DELTA TOWNSHIP -- "Families are literally going broke," said U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer (D) at Friday's town hall meeting on health-care reform.

This is his 30th -- the number of public forums the freshman lawmaker has held on the issue since June.

"We're against this nationalized health care," said one man outside the Days Inn, the site of the meeting. "It's socialism."

It's indicative of a general trend for Schauer: After 30 forums, it never gets easier; especially not this week, as he answers the big question: Why did he vote for the House's health care bill?

"I voted for this bill because, fundamentally, our system is broken," Schauer responded.

Specifically, he notes the House bill would:

1. Cover 96 percent of Americans

2. Provide subsidies to those who can't afford their premiums

3. Bar insurers from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions.

The pricetag? $1.2 trillion.

"It will actually help control health-care costs," Schauer said as he tried to ease citizens' concerns. "And as a result of that, we'll reduce the federal budget deficit by $109 billion."

Some folks here in Delta Township appreciate that effort; others say it's another dangerous case of big government imposing its will on private insurance.

"It's gonna be socialized medicine, just like Canada and England has," one man said. "And you'll wait two to three weeks to get treatment over there."

Schauer, meanwhile, did what he could to alleviate those concerns.

"About 20 million people who are currently not insured are going to buying their insurance from a private insurance company," he noted, citing statistics from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. "So if I were the insurance industry, I'd be supporting this bill."

That competition between insurers and the public option, Schauer says, would help insure 36,000 people in his district alone -- something just about everyone here was pleased to hear.