Klein tells tele-town hall he’s “not quite there yet” on supporting Dem health care bill, public option
by George Bennett | August 26th, 2009
Klein
“I’m not quite there yet on saying I’m supporting the bill,” Klein said early in the 70-minute teleconference. Klein’s office said about 6,460 callers participated.
Klein, who represents a Palm Beach-Broward district with slightly more Republicans than Democrats, said he hasn’t taken a position yet on a government-run “public option” for health insurance that is a key issue for many Democrats.
“I’m still looking at it. I haven’t committed to it,” Klein said when a caller asked for his position on the public option. Later, he told another caller he would not support a public option that relied on taxpayer subsidy.
“It has to be actuarially sound and independent,” Klein told a caller from Boynton Beach who identified himself as a Republican. “It is not to be subsidized . . . it has to be fully paid for by the premiums.”
Critics accused Klein of using the teleconference to avoid a face-to-face meeting with constituents on health care, a topic that has sparked heated debate at many other town hall meetings around the U.S.
But Klein said he expected to reach far more constituents than would likely attend an in-person meeting. Speaking from his office in Boca Raton, he fielded questions from 17 callers.
Klein said he supported provisions to bar insurers from rejecting patients based on pre-existing medical conditions. He said he also liked proposals to reduce out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs for Medicare recipients who fall into that program’s “donut hole.”
Klein said he also supports measures to streamline payments to doctors and to allow small businesses to pool their insurance purchasing power.
But, he said, “My number one concern is the cost. I’m a budget hawk.”
In response to callers’ questions, Klein said he won’t support any bill that provides insurance benefits to illegal immigrants. He said the Democratic bill would not overturn the federal Hyde Amendment that prohibits using federal money to pay for abortions.
Klein also said he wouldn’t support a plan that forced people to give up their current private insurance plans.
“If you like what you have, you keep it. I’ve said that all along,” Klein told a caller.
Tags: town halls
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August 27th, 2009 at 7:57 am
Klein says he’s “not there yet” in supporting the health care bill? And that he won’t until the costs are controlled? And that he won’t support a bill that would force us into a public option? But isn’t he in the House? And isn’t the House bill the only one so far that has passed? Did ANYONE ask him if he voted for that bill? My guess is that he did, and he just fed his callers a bunch of baloney while he figures out how to walk the line between his moderate district and his party’s leftist leadership without becoming political roadkill. Got news: It can’t be done.
August 27th, 2009 at 8:06 am
Agreed Red. Like it or not, with Kennedy’s passing (so sad), we’re going to get a health care billed crammed down our throats. The Senate is already preparing to revamp its own rules so it can pass the measure with 51 votes and not the 60 needed to prevent a fillibuster. So much for representation!
August 27th, 2009 at 8:37 am
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August 27th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
They voted for it They want to ram it down our throats. ALL I can say is 2010 baby, The pendulum will swing.
Klein is trying to BS us But we are not going to swallow the lies anymore.
We should vote OUT everyone who voted for the bill without reading it in the House.
They dont deserve to be sent back to Washington. We need a law that clearly states that a law that is passed shall always apply to Congress FIRST. Otherwise they are just a bunch of hypocrites
August 27th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Klein is spineless fence-sitter, who sways with what is popular.
What a waste of tax payer dollars for his salary.
August 27th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
I think Klein has made a political decision to tell people he’s not there yet so he doesn’t have to take the heat. In the meantime, he still spouts the lies about the plan. No abortion, there is no way Democrats would support this bill, and turn down republican amendments that state it outright, if it wasn’t there. There’s a plan. Either it’s in there or they plan to slip it in before they send it up to the President.
Illegals will not be included? La Raza is not a stupid organization. If they’re supporting this bill, there’s something in it for them. I haven’t heard one Hispanic organization denounce this bill because illegals aren’t covered, give me a break.
You can keep your insurance and your doctor?? The best lie of all. How can you rant and rant about the status quo, add 50 million people to the rolls, have all of it covered by millionairs, and not bankrupt someone. Insurance companies have to make a profit, Medicare is on the verge of 30 trillion in debt, so obviously they don’t.
In short, Rep. Klein avoided the tough questions. I hope he’s happy. I can’t see him being re-elected next November.
August 27th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
I wonder if any of the above writers actually were part of the teleconference call. I was, and I found it refreshing and clearly understandable.
No questions were avoided as far as I could tell, and there were some tough questions asked…and well answered.
For the record, HR-3200 has NOT been passed in the House. The above writers seem to believe it is already passed, and Red said so directly. NOT!
I am a political conservative, and I came away from the teleconference call with a new respect for the Congressman. He made it quite clear that he and several people on his staff have read the entirety of HR-3200. Very few in the Congress have done so, and I think it speaks volumes about Congressman Klein’s concern and integrity that he has done so.
His presentation was the most informative I have heard to date, and I watch MSNBC, Fox, and CSPAN for political coverage regularly.
So, to Congressman Klein — Well done, sir!
Pete b