Local reactions to the House of Representatives’ historic health care bill passing Sunday night were as partisan as the vote itself.
Bryan Griffin, Florida College Republicans’ executive director, was watching C-SPAN while working on homework.
“I honestly thought the Democrats would understand the American people want more time before they voted,” he said.
But once they began, he knew the Republicans had lost this battle.
“I saw the inevitability when they started voting,” Griffin said. “But I didn’t break down in tears or anything. It made me optimistic for 2010.”
Griffin said he disagreed with almost every part of the legislation.
He said the tax cuts in the bill were subsidies that would add to an unsustainable deficit, and the government shouldn’t regulate insurance companies from dropping sick customers or denying children with pre-existing conditions.
Griffin said he believed most Democrats hadn’t even read the bill, but that a majority of Republicans did.
The president is expected to sign the bill later this week and then try to promote it to the public. But Griffin said he doesn’t think Obama will be able to make the bill popular.
“You can’t sell a failure one way or the other,” he said.
But many Americans already view this bill as a success.
Ben Cavataro, Florida College Democrats’ president, was watching C-SPAN with a group of excited friends as the House voted.
“There was a sense it was a historic moment,” Cavataro said. “The bill provides stability for Americans with insurance, provides insurance for those without it and reduces the deficit.”
Cavataro said he still believes Congress should consider a public option.
“No bill is perfect, particularly one this big in magnitude,” he said. “But while it’s not perfect, it will provide health care to millions of Americans.”
Allyson G. Hall, research director for UF’s Center for Medicaid and the Uninsured, said she was disappointed the public option wasn’t included in the final bill, but she still believes the legislation will increase coverage for the uninsured.
The bill requires states to create health care exchanges for customers to compare rates.
It also expands Medicaid to include those making up to 133 percent of the poverty threshold, expanding coverage to individuals making up to $14,403 or a family of four making up to $29,326.
But Hall wasn’t sure if the bill would make insurance cheaper for those who have coverage already.
“In theory it’s supposed to, but I don’t know,” she said.
