Washington, DC - Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) offered considerable insight on his plans for health care reform during a roundtable discussion at Dearborn City Hall this afternoon.  Some of the Congressman’s comments:

On a Public Plan:
“I support a public plan because I think it will provide a competitive yardstick that will balance the insurance market, provide stability, create better transparency and efficiency, and promote innovations.  I do not want the public plan to have an unfair advantage against the private insurance market.  That is why I want to listen to your concerns and policy advice so we can create the best possible bill.  We all share the goal of expanding coverage and reducing costs of the health care system.  I am confident that together, we can come up with something that will do just that.

On Mandates and Subsidies:
“I support an individual responsibility requirement, because I do not think we can achieve universal coverage without it.  However, if we are going to require people to purchase health insurance, we must make sure that it is affordable and we must provide subsidies for low-income working families and individuals who face cost barriers to coverage.”

On Budget Reconciliation:
“I always prefer bipartisan legislation, and I hope that this health care reform bill will reflect view points from both sides of the aisle.  I am also happy that the budget passed in the House leaves open the option for passing a bill through the budget reconciliation process.  Health care reform is key to getting our economy back on track, and we must ensure that we act this year, even if that means using budget reconciliation.”

When he returns to Washington early next week, Congressman Dingell will take the lead in writing the health care bill in the House of Representatives.  President Obama has made health care reform one of his top priorities this year, allocating $634 billion to pay for health care reform in the current budget.

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