Shimkus will vote against health care bill; Costello hasn't yet announced how he'll vote

BY MIKE FITZGERALD - News-Democrat

E-Mail

Print Reprint or license

Text Size:

tool goes here

U.S. Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, said Tuesday that he plans to vote against the massive health care reform bill that Democrats could send to the House floor as soon as Saturday.

During a telephone conference with news media, Shimkus repeated many of his objections to provisions contained in the reform bill, which covers nearly 2,000 pages.

Shimkus said his biggest concern about the bill center on its call for the creation of the public option, a government-run health insurance plan that would compete directly against private health insurers.

Shimkus called the public option "the pathway to a one-payer system. That's really the biggest concern. That's why there'll be very little, if any, Republican support if this bill makes it to the floor."

U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Belleville, has so far not revealed where he stands on the health care bill, other than to cite worries over the summer that an earlier version of the bill was moving too fast through Congress.

A spokesman for Costello could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

For more on this story, read the News-Democrat Wednesday or go to www.bnd.com.

Comments

Commenting allows our readers to share information, insights and observations about the news stories on our site. We encourage lively, thoughtful discussion, but ask you to refrain from abusive, racist or profane comments. Do not attack other posters for their viewpoints, race, gender or sexual orientation. We do not monitor each and every posting, but reserve the right to delete comments that violate these rules. Notify us of violations by hitting the "Report Abuse" button. Repeat or flagrant offenders will lose their commenting privileges, at our discretion.