From staff and wire reports
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A congressman representing the Valley said Saturday he will support the $940 billion health care bill when the U.S. House votes on the measure today.
Chris Carney, a Democrat from Dimock, last week had been among 76 undecided representatives, but said Saturday he will vote for the centerpiece of Barack Obama’s young presidency.
The House, with 253 Democrats, needs 216 votes today to pass the measure to the Senate, where 51 votes are needed.
There are 59 Democrats in the Senate.
“We’ve been through a long, difficult debate over health care,” Carney said in a statement Saturday. “I’ve listened to my constituents (in the 10th District) through 14 town halls and thousands of phone calls, personal visits and letters. I’ve talked with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. And I’ve heard from health care experts, economists, and the Congressional Budget Office, which estimates the cost of the program.
“Throughout this debate, I have focused on several overarching priorities and I believe, after careful review, that this bill addresses them.”
Carney said the legislation that would extend coverage to an estimated 32 million uninsured denies insurers the ability to reject coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, “a common-sense provision that, as a cancer survivor, I feel particularly strongly about,” he said.
Covering maternity care will no longer be optional for insurers, he said, adding that pregnant women and their unborn children will be guaranteed coverage when they need it most.
“And the arbitrary and exorbitant insurance premium increases that have hamstrung small businesses and working families will no longer be possible,” he said.
The overhaul reduces the federal deficit by an estimated $138 billion over the first 10 years and an additional $1.2 trillion in the following decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Carney was swayed by the continuation of a long-standing ban on public funding for abortion that is part of the bill.
That is “a factor that weighed heavily on my mind in recent days,” Carney said.
“I am voting for this legislation because all Americans should have the same insurance choices enjoyed by members of Congress and their families. If it’s good enough for members of Congress, it is good enough for the people they represent.”
