The 300-plus members of the Heritage Hunt 55-and-older community that showed up to the town hall hosted by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-11th) in Gainesville last week were not the types to wave signs, yell "socialism" or act violently as seen on television in other American town hall forums.

That did not mean, however, that they would not hold a spirited and lively discussion with their representative and four other panelists from different organizations regarding proposed health care reform measures taking place in the United States Congress.

"...I agree that health care needs improvement, but what scares the hell out of me is having the government do it," said Jane Becker, the first local citizen of the night to address Connolly.

An overwhelming majority of questions posed by audience members were skeptical of government intervention in the health care system. The most controversial aspect of legislation being negotiated by the House of Representatives centers around a public option for health insurance run by the Department of Health of Human Services. Designed to create competition for private insurers, the public option drew cynicism from those in the audience that thought it would be an overreach by the federal government.

"We're not going to jump that system," said Connolly, referring to private insurers being the chief model for financing health care costs.

One of the more telling signs of the night about the audience's resistance to dramatic change in the health care industry came when a man asked Connolly what the government can do to increase competition among private insurers. Audience members booed not just the public option, but the idea of private cooperatives too, something that is being considered by the Senate Finance Committee.

The biggest applause line of the night came when a man named Frank said mentioned the need for tort reform.

"And so I think if you want to save money, there are ways to do it without going into a public option," he said, earlier mentioning that restrictions against private insurers operating across state lines should be dropped.

Connolly responded by saying he personally supports tort reform and thought it would be "intellectually dishonest" to not include it in the discussion of health care reform, particularly in regard to frivolous lawsuits.

There was a catch though.

"It's worth doing," Connolly said, soon adding, "But it doesn't save us much money...."

He cited figures provided by the Congressional Budget Office stating tort reform would only make up 0.5 to 2.3 percent of savings. A 2004 document by the CBO entitled "Limiting Tort Liability for Medical Malpractice" states that malpractice suits are worth "less than 2 percent of overall health care spending."

Another person asked what was so "sacred" about accomplishing health care reform this year. Another man named Joe said he felt like reform was "being rammed down our throat."

Connolly explained the odds of getting it done in an an election year would be slim and that it's been long overdue, and that he pushed the House leadership to delaying a vote until after the August recess by threatening to withhold a vote of support.

The audience generally received Connolly well, though at times, discussions became contentious due to disagreements.

When asked about financing reform, Conolly told the crowd the Congressional Budget Office projected that from savings identified in the House legislation coupled with a "tax surcharge" on the top 1.2 percent of income earners would cover the outlined costs of health care reform without adding to the deficit.

"No!" howled many audience members.

"Yes. Yes," replied Connolly. "Ladies and gentlemen, we're entitled to our opinions, we're not entitled to our own facts. That's what the CBO said. If you don't like it, go see the head of the CBO."

Connolly did flub one exchange when a woman mentioned that President Barack Obama once talked about a single-payer health care system being implemented over an extended period of time.

The statement came before he was elected a Senator from Illinois. He has since come out against a single-payer system as impractical.

But Connolly rejected knowing about the initial claim when it was in fact true.

At least one person in the audience did come out in support of a plan that would insure all Americans. John Brady, Jr., a practicing dermatologist.

"But I'd like to point out to you that the last time I read the United States Constitution or the Bill of Rights, I didn't see where we're guaranteed food or shelter or clothing or health care. But, if the people of this country want universal health care, which I personally would like to see, then I feel like we should all, all be entitled to the same amount of health care," he said.