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Published: November 21, 2009 3:00 a.m.

Mammogram proposals augur rationing, GOP says

LAURIE KELLMAN
Associated Press
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Indiana’s senators will split their votes today when the Senate decides whether to allow a health insurance overhaul bill to move forward.

Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., will vote “no” because of the cost. He also has said repeatedly that Washington should focus on reviving the economy and creating jobs before focusing on the health care industry.

Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., will vote “yes” but said that does not mean he will support the final bill.

“I am reserving judgment until I’ve had a chance to fully analyze the proposal and see how it is changed in the coming weeks,” he said. “I’m encouraged that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says this bill will reduce the federal budget deficit by $127 billion over the next 10 years and as much as $650 billion in the years beyond. Still, this is just the beginning of what will be a long process and debate.”

WASHINGTON – Republicans are seizing on this week’s recommendations for fewer Pap smears and mammograms to fuel concern about government-rationed medical care – and to try to chip away support by women for President Obama’s proposed health care overhaul.

“This is how rationing starts,” said Jon Kyl of Arizona, the party’s second-in-command in the Senate, during a news conference. “This is what we’re going to expect in the future.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska added, “Those recommendations will be used by the insurance companies as they make a determination as to what they’re going to cover.”

Democrats said the recommendations had nothing to do with the big health care bill. And besides, they said, the recommendations, especially one that women start mammograms at 50 rather than 40, were deeply flawed.

“It’s entirely possible that this panel got it wrong, and I think they did,” said Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the vote-counting Democratic whip. Fears that the government is going to run health care have not come up during negotiations for today’s crucial procedural vote, Durbin added.

But the recommendations have given Republicans something new to talk about in making their case that the 2,074-page bill proposes government-rationed health care.

The timing of the release of both sets of guidelines this week, though apparently coincidental, couldn’t have been worse for majority Democrats. The bill faces its first survival test today, when it must win 60 votes to advance to the next step. In recent days, Democratic leaders have struggled to placate three holdouts from their caucus but appeared Friday night to be winning them over.

One Democrat wasn’t taking chances on whether the recommendations had jeopardized access to affordable mammograms. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., said she would introduce an amendment that would limit the costs of the breast cancer tests for women 40 and older.

“Otherwise, insurance companies may use this new recommendation as yet another reason to deny women coverage for mammograms,” Mikulski said.

That was unlikely, the White House said.

“Under health insurance reform, recommendations like these cannot be used to dictate coverage,” spokesman Reid Cherlin said.

– Sylvia A. Smith, Washington editor