Carson gets confronted over health care

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - An angry opponent of health care reform confronted Congressman André Carson (D - 7th District) both during and after a public meeting Tuesday afternoon.

To watch the conversation, click on the Video tab in the left margin of this story.

Carson's presentation to the downtown Rotary Club was wrapping up when he got a question about how the health care reform bill treats people with no health insurance.

"They still need health care coverage cause, guess what, when they get sick they're gonna need it and they have it," said Carson.

Businessman Gerry Mann refused to accept the answer and when the meeting ended he confronted the Democratic congressman.

"Power, power, power, you're not interested...You're not interested," Mann said.

"We gotta help our fellow Americans, you know that," Carson responded. "This issue is beyond race, it's beyond color, it's beyond religion."

Meantime, just blocks away, Republican Congressmen Dan Burton and Steve Buyer emerged from a private meeting with doctors and others to declare that health care reform is a partisan issue.

The Democrats, Buyer said, are on their own.

"Do they move health reform on a party basis? And if they do that, what will be the country's reaction to do that?" Buyer asked.

Back at the rotary, Carson seemed to accept the challenge.

"If we don't reform this health care system, these insurance companies will break the back of America," Carson predicted.

"The health care system is in great shape," Mann insisted.

Eventually, Carson and Mann were separated. The congressman expressed frustration.

"We don't need staged protests. We wanna hear from people who have serious and honest critiques about this proposal," said Carson.

Carson compared Mann to a disruptive student in school. The confrontation is why Carson has not scheduled a town hall meeting on health care reform. He will conduct a radio town hall on Thursday.