In separate statements sent out in the hours following the U.S. Senate passage of its version of health care reform on the morning of Christmas Eve, North Carolina’s Sen. Kay Hagan (D) and Sen. Richard Burr (R) painted a much different picture of what had transpired on Capitol Hill.

This vote essentially means health care reform, which received its last major push during the first Clinton Administration, is essentially a done deal, with only reconciliation of the House version, passed in November, remaining before it would be handed over to President Obama to be signed.

Both Hagan and Burr had been targeted by groups within North Carolina who were for and against the legislative effort, which has served as a lightning rod issue between the left and the right for the last several months.

Sen. Hagan, who voted along the lines of the Democratic Party to support the reform, said the Senate bill which eventually passed contained several amendments she sponsored.

“Hagan’s additions will combat diabetes, help seniors follow their medication regimens and protect small family farms,” her statement read.

The statement went on to insist the legislation will reduce the deficit by $132 billion in the first decade, and as much as $1.3 trillion in the next, citing estimates issued by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

“Today, the Senate passed a health care reform bill that reduces costs, expands coverage, and provides stability for North Carolina families,” Hagan said. “It prevents insurance companies from taking away your coverage when you get sick or discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions. The bill reduces the waste, fraud and abuse that currently exists in the delivery of care and it will save our country money by decreasing the mounting federal

deficit.”

In his own statement, Sen. Burr called these numbers into question, before lambasting the bill itself as another scheme to spread federal influence.

He referred to the legislation as “Majority Leader Reid’s health care bill,” in his statement.

“Despite being marketed as a health care reform bill, the legislation we voted on today is nothing more than a massive expansion of the federal government,” the statement reads. “We have already learned about some of the budget gimmicks employed to deceive American public about the true cost of this bill, and I fear that in the months and years to come, we will learn more and more about its destructive and irreversible consequences.

“The only winner in this deal is the federal government.”

Polling on the subject in North Carolina depended on the source.

On Dec. 7, The John W. Pope Civitas Institute released polling of 600 of the state’s registered voters showing 40 percent said they supported “the overall health care bill being proposed by President Obama and Congress,” while 48 percent said they opposed the plan.

Another 12 percent replied they were uncertain.

In November, an Elon University poll of 703 North Carolina residents showed 54 percent in support of “a public option” being included in the legislation, which is farther than the either House of Congress went in their bills.

U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell, who represents Richmond County, came under steep criticism by those in his own party after he voted “no” to the House version.

Most recently, county and district leaders were quoted in The Washington Post last week criticizing Kissell’s decision.

The Daily Journal first reported on his opposition to the bill in November, during the week before the vote.

According to Hagan’s release, the price of the average family premium has doubled since 1996, and would be expected to double again by 2016 without reform.

She asserted this bill will help 1.7 million North Carolinians currently without coverage access affordable, help more than 950,000 in the state qualify for tax credits to help them purchase insurance, cut the “doughnut hole” in prescription coverage in half for nearly a quarter-million of the state’s seniors and help 112,000 North Carolina small businesses become eligible for a tax credit to make premiums more affordable.

Staff Writer Philip D. Brown can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 32, or by e-mail at pbrown@yourdailyjournal.com.