Hodes to vote for House health bill

CONCORD – U.S. Senate candidate Paul Hodes confirmed Thursday he would vote for the universal health care bill coming before the U.S. House this weekend.

Hodes, a Democrat, said the measure contains strong protections for consumers, a robust, public option that will increase competition and the plan would not increase the federal deficit.

“I believe the health care reform plan is the right step to providing affordable, portable, health care for working class New Hampshire families,” Hodes told reporters.

Gov. John Lynch, also a Democrat, has declined to support the measure due to concern that the expansion of Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance plan for the poor and disabled, would be a budget buster.

Hodes noted that under the bill, the federal government will pay all Medicaid expansion costs for five years and then states will pay 9 percent of the higher costs starting in 2015.

“I believe the benefits of this bill outweigh any of the challenges we may face in the way of shared payments under Medicaid,” Hodes said.

The bill makes insurers cover all customers regardless of pre-existing conditions and puts an end to lifetime caps on coverage.

All employers would either have to offer coverage or pay an 8 percent payroll tax. All employees have to get coverage or pay a 2.5 percent income tax to be without it.

The two-term congressman criticized “the status quo” health care reform ideas offered by his probable Republican opponent Kelly Ayotte and House Republican leaders as inadequate.

Ayotte supports House GOP plans that would let insurers cross state lines to sell health care policies and set limits on damages in medical malpractice suits.

“New Hampshire doesn’t want Paul Hodes’ and Nancy Pelosi’s trillion dollar government takeover of health care,’’ said Brooks Kochvar, Ayotte’s campaign spokesman.

“Hodes’ plan has huge tax increases, cuts Medicare, and does nothing to stop junk lawsuits from driving up costs. New Hampshire wants common sense solutions to our health care that don’t raise taxes and create huge new deficits.’’

Republican State Chairman John H. Sununu mocked Hodes for failing to hold open- ended, town hall-style forums on health care this summer and announcing his support via a telephone conference call from Washington.

“Over the past few months, Paul Hodes has let down his constituents by avoiding face-to-face town hall meetings and refusing to listen to their concerns about his disastrous health care agenda,” Sununu said.

“Now he is thumbing his nose at New Hampshire by hiding behind a long distance telephone call to announce his support for this budget-busting legislation. He is confirming to voters across the Granite State that he’s been a poor congressman and he would make an even worse senator.”

Republican Sen. Judd Gregg has led opposition to universal health care in the Senate, warning private insurers could not compete with a government-run program and that it would increase the deficit.

“Hopefully, reasonable members of the House will realize that the nation cannot afford this bill and that ramming through a careless, partisan bill that rings in at $1.2 billion per page, but still leaves 18 million Americans uninsured, will do irreparable damage to the high quality health care that people in our country expect,” Gregg said in a statement.

Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter, a Democrat, endorsed the bill and offered a hearty endorsement for it after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled it last week.

The nation’s largest seniors lobby, AARP, also came out for the legislation Thursday. AARP had criticized previous House reform plans for their proposed cuts to Medicare.

“This bill is good for seniors, and that is why the AARP has endorsed it,” Shea-Porter said Thursday. “ It will close the Medicare Part D prescription drug doughnut hole, which affects one in six American seniors.”

Kevin Landrigan can be reached at 321-7040 or klandrigan@nashua telegraph.com.