U.S. Rep. Camp in Michigan talking to constituents about health care bill

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As the U.S. Congress continues its August recess period, U.S. Rep. Dave Camp, R-Midland, is remaining in Michigan and vehemently opposing the proposed health care reform bill.

The District 4 representative spoke with constituents and plans to meet with more in Owosso by the end of the recess.

Topics included the economy and the current bill hotly debated in Washington, said Camp spokeswoman Lauren Phillips.

Local interest in a new health care system is high and Camp has received input on the matter.

“Everyone wants affordable and accessible health care and the congressman definitely takes that into account,” Phillips said. “The system as it is flawed.”

Camp, like many Republicans, believes the proposed bill would be far too expensive and would rely heavily on taxes. He feels the answer lies in decreasing the cost of health care, but not necessarily making the government the sole provider.

“It’s expensive and is going to increase the deficit,” Phillips said.

Another problem Camp has is the likelihood of millions of Americans being forced into a government-run program when they already receive health care benefits from their job. Therefore, patients would be limited to a smaller choice of doctors and medical treatments, Phillips said.

The trillion-dollar plan, unveiled by House Democrats last month, would bring health care to more than 30 million uninsured Americans through taxes on the wealthy. If approved, the plan likely would take more than ten years before that number is reached.

Griffin Endowed Chair and Democrat Maxine Berman declined to comment on whether or not she believes the bill will be an improvement over the current health care system, or whether it is worth the tax hike. She said she does believe the debate in Congress eventually will cease and that some sort of agreement will be reached.

“I think that, in the end, something will pass,” she said.

Berman said once such an agreement is reached, the bill may look quite different than the currently proposed one, and that neither side will likely get exactly what they want.

“A good political compromise is when everybody walks away unhappy,” she said. “There will be people unhappy on the left and people unhappy on the right.”