Tennessee’s Congressional Delegation Votes Mostly “No” on Healthcare Changes

When the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly approved sweeping changes to healthcare on Saturday, Democratic Congressman Jim Cooper was the only one from the Nashville area to support it. He says he voted for it even though much of the legislation is still deeply flawed.

Cooper said he voted yes because he wanted the legislative process to move forward.

“It is very important we keep the cause of health care alive. I think the Senate bill is likely to be a lot better than ours. I look forward to working with the Senate to make sure they come up with a better product.”

Cooper says the latest Senate proposal is more affordable. The House bill spends more than one trillion dollars to expand Medicaid and offer subsidies to people who do not have coverage. Cooper, who taught health policy at Vanderbilt, compared passing legislation to writing a term paper.

“The first draft is really not good, the second draft gets better the third draft is better. Right now we are just on the second draft by the time the bill comes back to the House we will be on the fourth draft.”

The Senate is expected to delay action on legislation until cost estimates are completed.

Memphis Democrat Steve Cohen voted for the measure, but fellow party members Bart Gordon and John Tanner voted against the bill because they said in statements it would not control health care costs.

No Tennessee Republican voted for the bill.

Capitol News Connection Reporter Sara Sciammacco reporting.

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