(Photos by WJON.com's Jim Maurice)

Bachmann answers questions about health care reform
by Jim Maurice, WJON.com

ST. CLOUD -- The health care reform forum in St. Cloud today (Saturday) wasn't nearly as polarizing as some of the forums that have been held across the country. Several hundred Central Minnesotans came to the Tech High School gym armed with questions and concerns about health care reform.

There was a heavy police presence at the gym, but they were never needed.  The crowd was told to leave their signs outside.  Some people in the crowd wore badges that read "Change! I want mine back", and others wore t-shirts with the message "Land of 10,000 taxes".

Bachmann brought with her  Dr. Brian Davis from the Mayo Clinic.  He told the crowd he was against the current health care reform bill.

Bachmann reached across party lines pointing out a handful of items in the reform bill where both republicans and democrats agree. She says there's bi-partisan support for high-risk insurance pools for people who have pre-existing conditions.

The crowd gave their most vocal support for tort reform, which would make it more difficult to sue medical professionals for malpractice. That's something Bachmann and the republicans also support. Tort reform is not part of either the House or the Senate's reform bill, however President Obama offered it up for discussion during his speech on Wednesday night.

One area where Bachmann disagrees with the President is whether illegal immigrants would be covered under universal health care. The President says the House bills specifically says they would not. Bachmann admits that's technically true, however she says the problem is there's no provision for enforcement in the bill. She says health officials are not allowed to ask for proof of U.S. citizenship. So there's no way to know if they're here illegally or not. The same thing is true for our current system, anyone who walks into an emergency room must be given health care, and if they don't have health insurance, taxpayers pick-up the tab.

The other big issue Bachmann has with the President plan is the cost. He says it will be $900 billion over 10 years. She says the U.S. government has been notorious for dramatically under estimating the cost of government programs.

So what are Bachmann's alternatives? She suggests giving consumers more choices by allowing you to buy health insurance across state lines. That will create more competition and drive down premiums. She also wants to reduce the amount of mandates on insurance, that would allow you to pick and choose what you would want covered.

Bachmann says she sent President Obama a letter asking for a meeting with him to talk about her ideas.

Following the health care reform forum the organization The Conservative Coalition held a TEA -- Taxed Enough Already -- party at Lake George.  Several hundred people attended the event.  Bachmann also spoke at that event calling it the "Welcome to Minnesota Committe" for President Obama.