Jul 30
SHS: ‘I’m not able to support healthcare bill in current form’
By Denise Ross
South Dakota’s congresswoman, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, told reporters Thursday that she can’t support any of the various versions of health care reform legislation now being worked on in the US House.
I’m not able to support the bill in its current form, she said on a conference call.
SHS said she believes the well-known Blue Dog coalition, of which she is a leader, has had a positive impact on the House bill(s) - especially when it comes to cost containment, but she’s more interested in what might come out of the Senate Finance Committee.
The bill started out where the more liberal members of the (House Dem) caucus wanted to be. …
(What comes out of Senate Finance) will be a product I might find more appealing than what emerges from committees in the House. I’m pleased I’ll have time to see what this group comes up with in the Senate.
SHS cautioned that her current unease with House legislation doesn’t mean she’s a no vote on the floor. That will depend on a lot of things, particularly any amendments she and others could make that would bring the House bill more in line with the Senate version.
This is just a committee markup. There will be a lot of legislative steps left.
She also said it’s not unreasonable to expect members of congress to read bills before voting on them, even when they’re more than 1,000 pages long - as the current House bill is. It’s not about reading a bill “cover to cover,” she said, but about sitting down with various interested parties and examining/discussing the language.
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No. No no no no no. How can SHS let us down like this?
I don’t suppose there’s any chance a real Democrat would stand a chance in the primary, is there?
When I voted for SHS, this isn’t what I voted for. I sure as heck didn’t vote for a Republican. Maybe us SD Dems will “not be able to support” her in the next election.
Glad to see that Stephanie might have a harder time getting elected next time around. I for one am glad that she finally found a spine and isn’t the lap dog for Reid and Pelosi on this issue, at least not yet. This bill will not give better health care, more options, or the rest of the stuff being touted by the Dems. It might look good for awhile, but its mandates and surcharges and dumping care back on the states will be ruinous to the public health and the economic health of the individual states. What happens to the states when they have to assume more of the cost? Yup, higher state taxes. Look past the end of your nose and see what this bill will do. And then demand that all the DC people vote NO!!!!
katzer, I’m looking well past the end of my nose… at my skyrocketing private insurance premiums that will get taken away the moment my insurer finds a loophole, or the moment my daughter or wife develops a serious disease that cuts too far into the insurer’s profits. The current legislation adds choices, adds competition, pushes private insurers to cut their waste and spend more money on actual health care, and oh yeah, actually gets everyone covered and saves lives.
I pay 10% of my income right now for really bad, insecure private insurance. I’ll gladly trade that for a 10% tax increase, if that’s what it takes. How about you?
I do NOT want the gov’t sticking its nose or past its nose in my health care. If it feels it has to, there are many less invasive ways to identify certain problems other than taking over complete control. There is no way to fund this increase, which cost is downplayed by Obama etc. I don’t know how people can continually call for more gov’t spending when we are already broke.
Best way to fund good health care is to eliminate the private insurance companies standing between doctors and patients denying care they probably promised when their clients signed up for their “insurance”.
Lots of savings are possible. About a dozen insurance executives peel off $30 million or so. That will pay a lot of wages if going to lower-level government employees.
Do you love your family?
Do you love your insurance company?
Take your pick.