|
Vincent Del Giudice
Published: July 12, 2009
(Bloomberg) -- A government health insurance overhaul plan must focus on cutting costs and on raising taxes, two U.S. Senate Democrats said.
�The No. 1 thing we have to do is cut costs,� Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, said on NBC�s �Meet the Press� program. Schumer also said �we do have to find revenues to pay for the rest.�
The Finance Committee will assemble the Senate�s health insurance legislation, and Democrats are planning to present a proposal by the start of the monthlong congressional recess in August.
Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois said on ABC�s �This Week� program that the health insurance industry -- which is �making a fortune in profits today� -- is the primary source of opposition to changes in the health care system.
Durbin also said legislation must �combine cuts in actual spending on health care, savings from hospitals, from doctors, from health insurance companies, along with some new revenue.�
Republican Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, a member of the Finance Committee, who also appeared on the ABC program, objected to taxes to fund the plan, saying �It would be a job killer. It would be exactly the wrong thing to do any time, but especially when we�re in the middle of a recession.�
Kyl said there is �no chance� legislation will be agreed on by the August recess, adding that �Republicans very much want reform, but not on the backs of the American people with the kind of taxes and potential rationing of care that would result.�
To contact the reporter on this story: Vincent Del Giudice in Washington at [email protected]
World Health Watch Archive
|