Rally held to support healthcare reform

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - The president's promise to lower costs, promote choice and provide coverage for every American seems to be well received in the community.

MoveOn.Org coordinator Joyce Wilkinson organized a healthcare rally at the Tippecanoe County Courthouse Thursday afternoon. Wilkinson is a registered nurse and says she sees the struggles uninsured people have on a daily basis.

"Often times they can't pay their emergency room bills after they've gotten them and they just allow themselves to become very ill. If we could cover those people and get them good preventative healthcare, then we probably wouldn't be in this situation that our emergency rooms and our EMT's are in now," said Wilkinson.

Some people who already have insurance say they want to see universal healthcare, citing Europe's healthcare system as an example of what they would like to see.

But insuring the uninsured is just one layer of the President's plan; some people with insurance said they need changes too.

"I want to see these healthcare costs go down. This is insanity really. People can barely get by every day just paying their basic bills, let alone medical bills," said Sherri Beaman, a Lafayette resident.

"I'm personally hoping for greater access to healthcare. I don't really know how to attain it," said Asher Littlefield, another resident.

"I think it would be much better for those that are paying high premiums right now sort of like myself," agreed Ken Kish, a resident concerned with his future insurance.

In Wednesday night speech, Presiden Obama said he wants to pass healthcare reform THIS YEAR. And while many people say they want to see a change in healthcare, some worry that timeline is a bit ambitious.

"It's not practical. I think it will probably happen but I don't think it's practical. I think it's something that needs to be worked on a little bit longer," said Beaman.

The Democratic National Committee is hosting events throughout Indiana to get information out and build support for the President's healthcare plan.