CONGRESSMAN WAITING UNTIL BILL IS READ
WASHINGTON — As Rep. William L. Owens remained undecided on health insurance reform, advocates and critics rushed in to fill the void with facts, figures and tilted predictions about how the still incomplete proposal may affect the north country.
To hear House leaders tell the story, 27,000 uninsured people in Mr. Owens's congressional district will become insured, and 12,600 small businesses will qualify for tax credits to provide health insurance to employees.
Groups opposed to the measure, however, predicted that new health care taxes would hurt small businesses and discourage hiring and that a narrow majority of independent voters would vote against Mr. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, if he supports the bill — a sobering prospect for a candidate who needs independents to win in a heavily Republican district.
And on the heels of a poll by critics that reflected independent voters' distaste, labor unions supporting the measure released a poll indicating that likely voters in rural and conservative Democratic districts — including the 23rd Congressional District — strongly favor health insurance reform and want it quickly. Results were similar across the congressional districts, the authors said.
Mr. Owens remained steadfast in his neutrality, saying Wednesday afternoon that he would take no position until reading the bill, which leaders signaled could be released late Wednesday or today.
He also said that as of Wednesday afternoon, he had not heard from the White House, even though other undecided lawmakers had been called in for meetings with President Obama or heard from White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
A vote could come Saturday, if Democrats are to meet their pledge of giving lawmakers 72 hours to read the legislation.
Mr. Owens also maintained that while he is among several Democrats being watched closely for their votes, he is not basing his decision on pressure from one side or the other.
Because he supported the House version of the bill shortly after coming to Congress in November, Mr. Owens has been viewed by Capitol insiders as a likely "yes" vote even though the House is voting on a Senate version that differs in significant ways and has disappointed health reform advocates in the House.
Some supporters of the earlier House version have expressed unease with the Senate bill, which led House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to look for a so-called "deem and pass" maneuver that technically means the House does not vote on the Senate bill, but on revisions to it.
The White House steered reporters Wednesday to a House Energy and Commerce Committee report outlining the proposal's benefits by congressional district.
In that report, the committee found that 405,000 residents of the 23rd Congressional District, or 62 percent, have health insurance provided by employers, which supporters said would improve because of bans on annual and lifetime coverage limits, and a prohibition on refusing coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, among other provisions.
Some 8,000 district residents with pre-existing conditions could obtain coverage, the committee reported.
And even as Mr. Owens was awaiting final details on the bill, he was pushing the idea that health care reform generally is sorely needed. He posted on his Web site a study from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation reporting that the number of uninsured Americans could grow by 10 million in five years without significant health insurance reform. Employers who provide health insurance to workers probably would pass most cost increases on to workers, the study reported.
In the neighboring 24th Congressional District, where Rep. Michael A. Arcuri, D-Utica, remained undecided, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a poll indicating voters oppose the measure, believing it will increase their health costs.
