The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

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February 22, 2010

Rahall defends House-passed version of national health care bil

By Bev Davis

Editor's Note: The Register-Herald editorial board recently spoke with 3rd District Congressman Nick Rahall and focused on a number of current issues. This story developed from that meeting.

Although sweeping health care reform scares people, focusing on tenets upon which all sides in the debate seem to agree would be the best place to start, the state’s 3rd District representative said.

“There’s no final bill out there right now. We have the Senate- and House-passed bills under consideration before we can come up with a final bill yet to be presented,” Congressman Nick Rahall said Friday during an editorial board meeting with The Register-Herald. “I think we need to take the things most people widely agree on and get those in motion.”

Defending the House version of the bill, Rahall defined those areas of common ground as eliminating discrimination against pre-existing illnesses, the need for portability of health care insurance and the healthy competition a government-run insurance program would provide.

“I’ve heard both sides of the aisle agree on these issues,” Rahall said. “If you lose your job, you need to be able to carry your health insurance with you. A government-run insurance program will create competition for the large private insurance companies, but what’s wrong with competition?”

The fear of “government rationing” of services has created much of the dissent against a national health care plan, he said.

“There’s no validity to the argument government will ration health care,” Rahall said. “If you have private insurance, your company can raise your premiums or you co-pays at any time. They can cancel your policy at any time. The current system isn’t working. We hear the horror stories all the time. If you have insurance, you should support the bill so your premiums won’t be raised or your insurance canceled a year from now.”

Political ads claiming a national health care plan will deny many of the current benefits to Medicare recipients are not only misleading, they are untrue, Rahall said.

“The House-passed bill strengthens the Medicare system and reduces the cost of prescription drugs. It’s a good bill, and people receiving Medicare do not have to be fearful of being denied procedures or benefits,” he said.

The House-passed bill also protects people with pre-existing illnesses from being denied coverage.

“People need affordable health care coverage, and they should not be denied a plan that covers health problems they have had in the past. Health care coverage has to be designed to protect those concerns just as it would catastrophic illnesses that could occur in the future,” Rahall said.

— E-mail: bdavis@register-herald.com

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