Harry Reid highlights Reno businessman, father at health summit

By Lisa Mascaro

Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010 | 8:34 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The White House health summit is under way this morning with the president and congressional leaders giving sober opening remarks at the day-long meeting that both sides know could easily slide into political theater.

President Barack Obama lamented that throughout the year-long health care debate politics “ended up trumping common sense” and he hoped the meeting at Blair House would not devolve into partisan mugging for the cameras.

“I hope this isn’t political theater,” Obama said.

Republicans chose Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, the moderate former governor and education secretary, to deliver their opening comments. He said the health care bills passed by Congress should be scrapped.

“This is a car that can’t be recalled and fixed, and we ought to start over,” Alexander said. He suggested a more incremental route to reform. “We don’t do comprehensive well.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid delivered a sobering story of a Reno businessman, Jesus Gutierrez, a restaurant owner, who faced $90,000 in medical bills after his baby girl was born with a cleft palate and his insurance company denied her surgeries, saying she had a pre-existing condition.

“This shouldn’t happen to anybody in America,” Reid said. “He had health insurance. He paid his premiums.”

“The story that I told about Jesus is not just the story of some young businessman in Reno, Nevada, running a restaurant and getting jerked around by an insurance company. It happens all over,” Reid said

Reid also discussed the need to close the “donut hole” in prescription drug coverage for seniors under Medicare – the gap that requires seniors to spend up to $3,500 before drug benefits kick in.

Reid said that despite Republicans' claims they were shut out of the legislative process, the Senate bill includes hundreds of amendments from their side of the aisle.

“The bill on the floor has significant input from Republicans,” Reid said.

Reid also broached the idea of skipping over Republicans to pass the bills through the reconciliation process that only requires a simple majority, saying it has been used more than 20 times since 1981, including to pass tax cuts "for rich people."

“Our Republican friends oppose our legislation. That is your right. But also it becomes your responsibility to propose ideals for making it better," Reid said. "If you have a better plan for making health insurance more affordable, let’s hear it.”