Opinions mixed on legislation

WARREN - There were mixed reactions and a little confusion in Warren regarding the health care bill that passed the U.S. Senate on the morning of Christmas Eve.

The bill was hailed by some, but also was panned by those on either side of the political spectrum.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who appeared at Youngstown State University to speak about health care in September, said he was in favor of a ''strong public option,'' which did not make it into the final language of the Senate's bill.

However, in a statement the senator praises items in the bill that included tax credits for businesses to help employers cover their workers, a requirement for insurance companies to spend premium dollars on medical care and a ban on insurance companies excluding people with pre-existing conditions from getting insured. The statement claims that more than 390 Ohioans lose their health insurance every day and that medical costs were the reason for some 62 percent of bankruptcies. It also said that 45,000 Americans die each year because they are uninsured.

''The bill we are considering is not perfect by any means, and there are plenty of areas where it falls short of what I would like to accomplish. But there are about 31 million reasons to support it,'' Brown stated in the press release.

Others weren't so generous with the praise, not the least of which was registered nurse Tom Connelly. Connelly is a registered nurse of 30 years, the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2026, Council 8, who took part in a rally in Washington in favor of a public health insurance option which he said would keep costs of private insurance low.

In a telephone interview after the bill's passage on Thursday, Connelly said he was extremely disappointed that a public plan was not included in the senate's bill. People would still be required under penalty of law to have insurance even without the government plan.

''I see a lot of gains for the insurance companies but not many for the American people. It was because of the Senate, where the elected officials let us down every time we ask them to do something. Congress had a fairly decent bill, then it was turned over to the jackasses in the Senate who ended up with their palms getting greased and the American people getting nothing,'' he said.

Connelly suggested that everyone who shows up in the emergency room at Forum Health should go to Ohio Republican U.S. Senator George Voinovich's house.

''They should be ashamed of themselves,'' he said of the Senate.

Voinovich's office released a statement, saying that he joined every other Republican in the Senate in voting against the bill.

''The two-trillion dollar spending bill rushed through by the Democrats cuts Medicare, raises taxes, increases premiums for health insurance, places additional burdens on states and threatens the health choices that millions currently enjoy. At a time when Ohio's unemployment rate is at 10.6 percent, new health care legislation should first do no harm to the economy,'' he said.

The Senator also accused the bill of not doing enough to prevent federal funding from covering abortions.

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan's Office, D-Niles, was closed for the holidays and did not have a statement immediately available Thursday.

Frank Calvin, while sitting at the Mocha House in Warren Thursday morning said thinking about the health care bill made his blood pressure rise.

''We're doomed ... The government shouldn't be involved in this stuff. It's all about control,'' Calvin said.

Retired Judge Robert Nader, also at the Mocha House, said he was for health care reform and that the country can't afford to not change it, but he said it was difficult to follow the progress of the bill because of the months of bartering, arguing and rhetoric surrounding the bill's different provisions.

''They never had that completely explained,'' he said.

The legislation would ban the insurance industry from denying benefits or charging higher premiums on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions. The Congressional Budget Office predicts the bill will reduce deficits by $130 billion over the next 10 years, an estimate that assumes lawmakers carry through on hundreds of billions of dollars in planned cuts to insurance companies and doctors, hospitals and others who treat Medicare patients.

For the first time, the government would require nearly every American to carry insurance, and subsidies would be provided to help low-income people to do so. Employers would be induced to cover their employees through a combination of tax credits and penalties. The legislation costs nearly $1 trillion over 10 years and is paid for by a combination of taxes, fees and cuts to Medicare.

Republicans were withering in their criticism of what they deemed a budget-busting government takeover.

House Minority Leader John Boehner assailed the bill moments after passage.

''Not even Ebenezer Scrooge himself could devise a scheme as cruel and greedy as Democrats' government takeover of health care,'' the Ohio Republican said in a statement.

Negotiations between the House and Senate to reconcile differences between the two bills are expected to begin as soon as next week. The House bill has stricter limits on abortion than the Senate, and unlike the House, the Senate measure omits a government-run insurance option, which liberals favored to apply pressure on private insurers but Democratic moderates opposed as an unwarranted federal intrusion. Obama has signaled he will sign a bill even if it lacks that provision.

The Associated Press Contributed to this report.

brodgers@tribtoday.com