Tanner, Gordon to oppose health reform bill

 By BILL THEOBALD, Gannett Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Two of the four middle Tennessee House Democrats who are part of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition will oppose a health care reform bill the House may bring to a vote on Saturday.

Rep. John Tanner of Union City said Friday the House bill wouldn't do enough to control health care costs and would create a system unsustainable over time. Rep. Bart Gordon of Murfreesboro also said he would vote against the bill.

Rep. Jim Cooper of Nashville was still studying the nearly 2,000-page bill, his spokesman said Friday. And Rep. Lincoln Davis of Pall Mall was not planning to announce his decision in advance, his spokesman said. Each has expressed concerns about the House proposal.

Capturing at least some support from the 52 members of the influential Blue Dog Coalition is considered key to the bill's passage. The House includes 258 Democrats and 177 Republicans. No GOP members are expected to vote for the bill, which means Democratic leaders could lose 40 members of their caucus and still have the needed 218 votes for passage.

The House bill would spend $1.1 trillion over 10 years insuring 36 million people who don't have insurance now, according to the Congressional Budget Office. But that cost would be more than offset through new taxes, spending cuts in some areas of Medicare and Medicaid, and penalties levied on people and businesses that don't buy insurance. As a result of those provisions, the bill would reduce the deficit by $129 billion.

Gordon, who voted for an earlier version of reform legislation as a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said he was concerned about the impact of the final bill on Tennessee's state budget. The number of people eligible for Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the poor, would increase under the House bill. Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen and other governors say they would have trouble financing that.

Nancy-Ann DeParle, a Tennessee native and director of the White House Office of Health Reform, said Friday she had contacted Cooper and Gordon and was planning to talk with Tanner.

"It's difficult when it's a good friend," DeParle said of Gordon's opposition. She said she thought Cooper may eventually support reform legislation to help President Barack Obama. Cooper was an early supporter of Obama.

DeParle discounted the impact of losing support from Blue Dogs.

"They are not the majority of the (Democratic) caucus in the House," DeParle said.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Brentwood, has long opposed the House Democratic plan. "The Democrats have come up with a bill that makes health care government-centered," Blackburn said.

She said the bill would spend money needed for economic development and improvements to roads and other infrastructure.

An alternative health care proposal offered by Republicans would cost far less than the Democratic plan and insure far fewer people.

It would help states create high-risk insurance pools, limit medical malpractice awards, let families and businesses buy health insurance across state lines and expand the use of tax-sheltered medical savings accounts. It would not bar insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions and would not create tax credits to help people buy coverage, proposals Republicans had previously supported.

The GOP proposal would spend $61 billion to insure about 3 million more people, leaving about 52 million uninsured, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Other provisions would reduce the deficit by $68 billion over 10 years.

Contributing: Maureen Groppe, Gannett Washington Bureau