Hoyer Grilled On Health

At Angry Town Hall, Democrat Says Congress Is Likely To Consider Caps On Lawsuits As Part Of Care Overhaul

The cost of the plan - currently in the range of $1 trillion over 10 years - might have to be reduced in order to gain the votes of moderate-to-conservative Democrats in the House and the Senate. Already, House liberals have shaved the cost of their main proposal in response to opposition from Blue Dog centrists by making it slightly less generous to lower-income Americans.

Hoyer is the highest-ranking representative to hold a town hall-style meeting on health care during Congress' summer vacation. The crowd in Charles County last night was more than three times as large as those at Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin's town hall meetings last month.

Americans are split over whether the protesters at town hall meetings reflect the opinions of the public as a whole, according to a new CBS News poll released Tuesday. But that national opinion survey and others have shown declining support for Democratic overhaul plans in recent months.

According to the CBS poll, completed Monday, most Americans surveyed say they are confused by the health care debate and that support for a government-run insurance plan has dropped sharply since June.

Fewer than one in three of those surveyed said they understood the health care proposals being discussed in Washington. And a clear majority of Americans said Obama has not clearly explained his plans for reshaping the medical system.

In fact, Obama has not proposed a plan and Congress is debating a number of different proposals.

If both houses of Congress approve their competing measures, a House-Senate conference committee would then have to come up with a compromise that would go back to each chamber for a final vote.