Washington—United States Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) made the following statement this evening following the House vote on the Senate health insurance reform bill.
“I am pleased that the House approved the Senate Health Insurance reform bill that I helped craft and which I supported last year. Even with its imperfections, this bill represents the most morally and fiscally responsible approach to health reform.
“Now that the Senate bill has passed both houses and the President will be signing it into law, the Senate will consider additional changes this week that were adopted by the House tonight as Budget Reconciliation. The Reconciliation package devised by the House includes matters unrelated to health care and employs a legislative process that wasn’t subject to the same transparency and thorough debate that we used in the Senate. I cannot support this process.
“I have fought for health care reform to reduce costs for small business owners and the self-employed so they can reinvest the savings in their companies and hire more workers. I am pleased that we will now force insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions, preserve Medicare for future generations and reduce the deficit by more than one trillion dollars over the next 20 years. I now look forward to ensuring that Arkansans benefit the most from health insurance reform.”
