Lamoni, Iowa
Located a stones-throw from Missouri, Lamoni was the site of the second town hall conversation. A small crowd, including representatives from the local nursing and rehabilitation facility, faculty from the local college, the director of the community center, a retired factory worker, a small business owner, amongst others.
This quiet, college town had the feel of a very tight-knit community and that was reflected in their conversation. There were regular comments about the importance of taking care of others in need in Lamoni and the need for citizens in other communities to do the same. In addition to the importance of community and family, attendees also emphasized the value of personal responsibility with regard to staying healthy, paying taxes to take care of those less fortunate and having savings in addition to Social Security.
The group was prompted by one attendee to compare the health system in the United States to that of other countries. The idea of a universal health system (like in other nations) was brought up, but there was not full agreement on this system. Many expressed their distrust in the government running an efficient system. All in attendance did believe that there were too many deficiencies in the health care system that needs to be fixed.
Chariton, Iowa
The Chariton Community Center set the stage for the first of 42 conversations that will be taking place across Iowa this summer.
More than a dozen people took part in the conversation. Attendees included health care workers, a lawyer, retired teacher, aging resources employees and a farmer. All attendees also had in common they worked for Hy-Vee at some point in their lives (Chariton being the headquarters for the Iowa grocery chain's distribution operations).
Once the conversation got rolling, various perspectives were shared and attendees were actively weighing options regarding the future of their health care and financial security.
With regards to financial security, the group continually emphasized the importance of starting financial education at a young age, in schools and at home, so children will understand the importance of saving money and staying out of debt. An idea that was thrown out to force people to save was to take 5 to 10 percent from payroll taxes (on top of Social Security) and put it in some sort of retirement fund. Attendees also suggested having the government help finance health catastrophes (that could result in financial ruin) and eliminating Congress's pensions to save the system money.
Prevention and individual responsibility were regularly emphasized with regard to solving health care problems.
