Roll Call: Insurers Try to Make Their Voices Heard in Health Debate

From Roll Call: Chris Archibald spent almost an hour Tuesday morning in a line that snaked around several city blocks in this typically tranquil town surrounded by bucolic countryside.

The 29-year-old Archibald, who runs his own landscaping company in Hershey, Pa., left his business for a few hours to try to get into a town-hall meeting hosted by Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) on the hottest topic of the August recess: health care reform. Archibald was mobilized to attend the forum by grass-roots organizers who work for the health insurance industry.

But just as Democrats are having trouble getting their message out on their health care reform plans amid angry crowds that are stealing the show, Archibald didn’t make it into the meeting. The crowd inside was already at capacity, and hundreds of activists remained outside the Harrisburg Area Community College’s Lebanon building, holding signs and debating for the national news TV cameras that had gathered.

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