HOUMA — U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon will close ranks with the rest of Louisiana’s House delegation to vote against the health-care bill Democratic lawmakers will try to pass Sunday.
Melancon, D-Napoleonville, voted against the version of the bill the House of Representatives passed in November.
He said Friday that the $940 billion package doesn’t do enough to reduce costs.
“We need to work in a bipartisan way to make health care more affordable and accessible for all Louisianians, but I am opposing the Senate bill and the reconciliation package because they cost too much and don’t do enough to lower health-care costs for middle-class families and small businesses,” Melancon said in a statement.
Melancon, the lone Louisiana Democrat in the House, represents the 3rd Congressional District, which includes Terrebonne, Lafourche and Assumption parishes.
Republicans overwhelmingly oppose the bill, but it also has been rejected by both liberal and moderate Democrats who either see it as too expensive and intrusive or falling short of comprehensive health reform.
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who Melancon is challenging for his Senate seat this year, calls the bill “disastrous.”
“It costs almost a trillion dollars,” Vitter said in a statement. “That’s ‘paid for’ with a half-trillion-dollar cut to Medicare and a half-trillion-dollar tax increase. And while the taxes start immediately, most benefits are delayed for four years. That’s why (President) Barack Obama and (Speaker of the House) Nancy Pelosi are having to use every trick in the book to try to jam it through.”
Just 33 percent of Louisiana voters favor the health-care plan, while 64 percent oppose it, according to Rasmussen Reports, a polling firm.
The House is expected to vote Sunday on what is being described as the final version of the bill after more than a year of legislative feuding.
The exact form the vote will take remains unclear. The House could pass a version that cleared the Senate in December, which would then be sent to President Barack Obama for his signature, according to the Associated Press. After that, both the House and Senate would vote on a “reconciliation bill” that would make after-the-fact changes to the Senate bill.
Or, the House could employ a legislative mechanism called “deem and pass.” It means the House votes on changes to the bill and “deems” it passed without an actual vote on the bill itself. Then the Senate approves the changes and it heads to Obama’s desk.
The bill will extend coverage to about 32 million uninsured Americans by mandating most people purchase health insurance if they aren’t covered through their employers, a provision Melancon also opposes.
“The congressman feels like we need to make options for insurance more affordable and available for everyone first instead of mandating insurance policies,” said a spokeswoman, Robin Winchell.
Whether the language in House and Senate versions was strong enough to restrict the use of federal money for abortions was a sticking point for many conservative Democrats like Melancon as the House version of the bill was drafted in November.
An amendment offered by Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., bans federal money for abortions or for health plans that include abortion except in cases where the mother’s life is at risk or instances of rape or incest.
Winchell said that allayed the concerns of some conservatives.
But whether Stupak’s language will make it into the final version of the bill is unclear, prompting a new fight in the run-up to Sunday’s vote.
Rep. Joseph Cao, R-New Orleans, the sole Republican to support the House bill in November, has said he will oppose the bill this time because of what he sees as the Senate bill’s weaker abortion language
