From staff reports

news@joplinglobe.com

Four area lawmakers on Thursday outlined their opposition to the House Democrats’ health care legislation that is expected to come to a vote over the weekend.

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., has said House leaders expect to have the 218 votes needed to pass the 10-year, $1.2 trillion bill that would overhaul the nation’s health care system. The measure is expected to come to a vote Saturday in the House.

No Republican support is expected for the bill, and the opposition as of Thursday also included two area Democrats: Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri and Rep. Dan Boren of Oklahoma.

Skelton’s position

“While the bill unveiled last week is an improvement over the bills considered by House committees during the summer months, it does not represent the right balance for the people I represent, and I do not intend to support it,” Skelton said in a press statement.

Skelton has raised concerns about the public plan option, specifically its potential effects on people who already have private insurance plans, as well as impact on rural hospitals and doctors.

“And, I worry that the House bill does not clearly prevent federal funds from being used for abortion services,” Skelton said in the statement. “As a pro-life member of Congress, I cannot support a reform bill that would allow taxpayers to fund abortions.”

An intraparty disagreement over how to prevent federal funds from being used to pay for abortions has not yet been entirely resolved, though Hoyer said language being circulated by one anti-abortion Democrat, Rep. Brad Ellsworth of Indiana, seemed likely to be the basis for an agreement.

Boren’s position

Boren has reiterated opposition he previously staked out in August, citing concerns about the impact on small businesses and the inclusion of a public option.

“The worst thing we could do during a recession is raise taxes and this bill does just that,” Boren said in a statement. “I also believe the public option would ultimately lead to a single-payer health care system. Finally, I do not believe that the possibility for taxpayer funded abortion has been clearly and emphatically removed from this legislation.”

Boren said he supports eliminating health insurance companies’ ability to deny applicants coverage based on pre-existing conditions, but he said the proposed bill “is just not the answer to America’s health care problems.”

Blunt’s position

Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., intends to vote “no” on the bill because of a “litany of problems” that include the “enormous cost” of the program and a belief that a public option ultimately would lead to a single-payer system and a “government takeover” of the health insurance marketplace, according to Dan Wadlington, a Blunt spokesman.

Wadlington also cited objections to the bill’s abortion provision and concerns that the bill would place a “bureaucrat” between patients and their doctors.

And there are concerns about where the money to fund such a system would come from after the 10-year time period cited in the bill, he said.

“He (Blunt) will vote ‘no’ as that bill is currently drafted,” Wadlington said, adding that Blunt did not expect any changes to the proposal.

Blunt this week has been highlighting his support for other health care reform measures, including proposals that would give Americans a tax credit for purchasing their own health insurance on the open market and that would enhance health information technology.

Jenkins’ position

Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., also opposes the measure that will come to the House floor.

“Congresswoman Jenkins knows health care needs to be more affordable and accessible for all Americans,” her office said in a statement. “However, she remains opposed to Speaker Pelosi’s $1.3 trillion health care bill because it will raise taxes on families and small businesses, destroy as many as 5.5 million American jobs, cut more than $500 million from Medicare and will put further strain on our nation’s fragile economy.”

The House bill would cover 96 percent of Americans, providing government subsidies beginning in 2013 to extend coverage to millions who now lack it. Self-employed people and small businesses could buy coverage through new exchanges, either from a private insurer or a new government plan that would compete. All the plans sold through the exchange would have to follow basic consumer protection rules.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.





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House Resolution 3962 is more than 2,000 pages long.