Wicker Supports Health Care Reform Proposed by Senate Physicians Coburn and Barrasso

US Sen. Roger Wicker, left, and Sen. John Barrasso listen to Sen. Tom Coburn, center, discuss his Republican alternative to the Democratic health care reform plan.

Senator Roger Wicker brought two of his colleagues to Desoto County Thursday to discuss alternate plans for health care reform. MPB’s Cari Gervin has the story.

Senators Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and John Barrasso of Wyoming are the only two physicians in the U.S. Senate. They also apparently both have a penchant for shiny black cowboy boots – both had them on Thursday during their visit to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Southaven.

Coburn and Barrasso are on a mini-tour of the heartland, promoting a Republican alternative to the health care reform proposed by President Barack Obama. Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker has joined the two as a co-sponsor of the bill.

Senator Coburn said the plan would cover most of the 21 percent of Mississippians who currently don’t have health insurance – in fact, he says his plan will provide insurance to more people than the Democratic plan.

“So we cover 20 million more people, we save money rather than spend money and we eliminate the discrimination against the Medicaid patient, because we put every Medicaid patient into private insurance. And we save – the state of Mississippi will probably save $300 million a year when we do that.”

The three senators held an hour-long forum with over a hundred members of the hospital staff to share their ideas for health care reform. They hand-selected which questions to answer – and all came from male physicians.

But while she didn’t get to talk, labor and delivery nurse Beth Hughey said she was excited to hear what the senators said.

“I’m very concerned about the health care in this nation, and they seemed to have more sense than most of the other senators and representatives that are in Washington.”

Coburn and Barrasso will present their ideas for reform in New Orleans today, and more stops are likely before the Senate reconvenes on September 8.

For MPB News, I’m Cari Gervin.