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As health care reform continues to be the top concern at packed and often rowdy town hall meetings across the country, President Barack Obama is trying to bring religious leaders to his side by framing the debate in moral terms.

On a conference call sponsored by religious groups Aug. 19, Obama urged all men and women of faith to “spread the facts and speak the truth” about his plans, which include the creation of a government-funded public option for health insurance intended to compete with private insurers.

The president also caused a bit of a stir when, on a different health care-related conference call with 1,000 rabbis organized by the Reform movement, he referenced the Rosh Hashanah prayer “U’Netaneh Tokef,” which discusses “who shall live and who shall die.” Obama also told the rabbis “we are God’s partners in matters of life and death,” according to one participant in the call.

More than 1,000 people lined up outside the Piscataway Municipal Building for an Aug. 24 town hall with U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-6), but many ended up waiting for most of the night as groups of just 150 at a time could enter. Pallone, who represents parts of Middlesex, Monmouth, Somerset, and Union counties, spoke on health care from the perspective of the Affordable Health Choices Act (HR 3200), the bill he is pushing as chairman of the Subcommittee on Health for the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Obama called expanding access to affordable health insurance “a core ethical and moral obligation,” and cited the biblical concept of “I am my brother’s keeper” during the conference call.

“In the wealthiest nation on earth right now, we are neglecting to live up to that call,” he said.

Obama attempted to debunk what he called a number of misperceptions about his plan, claiming that rumors about “death panels” are “an extraordinary lie.” Claims that the plan provides health care for illegal immigrants, funds abortion, cuts Medicare, and serves as a government takeover of insurance are also not true, Obama said.

Pallone also tried to clarify perceptions about health care at his town hall, explaining that HR 3200 only includes cuts in some Medicare programs where advisory committees have found fraud and abuse. Regarding a question about doctors being paid less to accept Medicare under health care proposals, Pallone said that while doctors currently experience an annual cut in Medicare reimbursement, HR 3200 gives primary care physicians a 2-percent reimbursement increase and specialty doctors a 1-percent increase in its first year.

Abortions would be covered by private plans in the government’s health insurance exchange and paid for by individual premiums, not federal funds, Pallone said.

HR 3200 uses Obama’s principles for health care reform, but is just one of a number of bills Congress is considering on the issue, Pallone reminded the audience. In the proposal, private insurers will offer a basic benefits package and sell it through the government’s exchange, while the uninsured can also sign up for a public option that is paid for through premiums and is not linked to Medicare, he said.

“Since it is a non-profit, I think that the cost is likely to be less than the private plans in the exchange,” Pallone said of the public option.

The public option has no ratings system for pre-existing conditions and will help individuals who can’t afford insurance on the open market, Pallone said. Small businesses with less than 10 employees can also buy plans in the exchange, he said, making their insurance cheaper since they are now purchasing from a larger group plan whose prices are driven down by the exchange.

Opponents and supporters of the current health care reform plans in the room seemed to share one thing in common -- impatience when Pallone took too long to answer their questions. As is the case at many town halls, statements were interrupted more often than not by cheers or boos. When Pallone said that HR 3200 applies the same rules to individuals who receive health insurance from Wal-Mart and those like himself who work for the government, the crowd laughed him off.

Pallone didn’t have an answer for every question, such as whether health care proposals would cover the medical usage of marijuana. When challenged with an opinion that the government is spending too much money on health care, the stimulus plan, and other programs like “Cash for Clunkers,” Pallone said that Obama made a conscious decision that spending was needed to turn around the economy, and that Wall Street and banks are in fact beginning to recover.

One attendee noted that while government control worked with Social Security and Medicare, health care reform takes government control too far, and that other countries with public health care also used to be ruled by monarchs. Pallone responded that the proposed reform is a hybrid system with some government and some private funding, rather than a government takeover.

“It’s very uniquely American,” Pallone said of proposed health care reform. “It’s not like any of these other systems.”

During the conference call, Director of the Domestic Policy Council Melody Barnes, who answered questions for Obama, said that the president was still committed to a public option. Obama is open to other good ideas, but thinks the public option is the best way to provide affordable insurance to the masses, Barnes said.

Obama said that his plan would cover procedures like mammograms and colonoscopies that many current plans don’t cover, and that there would be no arbitrary caps on benefits. He said that those who are satisfied with their current health insurance could keep that insurance.

“It’s absolutely critical that we make sure we are on the side of promoting the wellbeing of all Americans,” Obama said. The conference call also included statements from rabbis and other religious leaders who supported Obama’s cause. Rabbi David Stern, of Temple Emanu-El in Dallas, said that what unites all faiths in the health care debate is “the shared dignity of every human being.”

Rabbi Susan Talve, of the Central Reform Congregation in St. Louis, said that “We all had common ground and common concern about the health care system” at town hall meetings. She said that her synagogue is organizing anti-violence meetings and reaching out to the media to pull the attention away from fear and contentiousness and back to the substantive issues of health care reform.