Health Reform Debate Continues Back Home

By Jill Kuraitis, 11-24-09

Lawmakers are back in their districts for the week, but the healthcare debate rages on during the recess.

In a memorandum to members, Senate Democratic leaders suggested this is a prime time to frame the debate because momentum is growing after Saturday night’s vote to start debate on the measure. “Americans are serious about reforming health insurance and for the first time in 60 years, Congress is primed to act,” the memo says.

The memo plays down a dispute between moderate Democrats who threaten to scuttle the language due to opposition to the public option with a state opt-out and liberals who say they might balk if that measure is dropped.

“The differences between Democrats are small, and we all believe now is the time to make quality, stable, affordable health insurance accessible for every single American,” it says. The talking points say the bill “saves lives and saves money,” cuts the deficit and protects Medicare.”

Talking points prepared by the Senate Republican Conference repeat GOP claims that the measure will cost $2.5 trillion when fully implemented and highlight the measure’s 2,074 pages. The talking points say the bill will generate higher premiums, higher taxes and Medicare cuts.

Countering Democratic claims that the Republican strategy is “to do nothing,” the GOP talking points tout a “step-by-step” approach, including medical malpractice reform, combating waste, enabling small businesses to form purchasing pools and allowing the purchase of insurance across state lines.

House Republicans are spending the week fighting against “[House] Speaker Pelosi’s $1.3 trillion government takeover of health care,” which the GOP talking points call part of “the liberal agenda being advanced in Washington.”

House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence of Indiana urged members to let constituents “know you are fighting hard in Washington to advance policies that will reduce runaway federal spending, lower taxes, and help get Americans back to work.”

House Democrats, like their Senate counterparts, were urged to talk up health care to try to take advantage of momentum from the weekend vote. Members were urged to do radio, television and newspaper interviews “to make the case for health reform and explain the principles of the House bill” because “poll after poll shows that most Americans support our health care insurance reform when we clearly communicate with them what the legislation does.”

When the bill passed the House earlier this month, Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick voted no. “Over the last several months, I have met with thousands of constituents from all over Idaho’s First Congressional District. They are gravely concerned about the economy, about job security, and about the kinds of opportunities their children and grandchildren will have to make a better life.

“Like most of them, I believe that cutting down the cost of health care is one important step we can take in moving our economy forward. We need to reform the insurance industry by demanding accountability and increasing private-sector competition. We must reduce government spending on programs such as a Medicare, and look to Idaho for examples of ways to do just that.  And we must reduce costs throughout the health-care system, so the long-term benefits of reform will truly help our economy to grow and our nation to prosper.”

“Unfortunately, the new health-care bill in the House does not adequately meet those goals, so I will vote ‘no.’ However, I am encouraged by the work of the U.S. Senate, and am hopeful that the final bill I vote on will be one that all Idahoans can support,” Minnick said.

Idaho Senator Mike Crapo has written an editorial against the health care bill, part of which reads “This 2,000-plus page bill is not the kind of reform the American people want,” Crapo said following the Saturday vote to discuss the bill. “It raises taxes by half a trillion dollars, increases premiums and cuts Medicare at the expense of our senior citizens to create a new entitlement program. It grows the federal government by over $2.4 trillion, imposes penalties on individuals and employers and with forces the needy uninsured into a failing Medicaid system, resulting in an unfunded mandate on our struggling states. And, at the end, the bill still leaves millions of Americans uninsured.”