Coble among Republicans not backing Obama's proposal

Staff reports

During the congressional recess, Republican U.S. Rep. Howard Coble said he visited each of the six counties he represents in the 6th District, which includes part of Rowan. The people he spoke with were overwhelmingly opposed to the proposed health care plan, he said.

"I'd say it's about 2-1 in opposition in our district," he said.

Although he believes health care reform should be addressed, he said the cost of the proposed plan is too great.

Coble called "reckless at best" estimates for the total cost of a health care reform plan ranging from $1.1 trillion to $1.6 trillion.

He predicted that some sort of health care reform package would be enacted before the year's end. "I believe the president has put all his eggs in this basket," he said.

"I think the president is trying to shove too much too fast," he said.

Coble does not serve on any House committees that have examined the bill so far.

"A lot of work has yet to be done," he said. "There doesn't need to be a major overhaul, but we do need a minor tune up."

U.S. Rep. Mel Watt, a Democrat who also represents a portion of Rowan County in the 12th District, is one of 83 members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus — and the liberal group's only member from North Carolina — who signed a letter to Obama calling for a "robust public option" the caucus contends would lower health insurance costs and expand access.

"Any bill that does not provide, at a minimum, a public option built on the Medicare provider system and with reimbursement based on Medicare rates — not negotiated rates — is unacceptable," the letter says. "... A health reform bill without a robust public option will not achieve the health reform this country so desperately needs. We cannot vote for anything less."

U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell, a Democrat who represents Cabarrus County in the 8th District, has been noncommittal on what kind of reform he'd support. At an invitation-only Cabarrus Regional Chamber of Commerce meeting in August, Kissell said Americans "do need reforms," but focused on expanding home health care and concerns about Medicaid cuts.