Published: November 05, 2009 08:55 pm      

Lawmakers mulling health care legislation

WASHINGTON — Members of West Virginia’s congressional delegation in Washington are still mulling over the hot-topic debate of health care reform.

U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., issued a statement Thursday regarding the latest version of the health care bill — The Affordable Health Care for American Act. The measure is scheduled for consideration this week in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“Throughout all the health care discussion, including my five town hall meetings, the clearest message I have received from southern West Virginians is that health care and its insurance costs are out of control,” Rahall said in the prepared statement. “Those who manage to pay for it, pay far more than they should, in part, because of those who can’t afford it. In the last 10 years alone, health care has shot up 131 percent, while incomes have only risen 38 percent. It's time we turn the tide.”

Rahall said the health care measure up for consideration in the House isn’t perfect.

“As a pro-life member of Congress, I am working to strengthen the bill's pro-life guarantees and we are making progress,” Rahall said. “Some of the bill improvements include requiring health plans to allow young people to remain on their parents’ insurance policy up to their 27th birthday, and exempting 86 percent of businesses from the shared responsibility requirement. It will also reduce the Medicare donut hole by $500 and institutes a 50 percent discount for brand-name drugs in the donut hole and phases out the donut hole by 2019; and creates State Health Insurance Compacts that would permit states to enter into agreements to allow for the sale of insurance across state lines when the state legislatures agree.”

Rahall said many families simply cannot afford medical care that could save their lives.

"The stark reality is that many of us already have or will face a time in our lives when our health needs will outpace our means of insurance,” Rahall said. “People should not have to live with the fear that an illness could bankrupt their family, that the cost of their prescriptions could mean less food on the table, or the knowledge that they simply cannot afford medical care that could save their lives. This is about saving those who are dying every day because of a lack of health insurance.”

U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., also issued a statement regarding the status of the Children’s Health Insurance Program as it relates to the new House of Representatives health care bill.

“I fought in the Senate Finance Committee to protect CHIP and the health care coverage of millions of children,” Rockefeller said in the prepared statement. “As health reform moves forward, we need to make sure children can keep their CHIP coverage and not be forced into untested private coverage. The Congressional Budget Office has been very clear that replacing CHIP with private health coverage will lead some children to lose their health coverage altogether, which is harmful and intolerable. Health care reform should improve the coverage children have – not take their coverage away.”

— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com