Montana's Delegation Not Content With Obama's Healthcare Proposal
February 23, 2010, 7:30 am
Montana’s congressional delegation had all shades of reaction Monday to President Barack Obama’s health-reform proposal, from tentative support to outright derision.
Republican U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, a vocal critic of Democratic health-reform plans, called the president’s proposal a “lemon” that isn’t much different from earlier proposals Rehberg said have been “soundly rejected by the vast majority of Montanans I heard from last year.”
“Montanans aren’t fooled by the fresh coat of paint,” Rehberg said in a statement.
Obama’s plan is a modified version of Democratic proposals that would require citizens to buy or otherwise have health insurance by 2014, create government subsidies to help low- and middle-income families pay for coverage they must buy, expand public coverage programs for the poor, and toughen regulation of health insurance.
Obama unveiled the proposal Monday, four days before a scheduled “health care summit” in Washington, D.C., with lawmakers from both parties.
Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., a key Democratic leader on health-reform legislation in the Senate, said Monday he likes many provisions of Obama’s proposal and looks forward to discussing it Thursday at the summit.
“Last week when I was home talking with folks, many made it clear that we have to pass health care reform to help rein in costs,” he said. “This (proposal and the summit) will give folks on both sides of the aisle the chance to bring their best ideas forward, so we can work to get a bill passed that will lower costs for families and seniors.”
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said he’s going to “run (Obama’s plan) through a gauntlet to see if it’s right for Montana’s families, small businesses and family farms and ranches.”
“But I’m not in the ‘do-nothing’ camp,” he added. “If nothing is done to reform health care, then Medicare will go broke, no one will hold insurance companies accountable, and health care costs will continue to break Montana families.”
For More of this Helena Independent Record Story, Click Here
Read All
Roundup RSS