WORCESTER — U.S. Reps. James P. McGovern and Richard E. Neal were heckled and booed after trying to rally support today for President Barack Obama's plan for a comprehensive national health insurance program.
The two Worcester-area Democratic lawmakers were shouted down several times by people attending a packed “town hall” meeting at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
UMass officials threatened several times to end the gathering because of the raucous behavior, which occurred despite a heavy police presence.
At one point, Mr. McGovern was likened by an attendee to Josef Mengele, the Nazi officer who performed experiments on concentration camp survivors.
Despite the generally hostile crowd, the two legislators insisted that a health care overhaul was desperately needed and that changes to the system would financially benefit all.
