About a dozen people took their complaints about Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., to Kalispell's Main Street on Thursday, protesting his recent vote against a public insurance option as part of health-care reform legislation.

C.J. Cummings, organizer of the event for MoveOn.org, rallied a diverse group across from Baucus' Kalispell office on Third Street East at about 12:30 p.m. He then moved the protest down the street to take advantage of traffic on Main Street.

Now a student, Cummings said he had bad experiences with insurance companies after injuring his back in the building industry.

"They have really taken advantage of people," he said.

Another organizer, Whitefish filmmaker Adam Pitman, held up a sign that said: "I'm a 30-year-old hard-working uninsured American."

He said he wanted to let Baucus know that he doesn't appreciate the senator "siding with the insurance companies and against Montana families."

Without insurance, Pitman said he worries about facing a serious illness or accident.

"It's terrifying," he said.

Laira Fonner, who owns a photography business, used the same word to describe her fear of having a health issue even though she has insurance. She could only afford a policy with a $12,000 deductible.

"It's terrifying," she said "I don't know anyone who has insurance who is really happy with it."

Barbara Calm, a Kila veterinarian at the protest, certainly isn't satisfied with her insurance policy. She said that her premium for a $5,000 deductible policy has doubled in recent years. But she can't switch policies because she has a pre-existing condition.

"I have lupus," she said. "My health is under control but I'm uninsurable with that in my records."

Calm said she believes increased competition with a public option would force the private insurance companies to change these policies. She said she doesn't understand why Baucus dropped a public option from consideration.

"I don't feel this is something you should compromise on," Calm said. "I think we need enormous change."

Alex Fleischmann also was incensed about insurance companies refusing people with pre-existing conditions. She suffers from voice and breathing problems from a fire accident.

Fleischmann had to turn down a job because the company's insurance wouldn't cover a surgery she recently found out she needs.

"I had to make a choice to have surgery that would save my life or accept a job with insurance that wouldn't cover me," she said.

Without a job or insurance, Fleischmann qualifies for Medicaid to pay for her surgery. It's not an option she wanted to take.

Fleischmann said she has many friends who "just don't get it." She said one has a job with the Post Office with great insurance who doesn't understand the need for reform.

"They haven't been caught where they had to choose," Fleischmann said.

She said she doesn't know why people oppose having a public option, comparing it to the Post Office and private carriers such as UPS.

"You have a public option with your mail," she said.

After about a half an hour on Main Street, the protesters said they had a mix of reactions. Pitman said they received a thumbs-up and a middle finger, honks of support and silent stares.

He said he witnessed the same split of opinions at a recent showing of the Michael Moore documentary "Sicko" in Whitefish. The debate afterward remained civil.

"It was great," he said. "We had a really intelligent dialogue."

According to Pitman, some people were against a public system and others were for it. But they seem to agreed that the health-care system in the United States, particularly the insurance industry, needs reform.

After the Thursday street demonstration, Cummings led the protesters back to Baucus' office where the staff provided forms to relay their comments directly to the senator.

Cummings said he had put together three or four other demonstrations aimed at getting Baucus' support for health-care reform including a government option. He was profoundly disappointed in his vote against public option amendments submitted by Sens. Chuck Schumer and Jay Rockefeller, both Democrats.

Cummings and the other people at the protest did not accept Baucus' rationale that he could not get 60 votes in the Senate to pass a public option.

"There's no excuse for his vote," he said. "There's so much public support. They got elected on a strong health-care-reform platform."

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.