Miller discusses health care bills

U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Chumuckla, said Friday that Democrats and Republicans in Congress agree more than they disagree about health care reform. The problem, he said, is Democrats' unwillingness to work out their differences.

"We're very nearly on the same sheet of music,"  Miller told more than 200 citizens at the Santa Rosa County Commissioners Meeting Room in Milton.  "Everybody thinks the health care system is broken. Everybody thinks health care costs are too high."

That's where agreement ends and partisanship begins.

Health care reform was a key element of President Barack Obama's "Change" campaign and he has spent much of his first year in office pushing Congress to pass health care reform. The House and Senate each have approved costly bills that would decrease the number of people without health insurance. The House plan, approved Nov. 7, would spend $1.05 trillion to extend health care to 31 million people; the Senate bill, passed Christmas Eve, would cost $871 billion and provide coverage for 31 million citizens.

For more on this story, see the Jan. 14 issue of the Navarre Press or subscribe online.