PARKERSBURG - Don't expect to see a town hall meeting on health care reform in Parkersburg anytime soon.

Senators and representatives representing Wood County have neither scheduled nor planned a meeting, according to their spokesmen.

Congress is considering a health care reform package supported by President Obama. The plan includes an optional government-based insurance program, prohibitions against discriminating against those with pre-existing conditions and expansion and development of preventive services and wellness programs.

Opponents claim the reform will lead to socialized medicine.

Across the country, meetings in a town hall format on health care reform have gotten rowdy. U.S. Rep. Alan Mollohan was jeered at a meeting on health care reform last month in Wheeling that was attended by many opponents when he said he has been in Congress for 27 years and has been chairman of the pro-life caucus.

Mollohan has not scheduled another meeting, spokesman David Herring said.

Several residents have contacted the newspaper asking if and when a forum will be held in Parkersburg.

Senior citizens are at the forefront of the health care debate, but nary a senior has contacted Doug Deem, executive director of the Wood County Senior Citizens Association, about holding a forum or where one was scheduled, he said.

Seniors are concerned about the swine flu, Deem said.

"Nobody has contacted me about health care reform," he said.

Rockefeller spokesman Jessica Tice said constituents can contact the senator at his office or by phone or e-mail at health@rockefeller.senate.gov.

"Sen. Rockefeller will continue having an open dialogue with West Virginians as the health care debate moves forward," she said. "He is presently working on a health care event schedule for the fall that gives people across the state an opportunity to ask questions, voice concerns and get more information."

Sen. Robert C. Byrd is still recuperating from his staph infection that hospitalized him earlier this year, spokesman Jesse Jacobs said. The senator hopes to participate in the health care debate in September, Jacobs said.

"He does not plan to hold any town-hall meetings but welcomes comments and concerns from his West Virginia constituents on health care," Jacobs said.

"While the Senate has made progress on refining our nation's health care system, he still does not know what the measure will look like. He will make his decisions after he has had the opportunity to study the specific language of a bill, when it is completed," he said. "And while he is a strong supporter of free speech and the right of citizens to petition their government, he hopes discussions are carried out as part of a civil and reasonable discussion and that all people have an opportunity to be heard."