Lee Terry in the News :: September 8, 2009

Terry says Obama should start over on health care

Don Walton/Lincoln Journal Star

Posted: Saturday, September 5, 2009 11:25 pm

If President Obama would push the restart button this week, a compromise health care plan could be enacted before the end of the year, Rep. Lee Terry says.

"I'd like him to say, 'Let's start over, actually include Republicans and work together to get this solved,'" the Republican congressman said in a telephone interview from Omaha.

Obama will address Congress and the nation about health care reform Wednesday night.

"We need to do something (because) the system is not working for some people," Terry said.

"But the majority of people who talked to me during the congressional recess are opposed to the current plan," he said.

"They're concerned about the cost. They're concerned about government intrusion."

Terry, the senior member of Nebraska's congressional delegation, opposes Democratic plans to include a public option government insurance alternative.

"We need to focus on access for those that don't have it because of cost or pre-existing conditions," he said.

"You don't need to create a government takeover of health care to do that."

Terry said "some government subsidies for lower income Americans" may be required to help provide them with access to private health insurance.

Access for those now barred from insurance coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions should also be provided, perhaps through group plans, he said.

Young, healthy Americans who do not purchase insurance now should be brought into the system with incentives, rather than a government mandate, Terry said.

"There are a variety of different ways to incent them or create penalties if they don't acquire insurance or if they opt out," he said.

"I am pursuing a variety of options to make sure the young make the right choice."

Terry said he talked to thousands of constituents in his metropolitan Omaha district about health care reform during the August recess.

Last Thursday, he spoke to several hundred people in five groups about health care, he said. Then, he said, he spoke to several hundred more during four appearances the following day.

"Everyone wanted to talk about health care," Terry said.

The House reconvenes on Tuesday.

Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.