Perriello defends health care vote

U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Ivy, on Monday defended his vote in favor of the health care reform package, saying it will reduce the federal deficit, make health coverage more affordable for middle-class families and small businesses and greatly expand coverage for the uninsured.
“The choice was between solving the problem and sitting on the sidelines,” Perriello said in a conference call with reporters Monday.

Moments after Perriello cast his vote in support of the Affordable Health Care for America Act late Saturday, the Republicans pounced.
“It’s not often that a member of Congress manages to lose his re-election bid one year in advance, but that’s what Tom Perriello did tonight,” Andy Seré, a regional press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee, wrote in an e-mail.
Perriello is widely expected to be among the GOP’s top targets in the 2010 mid-term congressional elections.
Perriello’s district — which runs from the Charlottesville region down to Danville — was long represented by Republican Virgil H. Goode Jr. until Perriello ousted him last year by only 727 votes. In last Tuesday’s election, GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell carried the district with 61.4 percent of the vote.
The health care vote is already becoming a top campaign issue for the six Republicans vying to win their party’s backing to take on Perriello in fall 2010.
“It’s a case of Perriello not representing the interests of his district,” said Albemarle County Super-visor Kenneth C. Boyd, who is seeking the GOP nomination. “The U.S. takeover of the health care system is not what the district wanted.”

‘I strongly oppose’

Ivy resident Laurence Verga, another GOP candidate, said in a news release that the health care measure is far too expensive, will still leave 25 million people uninsured, will lead to higher health premium costs and does not appear to be constitutional.
“Congressman Perri-ello’s support of HR 3962 is unjustified in explanation, unrepresentative of his constituents’ expressed desires, and it is essentially anti-American in its nature,” Verga said in the release. “I strongly oppose this bill, and I condemn Congressman Perriello for his vote in favor of socializing American healthcare — a vote that will live in infamy.”
Ben Marchi, state director of Americans for Prosperity, which opposes the health care reform legislation, wrote in an e-mail: “In a district that gave Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell 61 percent this week, Perriello — who won by 727 votes last year — just voted for the tax-raising, Medicare-cutting government healthcare takeover after claiming for months that he opposed it.”

Perriello hosted 21 town hall meetings over the summer to gather constituent feedback on the bill. At the time, he said he was leaning toward a “no” vote. He became a “yes,” he said, after the bill was amended to address his concerns over the federal deficit and federal funding for abortion.
The final House version, he said, would cut the deficit by $109 billion in the first decade and is expected to continue reducing the deficit in the following decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Perriello voted for the so-called Stupak-Pitts amendment of the bill, which stipulates that no federal funds will be used for abortion. Perriello promised at the town hall meetings that he would not support the bill if it funded abortion.
Marchi’s group is holding a rally against Perriello’s vote at 10 a.m. today outside the congressman’s district office at 312 Second St. S.E. in downtown Charlottesville.
Perriello said the health care reform legislation — which passed 220 to 215 — will greatly benefit residents and small businesses in his district.
Roughly 62 percent of the district’s population receives health care benefits from employers. Under the bill, these 409,000 individuals and families with employer-based coverage can keep their coverage and also see several improvements, Perriello’s office said. The bill ensures that there will be no co-pays or deductibles for preventative care, no more rate increases or coverage denials for pre-existing conditions, and guaranteed oral, vision and hearing benefits for children.

The legislation provides credits to help pay for health care coverage for up to 183,000 households in the district, according to a fact sheet by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. And it is likely to provide health coverage for 53,000 uninsured residents, the fact sheet said.
The package also closes over the next decade the Medicare Part D drug “donut hole” that requires 12,500 seniors in the district to pay the full cost of their prescription drugs, the sheet states.
Small businesses in the district will be able to obtain affordable health coverage and receive tax benefits to defray health insurance costs under the legislation, Perriello said.
Ellen Jessee, a small business owner from Collinsville, spoke during Perriello’s conference call and said reform is “desperately needed” to help business owners provide employees with health benefits.
The Charlottesville-based Virginia Organizing Project applauded Perriello for supporting the bill.

Call in with feedback

“His vote proves he is on the side of the American people and not the big insurance companies and special interests that have been working overtime to try and kill meaningful health care reform,” said Janice “Jay” Johnson, head of the organization, in a news release. “Because of Congressman Perriello’s commitment to do what’s right for his constituents, we can look forward to having more affordable health coverage with good, comprehensive benefits and true choice and competition in the health insurance marketplace.”
Perriello is still gathering feedback from constituents on the health care reform issue. He is sponsoring a free telephone town hall meeting with constituents on from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday. To participate, call 1-877-269-7289 and enter the pass code 14581.
The call is toll free.