Mississippi Congressmen on Public vs. Private Healthcare Reform

Mississippi’s Bennie Thompson wants the federal government to have a bigger role in reforming the nation’s health care system. His Republicans colleagues are pushing back. Sara Sciammacco has more.

Nearly one million people living in Mississippi were without health insurance at some point between 2007 and 2008. Like President Barack Obama, Congressman Thompson wants a government plan to cover those people.

THOMPSON: “I’m not going to qualify it myself. There are just too many hard working people who don’t have a health care option that I would love to cover.”

Democrats argue private insurers game the health system…maximize profits and make care unaffordable. Republican Gregg Harper isn’t sure giving the government more control is the way to go.

HARPER: “Obviously we haven’t seen what they are going to propose but just as a concept there are not many things that the government can do as efficiently as it can be done in the private sector.”

Private insurers fear a public plan would create unfair competition because the government could offer insurance at a lower price. Meanwhile, Democrat Gene Taylor says Congress doesn’t have money to make more promises.

TAYLOR: “We have an astronomical annual operating deficit we just don’t need to be looking for new ways to spend money what we need to be looking for is a way to get a better value for those things we already promised the citizens.”

So how would the federal government pay for it? Thompson says Congress set aside more than 630 billion dollars in the budget to pay for health care reform. Though he realizes it could cost more to cover the uninsured, and Mississippi is strapped for cash.

THOMPSON: "Our state has been one of the ones that has not really addressed health care need of the working poor they have not addressed catastrophic needs of individuals so what ever happens in mystate of Mississippi will have to be from the fedreal government passed down."

President Obama has put health care at the top of his agenda and has called on Congress to come up with a reform proposal soon.

From Capitol News Connection I’m Sara Sciammacco M-P-B News