Pastor Martin Odom Hosts Town Hall with Congressman Joe Sestak at Local Senior Center

MEDIA, PA - Bethel Village AME Church Pastor Martin Odom hosted Democratic Senate candidate, Congressman Joe Sestak for a Town Hall on Health Care Friday night at the Heinz-Menker Senior Center in Harrisburg, where Joe stayed for almost 2 hours to address questions about current health insurance reform bill, which he helped shape and pass through the Education and Labor Committee.

"This is a time for leadership and I believe one's leadership can be judged by the size of the problems you confront," Joe said about giving people the choice of a public option.  "We have waited while the political establishment has made excuses.  Leaders need to step forward and explain the bill - better than they have been. The choice of a public plan - and it is only a choice - will be good for the pocketbooks of working families. That is why I've been holding Health Care Town Halls in and out of my Congressional District, throughout Pennsylvania to make the case for real health reform."

Health care is a personal issue for Joe Sestak, a former 3-star Vice Admiral, who served in the Navy for 31 years.  While serving, the Congressman's daughter was diagnosed with brain cancer at the age of 4.  The military's TRICARE health program allowed her to receive the best possible treatment.  One of his top priorities is to make sure that every other American has access to the same quality coverage as his daughter.

Joe outlined several key points about the bill: if you like your plan, you can keep it; there will be lower costs by eliminating co-pays for preventive care, which will increase the quality of care while decreasing health care costs due to early diagnosis of illnesses, which would have been more expensive to treat had they been acute; the public option is only a choice - not a mandate - and will be subsidized by people's own premiums and co-pays, not the government, while increasing competition and driving down insurance costs because of the lack of administrative overhead that a public health care option has.

"Now we have an opportunity with a President who understands the impact of an inefficient system not only on the health of millions of Americans, but also on our economy," Joe added. "There will be political pressures after this year that make it harder to pass the comprehensive reform we desperately need and I do not believe we were elected to sit on our hands as more Americans lose their health insurance and costs go up for everyone else."

More than 10 million Americans have lost their health insurance during during the last 15 years, while costs have risen 120 percent.  The average family plan is already $1100 more expensive because of costs passed down from health providers, which are not reimbursed when they treat the uninsured for a health emergency. This $1100 is constantly increasing as more become uninsured. This bill begins to decrease that cost by less expensive preventive care when the uninsured become insured.

The Bethel Village is a multigenerational, multicultural A.M.E. Church.  They emphasize prayer, praise, Bible teaching, community service and all ways one can make a meaningful difference.