Boswell says Democrats should move forward with health care reform without Republicans

DES MOINES – U. S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Des Moines, said Tuesday he is hopeful meaningful health care reform can pass with bipartisan support, but indicated Democrats should move forward without the help of GOP lawmakers if that is what it takes.

“Whoever's in the majority has got the responsibility, and if you got something that needs to be done, you gotta go ahead and do it,” Boswell said. “So yes, I hope we have bipartisanship, I want that very badly, but also I want to see us move forward, and if we have to do it, we have to do it.”

Boswell countered critics who say health care reform efforts are moving too fast, saying that many have worked several years for reforms. He also noted the effects the current health care system is having on the millions of uninsured and on the nation's economy as a whole.

Boswell is in favor of giving tax incentives to small businesses to provide health care to their employees and said he supports a public insurance plan as a part of health care reform.

“I don't think we'll get to the availability or the affordability if we don't have that as an option,” Boswell said.

He notes that those with private health insurance plans would be able to keep them if they wanted.

Boswell made the comments at a news conference featuring proponents of health care reform that included the Iowa Citizen Action Network, a progressive political coalition.

Betty Ahrens, executive director of ICAN, said the organization has been working for health care reform for nearly all of its 30-year history.

“After decades of political wrangling, we have an opportunity to implement a uniquely American health care solution,” she said.

Dr. Steve Eckstat, a family practice physician in Des Moines, said he sees the effects of people without health insurance at his practice every day. He said patients are choosing between paying for rent and medication.

“We see patients who don't come for their care, don't get the prevention they need, don't take the medicines that have been prescribed because they don't have the affordable health care that they deserve,” he said.

Eckstat also runs 24 free health clinics around the state.

“I don't see the free clinics as a great thing; I see them as an indictment of our health care system,” Eckstat said.