Published: August 11, 2009 01:39 pm      

Sen. Evan Bayh's visit in Sellersburg turns to questions on health care

Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., was at Ivy Tech Community College on Monday to promote a job fair, job training and small business summit, when the topic quickly turned to the debate over a national health care bill.

During the Congressional recess, a number of town hall meetings, demonstrations and protests have turned from vocal and emotional to in some cases violent.

Members of Congress did not meet the deadline originally set by President Barack Obama for a national health care bill before its August recess and since, a definitive timeline has been somewhat slackened.

“All too often, unfortunately, I kinda have to shake my head about some of the things that go on in Washington, D.C.,” Bayh said. “It’s not like the environment we’re used to here in Indiana where people work together, try and cooperate to make progress emphasizing common sense and practical solutions.

“Too often, out there, it’s about people fighting with each other for partisan reasons ... it’s about people having ideological hangups ... we can’t afford that kind of thing anymore.”

Although Bayh vented his frustrations over a compromise not being reached, he is not pushing for an immediate passage or adhering to a strict deadline.

“I’m personally glad they didn’t rush something through just for the sake of getting something done before August,” he said. “I think the American people deserve a chance to look at this, to think about it, to ask their questions, to have them answered before we pass something as important as reforming the health care system.”

The delay, however, is what is causing the anguish for many people currently without health care coverage.

“The major challenge is that we deliver a health care system that is more stable and secure so people don’t lose the coverage they’ve got,” Bayh said. “And we [need to] make it more affordable so that the cost of health care doesn’t keep going up year, after year, after year, hurting individuals and small businesses and driving the budget deficit.”

The type of health care program that Congress may end up passing is also still up in the air.

The indictment of partisanship is not exclusive to Congress. The rallying cries from both sides are being heard at local congressional offices, with demonstrators advocating anything from a single-payer program, to accusations of purposefully disrupting meetings to stop the debate.

“I’m cautiously optimistic that we’ll put the partisanship aside and the ideology aside, that we’ll focus on the practical things that will get the costs down and the stability and the security up,” Bayh said.

Currently, no one plan is winning out over another.

“It’s important to note, at least in the Senate right now, there is no plan,” Bayh said. “And the president has not endorsed a final plan ... this is not done yet. The Senate finance committee is now working on something.

“You’ve got three Republicans and three Democrats sitting down and trying to forge a consensus. I think that process gives us our best chance of coming up with something that’s practical that Democrats and Republicans can agree upon together.”

An informal deadline of Sept. 15 has been set for the Senate finance committee to finish its process.

“My guess is sometime in early October we’ll be voting on something,” Bayh said.