By Bobby Caina Calvan 
bcalvan@sacbee.com 

JACKSON CA. – Rep. Dan Lungren paid this town a visit Saturday to talk about health care, and he knew what was in store: throngs of independent-minded constituents unafraid to inject their voices into an already heated national debate.

Dr. Bob Hartman, Amador County's public health officer and a private practice internist, delivered a top-10 list for Lungren at a town hall meeting convened at the civic center.

"The status quo is unacceptable," Hartman began, going down a list that criticized pharmaceutical firms, insurance companies and members of Congress who, he said, ought to experience the same health care hardships many Americans undergo. In the end, he didn't mince words: "A public option is necessary." 

His conclusion was mostly jeered by a standing-room-only crowd that seemed highly skeptical, if not hostile, to a possible government-funded insurance program competing with private insurers.

"I knew I was swimming against the stream," Hartman would later say.

In all, about 400 people attended or tried to attend the meeting.

In Amador County, nearly 16 percent of residents under 65 didn't have insurance at some point during 2006, according to U.S. Census estimates. Statewide, the figure is about 21 percent. About a fifth of the population is eligible for Medicare.

Lungren, who represents the vast 3rd Congressional District, which stretches from Sacramento County into the Gold Country foothills, opposes a public plan.

Pending federal legislation mostly drafted by Democrats, he said, would be a slippery slope for a government takeover of the country's private health care system.

"I happen to think the president is wrong in his approach to health care," Lungren said.

Lungren's health care forum in Jackson was the second in a series that began last week in Citrus Heights, where the congressman's staffers were unprepared for the big raucous crowd.

On Saturday, they were equally surprised by folks who arrived in droves, overwhelming the relatively small quarters of the town's civic center. Outside, folks who were unable to enter the civic center strained to listen outside its doors.

Lungren's staff already was making plans to accommodate as many as 2,000 for a Wednesday forum scheduled in Rancho Cordova, said spokesman Brian Kaveney.

Congress is expected to resume debate on various health care bills when the Senate and House reconvene next month. During their break, Democrats and Republicans are marshaling their forces for what are expected to be contentious debates.

Lungren said he does not support a wholesale overhaul of the health care system but favors a more surgical approach.

Outside, Mike Dougherty of Pine Grove, paraded under a bright yellow flag that read "Don't Tread on Me."

"All the liberties we fought for in the Revolutionary War are being taken back," Dougherty said.

"The people fear the government, instead of the government fearing the people. The government is going to stand between my doctor and me. That's an infringement on my liberties, as well as my basic rights as a human being."

Inside, speakers such as Wendell Peart, a retired Pine Grove doctor, said malpractice lawsuits need to be reined in to control medical costs. Too many doctors, he suggested, order unneeded medical tests to avoid potential lawsuits.

Lynne Epler of Valley Springs railed against providing medical care to undocumented immigrants, who she said, are adding to the country's cost of health care – although health care groups, such as the California Hospital Association, say undocumented immigrants probably account for only a tenth of the state's uncompensated health care costs.

The crowd grew testy – and impatient – with some speakers, including Pamela Hill, an ovarian cancer survivor who supports a national overhaul of the health care system. She grew nervous as voices railed against her.

"I want to know why we should have to make our major life decisions just based on health care?" asked Hill, who lives about seven miles from Jackson in the Mokelumne Hills area. She complained about the high cost of health care and insurance premiums.

"I think there a lot of people just like me," said Hill, who for 35 years was a self-employed quilt maker. She laid off her handful of employees after being diagnosed with cancer in 2003.

Her private health insurance became too heavy a burden – amounting to about $20,000 a year, she said – and she went looking for a job that would provide health coverage.

Lungren attempted to strike a tone of bipartisanship, saying he has joined with the Obama administration on some issues, but adding, "I disagree with him profoundly" on health care.