By Harold Egeln
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

BAY RIDGE – A preview of Congressman Mike McMahon’s planned Brooklyn healthcare town hall meeting happened on Staten Island on Monday evening when a large number of people turned out to listen to and talk with McMahon.

With five proposed bills on the Washington, D.C., table and a recent televised pitch by President Barach Obama as the backdrop, McMahon told the crowd, at times described as raucous but mostly curious, that the three House of Representatives bills might be merged into one. He is likely not making a decision until a final bill emerges.

The freshman Democratic Party congressman also reminded his audience, which he described to the media as spirited, lively and passionate but not rowdy, that there are two proposed pieces of healthcare reform legislation being debated in the U.S. Senate. A final bill may be ready by the end of this month, McMahon said.

Nearly 800 people attended McMahon’s town hall meeting at a school in Sunnyside, S.I. and a huge majority opposed the health care reform proposals, according to an article in Wednesday’s Staten Island Advance.

A poll conducted by the daily newspaper found that 56 percent of those polled were uneasy over McMahon’s “wait and see� position, while 44 percent said he is being prudent before making a decision on his health care reform support.

“The congressman will soon have a big public forum on health care reform here in Brooklyn,� Jonathan Yedin, McMahon’s Brooklyn director, told the Dyker Heights Civic Association recently. In the audience were Republican and Conservative party leaders and members who picketed McMahon's district office in Bay Ridge two weeks earlier, demanding “a town hall now.�

In a recent phone interview with the Brooklyn Eagle from his Washington, DC office said of President Obama’s health care reform speech to a joint session of Congress, “It was a very good speech. We’ve got a lot of work to do to reach an agreement that some reforms are necessary.�

He added that Obama spoke broadly without enough specifics on how reforms will be funded. At a recent Community Board 11 meeting, McMahon said reform is “really difficult� with much to consider. Still, he assured seniors at the Bay Ridge Center recently that Medicare would be safe.

“The cost of health care is growing dramatically. The public-option choice is on the table of negotiations. Under three different scenarios there could be allowed increased access through the exchange, or interest market, proposal, making for affordable insurance across state lines,� he said.

He did not commit to the public option, having questions about increased taxes on small businesses that might result and exactly how effective it would be. “Healthcare reform is a work in progress. We need everybody’s input into the debate. We are in a healthcare crisis, and something must be done.�

Chaos at Kingsborough

The announcement of the date, time and place of McMahon’s Brooklyn health care reform town hall meeting is expected very soon. But McMahon, in his Eagle interview, made clear that he would like to avoid what happened at a recent town hall held by Congressman Anthony Weiner at Kingsborough Community College.

At that Manhattan Beach venue, Democrat Weiner pushed for the single-payer system that would throw out private health insurance in health care reform. The meeting, which attracted about 100 people and also protesters outside, had raunchy moments with a scattering of shouting matches, catcalls and boos, according to media reports.

Congressman Edolphus Towns, noting there are 300,000 uninsured people in Brooklyn, also favors the single-payer system over the public option. Congressman Jerrold Nadler supports the single-payer system, and Congresswoman Yvette Clarke has called for comprehensive reform.

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