Health-y reform a concern for ECCO

LYNN – A local organization active in pushing for after-school programs and youth jobs is entering the debate over health care reform by mobilizing local congregations.Essex County Community Organization Organizer Alex Heimann said ECCO will work with local congregations to push for health care reform.?With up to 15,000 people losing their health coverage every week, nearly everyone feels a sense of anxiety about their family?s health care,” said Heimann. “Passing health reform legislation this year is essential to helping families feel more secure in their coverage.”ECCO?s entry into the nationwide health care debate comes as organizations across the country weigh in, sometimes loudly, over the need for reform and how it should be structured.The sometimes bitter sessions underscored the challenge for President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats as they try to win over an increasingly skeptical public on the far-reaching task of revamping the U.S. health care system that could costs billions of dollars. The United States lacks universal health care.In Pennsylvania, some people read lengthy statements before posing a question. One woman handed Specter a copy of the Constitution. A few questioners praised Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., for facing detractors before relaying their own criticism.The most vocal of the more 400 attendees jeered Specter. The forum at times turned into a shouting and hissing match between supporters and critics.?Traditionally people who come to town meetings have objections,” Specter said after the event. “They may not be representative of America, but they are significant, and their views have to be taken into account.”Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she is no fan of Democratic legislation aimed at health care reform but urged other critics to stop telling lies about what the bill includes.The Alaska Republican told an Anchorage crowd on Tuesday that portions of the bill “are bad enough that we don?t need to be making things up.”Former Gov. Sarah Palin has said the legislation includes “death panels” that could deny care for the elderly and people with Down syndrome, like her son Trig.Murkowski said that no such thing exists in the bill, and there is no reason to “gin up fear” in the American public by saying there is.In Pennsylvania, Justin Patterson, 28, of Bellefonte was the first of nearly 30 questioners and said members of Congress should experiment themselves with a single-payer option “instead of making us a guinea pig.” His comment incited howls.Specter responded that Congress had bypassed a July deadline set by President Barack Obama, and that lawmakers were using August to hear from constituents. While he favors a single-payer option, Specter said it has little support in Congress.?No has ever accused me of not doing my homework,” he said to a smattering of applause. “I?ve worked hard ? to consider what you want done and to represent the people of my state.”The contentious sessions underscore the challenge for Democrats as they try to sway an increasingly skeptical public on costly proposals to revamp the nation?s health care system.Randy Hook, 50, of Hopewell, said he was a U.S. military veteran whose wife had a heart transplant two years ago. He said one of the main problems with health care was “out-of-control lawsuits that not one politician has dared to touch.”?What about the money and speed of all this? If this is for the people, what?s the big hurry?” Hook asked.Specter said Hook, as a veteran, was the beneficiary of the government-run veterans health care system, and that Hook?s wife, as a transplant patient, received help from the state government.?We?re slowing down. We?re taking our time to do it right,” Specter said.In Georgia, the FBI and police were investigating after a swastika was painted outside a U.S. congressman?s district office, an act the suburban Atlanta Democrat said reflects an increasingly hateful and racist debate over health care and should remin