bruce johnson, executive vice president of the chamber of commerce, and democratic governor bill ritter of colorado. >>> but first, making health care reform for the entire hour. welcome to our panel here. you know, the president wrote on the op-ed page is that this is a great debate for america right now. we want a civil and informative debate which is what i think we'll have this morning. i want to talk in a few minutes about three major areas of the health care debate. i want to talk about the anger, otion, fear that's out there. let me begin with you -- all of the town halls have to alter or derail the chance of reform this year? >> it's a good thing. it's drawn greater focus on the issue. president obama out there in places all over the country talking and setting the record straight. these are emotional issues. this is the noise of democracy. you ask 300 people what they should do about health care, you get a lot of good ideas. some are emotional. the bottom line is this helps a lot. >> doesn't hurt -- you really believe it doesn't hurt? >> obviously, the misinformation hurts. obv

congressman and brother of ken, john salazar. [ applause ] your outstanding governor of this great state, bill ritter is here. [ applause ] as well as the extraordinary first lady of the state, jeannie ritter is here as well. [ applause ] two of the finest young senators that we've got in washington right now, senator mark udoll and senator michael bennett. [ applause ] i want to thank the hospitality of grand junction mayor bruce hill. [ applause ] and finally, i want to thank hilly bishop for the invocation and i want to thank the central high students for their national anthem and pledge of allegiance. thank you, guys. [ applause ] oh, and central high principal jody deer who is here. [ applause ] it turns out school starts in two days.

the country, charlie rangel of new york, bruce josten, vice president of the chamber of commerce, bill ritter of colorado. >> but first making sense of health care reform for the entire hour, welcome to our panel here. the president wrote this the great debate for america right now. i think what the public also wants is a civil and informative debate, which is what i think we'll have this morning. i want to talk in a few minutes about three major areas of contention in this health care debate." first i want to talk about the anger, fear out there. senator daschle, i want to talk to you. have all of these town halls altered or derailed the chance for reform on this issue? >> i think it's been a good thing. i think it's drawn a greater focus on the issue. you have president obama talking and trying to set the record straight. these are emotional issues. this is the voice of democracy. you ask people about what to do about health care, you're going to get a lot of different ideas, some very emotional. but the bottom line, it really does help a lot. >> it hurt, doesn't hurt. you really believe it

when governor bill ritter came into office in 2007, healthcare was a top priority of his administration. and there was really a deliberate decision to focus on children's coverage and health access issues. and while we have a couple of excellent managed care plans that participate in the medicaid program, the vast majority of our medicaid clients' children are seen in a fee for service model. and for us, that raised some serious concerns or questions about the sustainability and increased costs associated with that fee for service model. it also raised some questions about the extent to which children were receiving preventative care, getting their immunizations, -- having care coordination. it raised serious questions about access. at that time, only 20% of our private pediatricians and family practice physicians participated in the medicaid program. and of course, you know, at the top of the list for not participating is the lack of reimbursement. but when you really dig down a little deeper, there are a variety of barriers that primary care physicians list as barriers to taking medic

when governor bill ritter came into office in 2007, healthcare was a top priority of his administration. and there was really a deliberate decision to focus on children's coverage and health access issues. and while we have a couple of excellent managed care plans that participate in the medicaid program, the vast majority of our medicaid clients' children are seen in a fee for service model. and for us, that raised some serious concerns or questions about the sustainability and increased costs associated with that fee for service model. it also raised some questions about the extent to which children were receiving preventative care, getting their immunizations, -- having care coordination. it raised serious questions about access. at that time, only 20% of our private pediatricians and family practice physicians participated in the medicaid program. and of course, you know, at the top of the list for not participating is the lack of reimbursement. but when you really dig down a little deeper, there are a variety of barriers that primary care physicians list as barriers to taking medic