The spirited — and often times heated — debate over health care reform made its way to Austin Monday.

On the same day debate opened in the Senate, U.S. Rep. Tim Walz stopped at the Mower County Senior Center to discuss pending congressional legislation that could drastically alter how Americans receive health coverage in coming years.

And as in recent “town hall” style meetings across the country, Monday’s gathering in Austin produced a full spectrum of opinions and emotions regarding all the proposed changes.

Walz, a second-term DFLer, supported the House’s version of the bill, which passed earlier this month, and said now is the time to “reform” unsustainable health care practices.

In particular, Walz said Medicare — a federal program that provides health insurance to seniors — needs revamping. He said currently the program offers no incentives to states like Minnesota, which provides generally good coverage at reasonable costs.

Creating a system that rewards good practices, Walz said, could bring a windfall of savings to taxpayers.

Also, Walz said providing a public health care option — along with striving to keep costs transparent — would spur a “free market” health care system that would ultimately reward consumers with lower prices.

“There’s no free market in health care right now. It doesn’t exist,” the congressman said. “We can do better.”

Backing Walz was Heidi Holste, advocacy director for the Minnesota branch of the AARP.

Holste said the AARP has supported health care reform for a number of reasons, including the provision of free cancer screenings, and the reduction of waste and fraud.

Michelle Fimon, an Austin resident and breast cancer survivor, also said she supports reform. Fimon, 45, said she was grateful to receive medical assistance from the government when she was unable to pay for treatment a few years ago, but now she fears she won’t have access to coverage in the current system given her medical history.

Instead, Fimon said she feels her only option is to keep her low-paying job so she stays eligible for medical assistance.

“To me, I need choices,” she said. “(The proposed reform) seems like a viable option.”

But not everyone in attendance spoke kindly of the pending legislation on Capitol Hill.

One woman, who rushed out after speaking because she had to drop off her children, accused Walz and other politicians of “printing fake money” in Washington, which has increased the national deficit and insurance costs, she claimed.

“You’re not covering what you’re saying you will,” the woman said to Walz about the House’s health care bill.

Wayne Chilson, a retired Austin resident, also bashed the legislation.

“Everything the government touches becomes more expensive and less efficient,” he said passionately from the back of the room.

Chilson said the solution is to allow insurance companies to compete across state lines, but without heavy government involvement and intervention.

“It’s very simple,” he added.

Others commented that Congress should “slow down” in tackling health care, because there are other issues — namely, the national economy — that are more pressing.

Austin resident Lisa Jewett, who said she has issues with some pieces of the pending legislation but not health care reform overall, echoed those sentiments.

She compared rushing forward with health care legislation to buying a house right after college graduation.

“It’s OK to rent a one-bedroom apartment for a while,” she said.

But like any good debate, members of the audience countered each other, with a few people coming to the defense of Walz and the proposed legislation.

Dwight Ault, who farms north of Austin, said he was concerned that the issue was becoming overly politicized and negative.

Ault said he ultimately supports some type of publicly provided health care.

School board member Jeff Ollman also chimed in with his support of the pending legislation.

In response to calls for Congress to slow down on health care reform, Ollman said Teddy Roosevelt first brought up national health care while he was president in the early 1900s.

“We need to do something now,” he added.

How soon “now” will be is very much up in the air. Though Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he wants to have the bill passed by Christmas, Republican opposition — and the possibility of a filibuster — could stall that. And if and when the Senate does pass its bill, a conference committee would still have to hash out differences between the two wings of Congress before final legislation lands on President Barack Obama’s desk.

-The Associated Press contributed to this report