For members of Congress on recess this month, the usual lazy days of summer have been anything but as energized constituents sound off on health care reform.

U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., said Thursday the congressional votes this fall on health care reform could be more vital to many constituents than even votes to authorize war or approve peace treaties.

"Health care is different than all other issues, and that's why you are seeing this August protest movement," Rep. Cooper said after speaking to the Chattanooga Rotary Club touting his own health care reform plan.

"This is more important than war or peace votes because everybody is on this battlefield," Rep. Cooper said. "We're all going to get sick or injured sooner than we think, and we all want the system to work for us and our doctor and our hospital to be on our side."

U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., is touring Tennessee this month to build support for his gubernatorial run next year. But the Chattanooga congressman can't escape questions about congressional bills and upcoming votes on revamping health care plans and insurance regulations.

"Everywhere I go people ask, 'Is this health care thing going to pass and what's going to be the compromise,'" Rep. Wamp said in Nashville on Thursday.

"I get asked about this more than anything else," he said.

Rep. Wamp said public sentiment has shifted away from major reform and more government insurance toward a less sweeping reform package.


"I think 70 percent of the people in the country are worried this new proposal will actually put at risk their current health care, and they're afraid," he said.

A former Medicaid director predicts the public sentiment and congressional response to the health care debate this month could determine how or even whether changes are made to America's $1.6 trillion-a-year health care industry.

"This August recess is critical to what Congress ultimately decides," Dennis Smith, the senior fellow in health care reform at The Heritage Foundation, said during a Chattanooga visit this week.

That's why the critics say they are eager for more public meetings to express concerns about proposals to add a government health plan option.

THE PEOPLE'S VOICE

Conservatives complain that the proposed government plans are too expensive and threaten private businesses, but proponents claim the public plans would offer consumers choice and competition.

Former Republican vice presidential candidate and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin this week repeated her claim that the health care overhaul would create "death panels" and would ration health care to needy Americans.

In a Facebook posting titled "Concerning Death Panels," Mrs. Palin argued Wednesday night that the Democratic bill in the House would coerce the elderly and ailing into accepting minimal end-of-life care to reduce costs.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, one of six lawmakers negotiating on a Senate bill, said Thursday they had dropped end-of-life provisions from consideration "entirely because of the way they could be misinterpreted and implemented incorrectly."

Protesters showing up at many town hall meetings this month appear to be helping to erode support for Democratic plans. In a Gallup survey for USA Today released Thursday, 34 percent of the respondents said the demonstrations have made them more sympathetic to the protesters' views; 21 percent were less sympathetic. Independent voters were nearly twice as likely to be sympathetic as critical of the protesters.

DEMOCRATS DIFFER

The Democrats may have majorities in the House and Senate, but that's no guarantee of approval of the health care changes pushed by President Barack Obama.

In Tennessee, four conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats oppose an early House committee proposal and said they remain wary of the sweeping changes backed by the White House.

Most want more cautious, incremental change. They said they hope the more conservative Senate Finance Committee will draft a package to help limit costs while improving access.

"If we don't reform health care, insurance premiums will continue to rise and push our country further into debt," said U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., one of the Blue Dogs and the longest-serving member of Congress from Tennessee. "However, we must slow down and get it done right."

Blue Dog co-founder Rep. John Tanner, D-Tenn., voted in committee against the one House committee version approved before the August recess, saying it is too expensive. Rep. Tanner said Congress remains polarized over how to improve health care access and coverage without busting the federal budget.

"The problems facing the Congress with health care reform are as challenging as any domestic issue I have ever encountered," he said.

U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis, D-Tenn., hasn't taken a position on any of the health care bills and will hold seven town hall meetings this month on health care issues.

Tom Hayden, a spokesman for Rep. Davis, said in a statement the congressman "has cut no deal and has not staked a position" on the health care bills.

"He and his staff are reading the bill and talking with constituents to gauge their opinion as he always does," Mr. Hayden said.

Reps. Gordon and Tanner said they'll hold telephone conferences with constituents rather than in-person town hall meetings.

Rep. Tanner said the telephone meetings allow him to reach thousands of constituents at one time. Rep. Gordon said telephone town halls don't require people to travel, just to get on the phone.


SUBSTANCE OR ENTERTAINMENT?

Jim West, a Ringgold, Ga., anti-tax activist who serves as secretary for the Chattanooga Tea Party, said too many members of Congress aren't willing to have public meetings to air the health care reform debate.

"Some of the guys are taking a cop-out," he said.

Mr. West insists protesters showing up at congressional town hall meetings this month "represent a cross section of America" and are helping to cut public support for such plans.

Rep. Cooper said most of the proposals so far fail to control the soaring costs of health care, which threatens the country's fiscal solvency.

If current trends continue, health care spending will absorb more than 40 percent of the nation's total wealth by 2070 and crowd out virtually all other government spending, Rep. Cooper said.

"The key is that a moderate, bipartisan bill be put forward," he said. "We're all hoping that the Senate Finance Committee will come out with a sensible bill."

A self-described "nerd," Rep. Cooper lamented that too much of the debate is focused on highlighting differences and not finding bipartisan compromises.

"We've moved into an entertainment society, and you can't fix problems with just entertainment," he said.

Staff writers Matt Wilson and Andy Johns and The Associated Press contributed to this report.