Cost containment is a top priority

South Dakotans closely monitoring the health care debate shouldn’t have been caught off guard by Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin’s opposition to the House bill two weeks ago because she has maintained for months that cost containment is a serious issue.

“My vote really shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone,” she said Thursday.

Both chambers are now beginning to digest the 2,000-page version unveiled Wednesday by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

While it’s premature as to whether she will support the bill because she and her staff are analyzing the details, Herseth Sandlin said from what she has seen so far the legislation has promising features that match her goals.

America’s health care system must be more accessible and any bill must fix threats to the nation’s fiscal future, she said.

“The Senate bill appears to take some significant steps in the right direction,” she said.

Two weeks ago, the House passed its version of health care legislation. Since then, Herseth Sandlin said she has continued to meet with many individuals and organizations. Some oppose the House bill; others support it strongly. Many have passionate positions on the issue, she said, while there is a faction of people overtly motivated by partisanship.

Access, quality of care, relief from skyrocketing costs and the impact on the federal debt are issues people care about, she said.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is attacking Herseth Sandlin with online ads calling her one of “10 bad Democrats” who betrayed the party on a core Democratic issue.

She counters that an out-of-state partisan group won’t sway her from doing what she thinks is best for South Dakota. Her opposition was based on the fact the House bill could have threatened existing access and failed to include enough cost containment and deficit reduction measures, she said.

She also said the House bill did not meet the test of coming in under $900 billion over 10 years where President Obama had said it needed to be.

There was no serious attempt at long-term cost containment and the president would not have signed the bill, Herseth Sandlin said.

Still, she said she clearly understands that some are angry.

Some of the anger directed at her is overlooking the consistent position she said she has taken on the needs of the uninsured, the insured, the health care delivery system and the responsible measures needed to address long-term costs.

Asked about any re-election fallout based on her vote, Herseth Sandlin said it’s not a worry because she’s not focused on the next election but the many critical issues important to South Dakota.

House members must seek re-election every two years. If she focused on that every day, it would be a distraction, she said.

Herseth Sandlin said she knows she has cast votes in the last five years that people either agree or disagree with. But on balance, she said she thinks she has represented the state fairly and effectively as an independent voice.

For the complete article see the 11-20-2009 issue.

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