Cabinet members tout Obama's health care plans

RESERVE, La. (AP) - Four members of President Barack Obama's cabinet visited Louisiana on Monday to tout plans for improving health care in rural areas, but they found themselves defending the administration's broader effort to overhaul the nation's health care system.

Skeptical audience members at Monday's forum in Reserve peppered the cabinet members with questions and critical remarks about health care legislation working its way through Congress.


Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the administration's plan seeks to extend health coverage to millions of uninsured Americans without taking a "one size fits all" approach or eliminating "employer-based coverage."

"I think there is some misinformation, unfortunately," she said. "It is really to stabilize the system that we have and to hopefully cover folks who are not covered."

Sebelius was joined at the forum by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. Their trip to Reserve was one of at least 10 stops planned for a "Rural Tour" that administration officials are taking while the House and Senate work on health care legislation.

"President Obama has introduced a bold health care vision for our rural communities," Shinseki said. "Achieving that vision is incredibly important."

Some of the audience members in Reserve wore T-shirts that read, "Hands Off My Health Care," and the loudest cheers were reserved for people who criticized the Obama administration's health care plans.

"Please carry a message to Mr. Obama that it will be a cold day in hell before he socializes my county," one man shouted at the cabinet members, who didn't respond.

Emile Hotard, 86, a retired Navy veteran from Reserve, told Sebelius he hopes the administration's health reforms stop short of "something that is universal."

"I see people from Canada every year when I go to Florida, and they're not too sure that the health care they have is good. So why will ours in the United States be better?" he asked.

"This is not a proposal ... that we go to some kind of single-payer plan like many European nations or Canada," Sebelius said. "It is not the proposal. It is not in the bill. It is not in the draft."

Daniel Becnel, a Reserve lawyer, said the town about halfway between New Orleans and Baton Rouge only has one doctor, and he's 80 years old. He urged the cabinet members to promote educational opportunities for health care workers.

"So many people want to get doctors but they can't get into medical school," Becnel said. "If we have general practitioners, we can do wonders."