Sen. Casey Wants Health Care Bill On The Table By Fall

By Aaron Richardson – Talk Radio News Service

In a conference call Wednesday, Senator Bob Casey (D-Pa.) discussed how the health care debate is coming along in the Senate, and what needs to happen in order to have a bill ready by the Fall.

“The idea of staying where we are and pushing this off until another day, another Congress, another time would be a colossal mistake. It would be bad for Pennsylvania to wait, and also the country.” said Casey.

The bill faces many challenges according to Casey, such as whether or not to include a public option, which would allow someone to keep the health care plan they already have if they are happy with it.

“I believe people should have a choice and the fundamental choice should be, if you like your health care we’re not gonna touch it. We’re not gonna ask you to do something different or select a different option. But, if you don’t like the health care you have or the plan you have, you ought to have the option of not just several private options but also a public option which is as close to Medicare as we can get it.” said Casey.

Senator Casey also discussed challenges his state of Pennsylvania faces if the government does not come up with a substantial plan to reform health care.

“At one period of time, 2.8 million Pennsylvanians had no insurance at all in our state. For many of them, they didn’t have insurance for over six months. That’s unacceptable when you have more than a quarter of your population without health insurance. I don’t care if its only for a week. It’s unacceptable, it’s bad for our economy in Pennsylvania and it’s bad for the country.” said Casey.