Health care bill passes House 219-212; Halter, Lincoln send out releases
219 Democrats pushed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act through the House last night, while 34 Dems and all 178 Republicans voted against it. In Arkansas, Congressmen Berry, Boozman and Ross voted against it while Snyder voted for it. In the wake of the vote, Sen. Lincoln sent out a press release praising the vote, stating:
Even with its imperfections, this bill represents the most morally and fiscally responsible approach to health reform. I have fought for health care reform to reduce costs for small business owners and the self-employed so they can reinvest the savings in their companies and hire more workers.Primary challenger Bill Halter put out his own release stating "I urge Senator Lincoln to join me in putting Arkansans first by supporting passage of this bill as soon as possible."His statement, in part:
I am pleased that we will now force insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions, preserve Medicare for future generations and reduce the deficit by more than one trillion dollars over the next 20 years. I now look forward to ensuring that Arkansans benefit the most from health insurance reform.
I expect the misinformation campaign about the new law to continue and I also expect many of the attacks will be targeted against me, starting with my position on additional changes contained in a procedure called Budget Reconciliation. I cannot support the Reconciliation package devised by the House which includes matters unrelated to health care and employs a legislative process that wasn't subject to the same transparency and thorough debate that we used in the Senate.
[Halter] applauded the U.S. House of Representatives in passing health care reform and encouraged the Senate and Senator Lincoln to immediately pass the reconciliation bill.Mike Ross's full release on his no vote is on the jump. Folks at the Clinton School will get thoughts from the left this morning from MSNBC talk show host Rachel Maddow, who's scheduled to speaker there at 9:00 this morning. It's free if you're in the vicinity in downtown Little Rock.
“Washington is broken and it's past time to put the needs of Arkansans ahead of special interests,” said Halter. “While this bill is not perfect, and it could have been improved with more decisive action by Senator Lincoln, it will prevent people from being denied health care insurance due to pre-existing conditions and it will begin to provide more than 450,000 uninsured Arkansans the health care they need. At the same time, the legislation will rein in health care costs and will reduce our national debt. And it helps our seniors who need it most by ending the donut hole in prescription drug coverage and improving Medicare solvency.”
posted by Steve Harrelson @ 3/22/2010 08:28:00 AM | Permalink |
5 Comments:
This was one of the most difficult votes I have ever cast in the House of Representatives because I believe we need health care reform. That’s why I have worked since last summer trying to improve this bill. While we were successful in making some changes, others were not accepted.
This issue has divided our country in a way that I have not seen in my many years. There are those who have distorted the facts on both sides and special interests have spent millions of dollars trying to scare the American people. I believe my job as your representative is to present the facts, listen to you and serve as your voice in our nation’s capital. You deserve to always know where I stand on the issues and why. Above all, you should always hear the truth from me.
There are parts of this bill that are good, including much-needed health insurance reforms and making health insurance affordable for the uninsured. On the other hand, many parts of this bill cause me great concern, like telling people they must buy health insurance or be fined, cutting Medicare by more than a half-trillion dollars, increasing taxes and forcing businesses to provide health insurance to their employees. I am also concerned how these new mandates will impact our small businesses as we recover from this economic recession and they attempt to put people back to work.
Getting our fiscal house back in order is key to our economic future. Therefore, one of my concerns throughout this entire debate has been the impact this legislation will have on future deficits. After careful review and thoughtful analysis, I am unconvinced this bill will adequately address the long-term trend of rising health care costs that burden our government and every Arkansas family.
Groups on both sides of this issue have heavily pressured me to vote how they wanted. But, my job as your representative is to listen to you—not them. And I have done just that, hosting 34 town hall meetings and four telephone town hall meetings this year alone in each of the 29 counties I represent in the U.S. House of Representatives. An overwhelming majority of you told me that while you support health care reform, you do not believe this bill is right for Arkansas. You told me it is too big and too costly. And, I agree with you. That is why I voted against the Senate health care reform bill and the reconciliation package, just as I voted against the House health care reform bill last year. Had we been allowed to vote on the numerous provisions in this nearly 3,000 page bill separately, I could have supported many of them. Unfortunately, I never had that option.
I recognize there are some I represent who support this bill and I want them to know that I will continue to work to improve our nation's health care system.
As your representative, I pledge to you that I will do all I can to build on the good aspects of this legislation and to improve upon those that cause many of us concern. I will continue working in a bipartisan manner in our nation’s capital to pass common sense reforms that reflect Arkansas values.
Sincerely,
Mike Ross
Hi Rep Harrelson,
I happened to see you this morning at the United Way Breakfast. We have not met. I was, however, interested in hearing your stance on the healthcare bill and was glad to see your post. My husband and I read your comments and found them very enlightening and well-explained. However, we couldn't help wondering if you'd held a town hall meeting anywhere in the Texarkana area. This reform effort has resulted in a very heated debate, to say the least. As you mentioned, the people (in general) are very polarized, almost predictably so. How diverse were your meetings, and who was represented? On one hand, I have found that many, many people I know on a personal basis have expressed their desire to see this reform passed. On the other hand, I've heard an equal amount of rejection from others in the business arena. At times, I have felt that the issues run much deeper than this reform--lots of hatred and bitterness, it seems, and as I have witnessed personally -- not only via news. However, I would like to have been more informed about the intricacies of the bill, so as to take an informed stance. A town hall meeting with you would have been an excellent way to have a healthy, reasonable discussion about the facts. Please let us know how we can participate in future public meetings in our area and how we can support your continued efforts to represent us.
Thanks sincerely for your service, and may God continue to bless you, your family and staff in your endeavors to do what is right.
gmc7887@aol.com
Steve, what is your stance on the recently passed bill? How would you have voted if you were, say, the Congressman from the 4th District.
Yes, I continue to have meetings with any organization and people who'll listen in addition to participating in traditional "town hall" style meetings or forums. I'm sending you a personal invite by e-mail to my next one so that you can come, listen, and participate. In addition to attending my events, I hope you will feel comfortable e-mailing (steve@steveharrelson.com) or calling me anytime on any issue. My office is 870-772-0300, and my personal cell phone number is 903-314-1361. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
To the 10:58 poster, I am for improving our national health care system -- see specific principles in the next paragraph. As a state legislator, I'm against this particular bill solely for what it does to our Medicaid budget (which means, in essence, what it does either to your taxes or the services we provide). As you know, we have to balance the budget at the state level. This bill will increase demands on our Medicaid program without giving us a way to pay for it.
That said, there are some good aspects to reforming the process (expanding prescription drug coverage for the elderly, curbing the denying of coverage of people with pre-existing conditions, etc) and bad aspects (fining people who don't comply). As a state legislator who's in charge in part of appropriating sufficient Medicaid funds to maintain an array of worthy services that are already needed, I just can't support a bill that has increases these demands. I'm trying to ensure that the existing Medicaid budget in Arkansas can fund existing essential services like our important Opportunities, Inc. right here in southwest Arkansas. As you know, we have already had to slash millions from our Medicaid budget right here in 2010 because of anticipated shortfalls.
Steve
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