COUNCIL BLUFFS — Republican U.S. Rep. Steve King left no doubt Tuesday where he would place the health care legislation being debated in the House.
“I would like to take this bill and dump it,” King told about 200 people who gathered at a town hall meeting at the Council Bluffs Public Library.
King was referring to H.R. 3200, the House Democrats’ bill that would expand health care coverage to the estimated 47 million uninsured. The bill calls for a government-run plan to compete with private insurance companies.
King disputed the 47 million figure.
“Who are these people?” he asked the friendly crowd.
Citing research from a Republican U.S. Senate study group, King said 10 million are either here illegally or have legal status but are barred from government programs.
Another 9.7 million are eligible for health programs but haven’t signed up, while 6 million are eligible for employer-sponsored insurance but haven’t enrolled. Nine million others make $75,000 or more annually, he said, but they decline insurance for their own reasons.
That leaves 12.1 million who are too poor to buy health insurance, he said. “That’s less than 4 percent of the total population,” King said.
However, there is disagreement about the number of people who cannot afford health insurance.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, which studies health care issues, about 30 million of the uninsured earn less than twice the poverty level, or about $44,000 for a family of four.
King represents western Iowa’s 5th Congressional District. No one in favor of the Democrats’ proposals spoke at the meeting. King also held health care meetings Tuesday in Clarinda and Atlantic.
He said a government-run plan, or public option, would need “billions of capital” to get started.
He said a health care board would write rules and regulations on all private and public policies. He feared that many existing insurance policies would be slashed, creating less competition, not more.
Chuck Petterson of Persia, who attended the meeting, told King that “so many things go into the cost that don’t have anything to do with medicine.”
Years ago, it was just he and his doctor when it came to health care, Petterson said. Today, that doctor’s office has dozens of people employed because of red tape.
“This bill does nothing to control costs,” Petterson said.
King said restricting medical malpractice lawsuits would help reduce costs.
Another cost-saving measure would be the ability to “cross state lines” when buying health insurance, he said. For example, a policy in New Jersey costing $6,000 might be only $1,000 in Kentucky.
“That would help a lot of people,” he said. “I will continue to support that.”
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