the same page. Everybody wants preexisting conditions to start to be covered.

And a lot of lawmakers on both sides are saying that the government has a role here to create a law that says that insurance companies can no longer refuse to cover those things.

So the chances are that whatever final version of the bill passes will have it in it.

GRIFFIN: So a federal law will say you, the insurance company, you can't deny this person to buy into the insurance plan because of a preexisting condition?

LEVS: Right, or potentially create a high risk pool. That's one of the things we can count on as being likely if legislation gets through at all, because, as a rule, Democrats and Republicans both want to see that.

GRIFFIN: And CNN.com has advice for people to get coverage now for preexisting conditions?

LEVS: Yes. This is great.

I love our column. Let me show everyone. I love this column that Elizabeth Cohen does, our senior medical correspondent. It's called "Empowered patient," and she lists these tips right here.

We have a couple on the graphic for you. It's so interesting. And then I'll show you where you can get this link. Check out this graphic. She points to a couple of things.

One of them is in about a dozen states you can actually become a group of one. So you're not just one person trying to get insurance, you're actually getting the benefits of what groups out there get if you can find the right way to do it. We have links to that.

Also, in some states you can join this high risk pool. So if you have preexisting conditions, it may cost you more, but you can still become part of a group insurance plan instead of the toughest situation out there, being completely alone and trying to get that insurance coverage.

And Drew, this is just one example of things people are asking us about. Let me show everyone how to contact us here, because we're going through your questions right now, and coming up in 90 minutes we'll be answering some.

CNN.com/josh or CNN.com/healthcare -- you'll see all fact checks we got going there. We're following your questions.

And Drew, this is a really good one. We'll be answering some more later this hour and then on into the 4:00 hour.

GRIFFIN: I'm getting ahead of myself, but did you watch that Jesse Jackson Jr., what he was talking about?

LEVS: I saw part of it, about the coleslaw?

GRIFFIN: Can you find out what that's all about?

LEVS: As soon as we get off the air I'll go and find out.

GRIFFIN: It's my question. I don't want to go to CNN.com. Maybe I should. I'm going to just submit it at CNN.com.

LEVS: You're a little busy. That's fine.

OK, well, we're bringing you the debate on health care reform on "Town Hall Raw," real people, real questions, real concerns, and testing your knowledge about health care reform by going to CNN.com/healthcare. Take the quiz and see how you do.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: And welcome back to "Town Hall Raw," August make or break month for this health care reform. This hour we'll take you inside the town hall meetings being held across the country so you can hear what people like you are saying directly to members of Congress.

So far no health care measure has been debated in the full House or Senate. Bills are still taking shape in committees.

Here's a quick comparison of the two pieces of legislation getting the most attention. Under the big thousand-plus page bill you heard about, consumers can choose from an array of health insurance plans, including what's called the public option or government-run health care program.

The plan would require legal residents to get health insurance. It would also require companies to provide health coverage for workers or be taxed and pay into a federal health insurance fund. Some companies with small payrolls could be exempt, still talking about that.

In the Senate a bipartisan group in the Finance Committee is working on a bill that is not expected to contain a government run option, but it may call for private, nonprofit co-ops individuals without coverage could join.

The bill probably wouldn't require employers to offer insurance but might include a penalty for businesses that don't offer coverage.

Once again, we want to remind you there is no final bill on health care. There are several in the house as well in the Senate. Ben Nelson of Nebraska is the sponsor of one of the Senate bills, and one man asked him about it on "Town Hall Raw."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I currently do have health care coverage through where I work. The company is steadily being destroyed by foreign competition.

But I'm wondering in the House bill, I don't know if it's in the Senate committee bill, is a tax penalty for people who have a business for employment, their payroll over half a million, to force them into the government system.

The main thing that I'm sure everyone here, whether they are in favor or opposed, wants to know is would you willingly, voluntarily give up your Senate health care plan and come under this plan or any other legislation you pass that gets put on?

(APPLAUSE)

SEN. BEN NELSON, (D) NEBRASKA: Yes. The reason that I'm so willing to do that so quickly is, I'll end up with a better plan.

(APPLAUSE)

But the thing I want to ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you saying you believe what's proposed in this plan, either House or Senate Health Committee bill is better than your Senate health care?

NELSON: Let me put it this way. There's a myth that the Senate's version is the ultimate. It depends on what you have and the choices that are there. And there will be other choices available to others who go in above the minimum benefits.

So quite possibly the answer is yes.

But the truth of the matter is what we want to do --

(APPLAUSE)

-- what we want to do is not make these things worse or have penalties for people. What we want to do is make sure that you don't end up worse off with this than you were to begin with. So that's why I said, probably end up with the same thing.

Pardon?

(INAUDIBLE)

NELSON: I did. I gave a yes. (INAUDIBLE)

NELSON: I want to see what it is, but let's say it this way. You know, I'm not adverse to having the same kind of coverage that everybody else has. When I was a governor I had the same kind of coverage that every state employee has. I'm not for elitism when it comes to my plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: He wants to see what it is. Just a reminder, there is no bill in the Senate yet that we can talk about. So the senator is talking about possibly what could be in the Senate's version this bill.

There is plenty of criticism about the government getting involved in health care. As the president and many congressional members have pointed out, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Veteran Administration all come out of the government.

During a conservative radio talk show on Thursday one listener asked the president about letting the states do more instead of the federal government.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all want reform. I guess it's really a matter of what the best solution is. And a lot of us feel that the federal government is just not equipped or it's their role to get involved in delivering health care services.

And we're very concerned that most of the money will actually go instead of taking care of people, it will go to, you know, the cost of administering a huge government bureaucracy.

Why not do something more like giving incentives to the states? Like here in New York, we already have free health care for people who can't afford it. And, you know, it should only be for people who can't afford it, not for the 20 or 30 somethings that choose to spend their money on SUVs and the latest electronic gadgets.

And it's not free, because we all know we're going to be paying for it and it shouldn't be only be for people who can't really afford it, and we want to have our own health care decisions. Mostly, we don't want the federal government making those decisions for us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there a state solution here, Mr. President?

OBAMA: Look, first of all, Susan, I think it's important to understand that part of the health reform proposal that we've put forward would involve the states.

The states in some cases would be empowered to expand Medicaid to cover more people the same way that they've been able to cover more children under the children's health insurance program. So, a sizable portion of the people who are currently uninsured would, in fact, be getting their insurance through the states. That's how the current Medicaid program is able to allow states to cover more people.

Keep in mind that nobody is talking about the government administering all of health care. What we're talking about here is a public option that people could sign up for, but in that situation they would have to operate like any private insurer. They would have to be collecting premiums and so forth.

The track record for government administering health care actually is surprisingly good. Medicare, for example, a government program, has much lower administrative costs than private insurers do.

Part of that is because either someone is qualified or they're not, and so signing them up is a lot more automatic.

But that points to one of the big problems that we have. In private insurance, huge amounts of insurance companies are spending a lot of money and a lot of effort and a lot of staff just trying to cherry pick people who are healthy and sign them up, and then eliminate people who are sick.

And part of what we want to do here is just reform the system so that insurance companies are operating more fairly to all people.

If you're young, actually, it's easier to get health insurance these days. The really tough populations are folks who are from 50 to 64. Maybe they just got laid off, maybe they're self-employed. They have a whale of a time trying to buy health insurance, and we want to make sure there is a market for them.

Last point I would make is that you mention the fact that a lot of young people opt-out. One of the things that we would do under reform is say if you want, you can stay on your health insurance or your parent's health insurance up to age 26.

That would cover a lot of young people they fall in that gap, their first job doesn't necessarily offer them insurance. It gives them a way of having coverage until they get that job that has a little bit more security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Well, he is considered one of the most liberal congressmen representing one of the most liberal parts of the country. But in Barney Frank's town hall meeting he was getting hot and he was giving a little heat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK: Disruption never helps your cause. It makes it look like you're afraid to have a rational discussion. You just drive people away.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: We're going to return to "Town Hall Raw" in just a bit, but we want to stay on the topic of your health. Despite all the warnings about the dangers of too much sun, some people don't feel like it's summer time without a tan.

There are safe ways to get a healthy glow, and Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here with today's health for her segment.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Armed with SPF 70 sun block and a hat, Stephanie White is going outside to walk her dog. She's not taking any chances, because just in her 40s, she's had all three types of skin cancer, including the deadliest, melanoma.

STEPHANIE WHITE, SKIN CANCER PATIENT: I thought I was too young to have melanoma skin cancer. I didn't know anything about melanoma.

COHEN: Too much sun exposure can cause burning which destroys our skin's cells. That damage can lead to skin cancer.

DR. GEORGE VERGHESE, DERMATOLOGIST: You're accumulating these sunburns, all these mutations in your skins cells, and lot of these changes don't start to express themselves until you're 30, 40, 50.

COHEN: First step towards safe sun exposure, use sun block no matter what season of the year it is.

VERGHESE: At least SPF 15. Make sure it has like a broadband UVA and UVB protection.

COHEN: And if you love the outdoors, pick your time of day wisely.

VERGHESE: The times you should avoid the sun is almost like from 12:00 to like 3:00 p.m. especially if you're going out on the beach.

COHEN: And be weary of tanning beds. A recent report by the World's Health Organization announced it has moved ultraviolet tanning beds to its highest cancer risk category, along with arsenic and cigarettes.

VERGHESE: It's concentrated ultraviolet radiation, almost like the skin cancer effect. And some have a combination, so it almost accelerates that total UV radiation that you are getting, so people manifest these skin cancers at a much younger age.

COHEN: As for Stephanie White, she hopes taking these precautions keeps her from developing more skin problems.

Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: There are several health care reform bills which need to become one. Members of Congress know that compromise is key.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Back with "Town Hall Raw." Now we're showing you the outrage and investigating the issues.

The uninsured gets medical care when they go the hospital. Some pay themselves, but for others, taxpayers foot the bill. It's a discussion one Florida representative heard earlier this week on "Town Hall Raw."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were saying that whenever people cannot afford to go to the hospital they wind up in the emergency room and the taxpayers actually catch the slack.

Why, then -- I'm Blue Cross-Blue Shield. I'm retired, spend $1,150 a month. It covers 80 percent. But whenever you go to the hospital, doctors are allowed, the hospital too, to charge 130 percent of what it would normally cost.

You ask why, and they say, well it's to cover those that has no insurance. Everybody knows that this is jacking our price on up.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You make my point.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: The price tag of any health care reform is a huge topic. Listen to one young man as he questions Representative Barney Frank now on the cost of this bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't understand how in good conscience as the chairman of the house finance committee you can try to push through a bill like this which will add so substantially to our deficit that I as a 20-year-old person will have to deal with this for the rest of my life.

(APPLAUSE)

FRANK: I don't want it to go through in that form and that's why I'm pushing to pay for it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope this makes up for my hooting and hollering back there with my rational question.

FRANK: No, to be honest, I don't think it makes up, because I think that's really not an appropriate way to carry on a conversation in a proper democracy.

(BOOS)

I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. But I do think that -- excuse me, how are you getting cut off.

(INAUDIBLE)

FRANK: We thought you were through with the question, if you're not, turn his mic back on. He's not through with his question.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just don't understand how you propose to pay for this in any other way, as you just said, without raising taxes.

And I understand that you want to raise taxes on a portion of people who earn a significant amount of money. But I don't understand why you come across saying that people who earn under -- sorry, anybody $500,000, you want to lower that to $325,000, that tax. How will people pay for that?

FRANK: You got that wrong. Tell me when you're ready for me to respond. You may confused two things -- $500,000 is the cut off in the bill right now where small businesses -- $500,000 is the payroll -- if you're a small business and your payroll is under $500,000 you're exempt from tax. I think that $500,000 is too low. I want to push that further off.

$325,000 is the income level for individuals where you pay a surtax. So I do think that -- when Bill Clinton became president in 1993, I voted to raise taxes on upper income people only the amount -- when you raise taxes on the income, it's only on that part of the income, not on the average. We raise it from 36 percent to 39 percent.

That helped us reduce the deficit and has no negative effect on the American economy. I do not believe people at that level of income stop working at that relatively small marginal tax.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

FRANK: I'm sorry can I continue. These are complicated issues. I'll try one more time. If you have some more to say, OK, but at some point I have to be able to answer.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

FRANK: I'm sorry?

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

FRANK: Is it my turn yet? All right. It depends -- that's assuming -- well, no, I don't think it's $55 percent for most people. It depends on your state tax, your federal. So you really can't make that statement.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

FRANK: I'm sorry -- when do I talk? These are complicated things.

OK. Here's the deal. It's not going to be 55 percent in most places. We raised it from 36 percent to 39 percent.

By the way, when you try to accumulate those taxes, some of the other taxes are deductible from your federal income tax, so your 55 percent figure is badly mistaken.

So then the question is, OK, we then, George Bush asked Congress to lower the tax back to 36 percent. We did. It cost us money, and I don't think it was helpful.

They also, the Republicans, and I differ on this side, want to abolish the estate tax. It only applies to about the top 2 percent of earners. We are talking about an estate tax in the million, only if you have millions, for that to be abolished. That would cost a lot of money.

So I do believe we could raise taxes on the wealthiest people, $325,000 and above.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: One of the big question is if they do raise taxes, the estate taxes and upper income taxes, is that going to be earmarked just for health care reform?

Josh Levs, if you're listening, that's another question I have for the next hour. Anyway, we move on.

One way or another health care reform will affect everybody in America. That's why so many of you are encouraging Congress to go through this process carefully.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If somebody in my family was looking for some health care, I would want the bill to pass. And I believe I have to treat this bill as if it was my child or your child.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: We all want to know what that final plan will look like in health care and what benefits we're going to get.

In many town hall meetings, the same question is asked -- will it be as good as what congressmen and senators get?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Answer my question -- why not -- why can't all Americans have the same health care?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know you don't want that. (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me make this clear. I don't want all Americans to have the same. I want you to have your choice about what you have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: You have heard about the good health care plan that federal employees have. Why is it so good? Josh Levs has our reality check -- Josh?

LEVS: Yes, Drew, this one is real easy. I can just tell you. The basic idea is this is the largest employer sponsored health plan that there is.

This is the basic idea here -- you got 8 million people who are represented under this plan. So the way it works, just like the way it works in a large corporation, is the people who are organizing it are able to negotiate with all of these different companies out there to get these very, very good deals. The larger pool the better deals you'll get.

And from the company's side, they can look at and say, well, there's so many people here, there are enough people to absorb the costs of those who will have the catastrophic costs. So the larger the pool, the better options you're going to get.

And also as part of their health plan, it's a program, it's a broad program. And it includes hundreds of different plans all under the rubric of that same thing.

So it's kind of like people who work in the big companies, Drew. People who are at those companies have people negotiating these really great plans. A lot of people don't realize that the U.S. federal government has the largest program that's out there. And that's just one of the facts.

Let's show everyone how they can send their questions in. Go ahead and contact us, CNN.com/josh or Facebook and twitter -- joshlevsCNN. And also CNN.com/healthcare.

There are so many facts out there, but, Drew, when it comes to this one, that's the basic picture right there. You have a huge pool so of course you're going to get the best deal.

GRIFFIN: And that's something I didn't know. So the government has the same kind of multiple options that we have here at CNN? LEVS: Yes, technically. The federal health program includes something like 284, 285 plans that are out there now. That doesn't mean that each employee gets to choose from among those. It does mean that under the big program at some point they deal with all of those different plans.

GRIFFIN: Got you.

No matter where you stand on this health care reform, now is the time for you to reach out to your representatives and senators. Remember, there's no final bill out there. Congress will take it up when they return from their summer break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Just a quick reminder that we're answering your questions on health care reform one hour from now in the 4:00 p.m. eastern hour of CNN newsroom.

If there's one thing "Town Hall Raw" shows is you have plenty of opinions and you want to be heard. We want to share one man's views. He went to Republican Joe Barton's meeting, this is Marques, Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't care about if they are Republican, Libertarians, or Democrats, I want somebody who will do what is right.

(APPLAUSE)

This country is a democracy, and as John Ruskin said, "There ain't no free lunch."

But let's not put down these working people. I'm 75, glad to be alive. But I've paid my way with several jobs, college, whatever, and there's nothing wrong with that old nasty four letter word "work."

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You'll hear there's no jobs. I agree there's no positions. There's a lot of jobs, OK. And a lot of these people right here, you men and women have a job, you didn't have a position, OK? Another thing you tell the president, and even you, sir, you can put a steering wheel on the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: After skirting Bermuda, hurricane Bill closes in on New England's coast. We'll tell you what to expect there.

And U.S. outrage over Scotland's release of a Lockerbie bomber. FBI director Robert Mueller says it's a mockery of the law.

I'm Drew Griffin. Fredricka Whitfield is off today. You are in the CNN Newsroom. Showing a little weaker after blowing past Bermuda but still churning plenty of wind and surf. And as Bill spins northward toward the New England coast, weather watchers and warnings are being posted all along there, beaches closing, in fact. And in Canada people are being warned to take this storm seriously.