Reform by Thanksgiving: Rep. Thompson hopeful health care bill will be passed by late November

Eureka Times Standard

In the moment it happened, Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst during President Barack Obama's nationally televised speech on health care reform didn't bother North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson much. He didn't hear what Wilson said.

”I have more than a normal amount of trouble hearing,” Thompson said during a telephone press conference Thursday, adding that he's not sure anyone sitting around him on the House floor caught Wilson's shout of “You lie” when Obama said the health care reform bills being considered would not cover illegal immigrants.

”Everybody was pretty shocked,” Thompson said of the interruption. “We all looked at each other. We knew it wasn't a cheer of encouragement.”

Wilson reportedly offered Obama a private apology for the incident Thursday, which the president accepted.

”We have to get to the point where we can have a conversation about big important issues that matter to the American people without vitriol, without name calling, without the assumption of the worst in other people's motives,” Obama told a group of reporters Thursday, after publicly accepting Wilson's apology.

In his press conference Thursday, Thompson said he feels the president did an excellent job in Wednesday's speech making the case for health care reform, and likely helped dispel some of the misinformation surrounding the emotionally charged debate.

A member of the House Ways and Means Committee, Thompson helped author one of the House reform bills that will be reconciled with two other House bills in the coming weeks before eventually being melded with legislation coming out of the Senate.

The 1,018-page Ways and Means bill would make the federal government responsible for ensuring that all people, regardless of income or pre-existing conditions, have access to an affordable insurance plan. Individuals and employers would have new obligations to get coverage, or face penalties.

The bill would also create a government-run health care option intended to compete with private insurers and drive costs down. But, the bill would not require anyone currently happy with their insurance to change it.

With the legislation carrying a price tag estimated to approach $1 trillion over 10 years, Thompson said he was very happy to hear Obama say Wednesday that whatever legislation is passed, it must be paid for and must not add to the national debt.

”He indicated he would not sign a bill that would add to the deficit,” Thompson said. “I think he did a fantastic job.”

The Ways and Means bill proposes paying for itself largely by increasing taxes on the nation's top 1.2 percent of earners -- families that make more than $350,000 a year.

Thompson also took the opportunity Thursday to again voice his support for the inclusion of a public insurance option.

”I think it's incredibly important,” he said. “There needs to be some lever in this bill that would push the price down and bring the performance up. I think the public option is an outstanding tool to do that.”

Many Republicans have said they will not support a bill with a public option, with many likening it to the beginning of a government takeover of the health care industry. Similarly, some members of the conservative Democratic group Blue Dog Democrats, of which Thompson is a member, have said they will not support a public option, fearing it's an over-extension of government and have expressed concerns about the cost of the bill.

There are also some liberal Democrats who have said they won't support a bill that doesn't include a single-payer system, or an insurance system entirely run by the government.

”You have Democrats on all sides of this bill,” Thompson said, adding that getting Democrats on the same page, not bipartisan support, is the key to passing this legislation. “If you do the math, ultimately, it can be passed without Republicans. But, ultimately, it can't be passed without the Blue Dog Democrats and the progressive Democrats.”

Returning for a recess in which almost every member of Congress held a town hall meeting on health care and heard from constituents, Thompson said he feels the tenor of the debate is changing.

While some in Congress might not be saying it, Thompson said most in this country realize there is simply a need for reform.

”It doesn't make any difference whether you're from a red district or a blue district, the cost of health care is too high,” he said, adding that he's hopeful Congress can reconcile its differences and get a bill on Obama's desk by Thanksgiving.