Nevada State Democratic Party Chairman: Sen. Reid champion for health reform

November 18, 2009: Las Vegas, NV. – Sam Lieberman, chairman of the Nevada State Democratic Party, made the following statement today on Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of the Senate health insurance reform bill:

“I want to thank Sen. Harry Reid for being a tireless champion for meaningful health insurance reform that will bring quality, affordable medical care to tens of millions of Americans, stop discrimination based on preexisting conditions and reduce our deficit all at the same time.

The bill will bring about the change Nevadans have demanded. It will ban denials based on preexisting conditions and end the insurance company practice of dropping people when they get sick. And it includes a public option that will encourage competition, keep insurance companies honest and make affordable health care available to hundreds of thousands of Nevadans and millions of Americans.

On top of all that, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill will reduce the deficit by $127 billion over the next ten years and another $650 billion in the decade after that. Ninety-four percent of Americans would have health insurance under the proposal and 31 million people who are currently uninsured, including half a million Nevadans, would now be covered. It will help protect Nevada jobs by lowering the cost of health insurance, one of greatest challenges facing small businesses in Nevada, and strengthen Medicare.

We are proud of Sen. Reid’s leadership and thankful that he has been such a champion of this critical reform.”