Perriello defends vote for House health care reform bill

Rep. Tom Perriello, D-5th, and supporters yesterday defended his vote in favor of the $1.2 trillion health-care overhaul, while an anti-tax group picketed his offices in Martinsville, Danville and Farmville.

"I thought it was important to solve this problem because families are being crushed under the cost of skyrocketing premiums," Perriello said during an afternoon conference call with reporters.

The bill that the U.S. House passed late Saturday did not include everything Perriello wanted, such as provisions allowing interstate competition and portability, as well as provisions addressing tort reform.

But the congressman said it would reduce the deficit, offer affordable premiums for middle-class families, and provide "a lifeline of health care in our small towns and rural communities."

Perriello, whose district stretches from Charlottesville to the North Carolina line, is at the heart of Virginia's health-care debate.

After winning his seat last year by 727 votes in an election that went to a recount, Perriello held 21 health-care town-hall meetings this summer to listen to constituents of his closely divided district.

He was one of four Virginia Democrats who voted in favor of the measure backed by President Barack Obama. Two Virginia Democrats, Reps. Glenn Nye of the 2nd District and Rick Boucher of the 9th District, joined the five Republicans in Virginia's U.S. House delegation in voting against the bill.

Boucher held a news conference in Bristol yesterday to explain his vote against the bill. According to The Associated Press, Boucher said he is concerned that a government-run insurance plan could jeopardize hospitals in the region, because it would not do enough to counter the disparities in Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements between rural and urban areas.

Perriello's support of the health-care measure has made him a target of Republicans in 2010. They are seeking to avenge his 2008 victory over incumbent Virgil H. Goode Jr., a Republican.

Shortly after Saturday's vote, Ben Marchi, state director of the anti-tax group Americans for Prosperity, issued a news release titled "AFP Coming After Perriello!"

"Tom Perriello's career was pronounced dead at 11:16 p.m. EST on November 7, 2009," Marchi wrote. "Cause of demise: Political malpractice."

The group plans to continue picketing today at Perriello's Charlottesville office.

But Perriello also will gain support today. Americans United for Change, a group founded in 2005 to help defeat then-President George W. Bush's effort to privatize Social Security, will start running a TV ad on broadcast and cable channels in Roanoke to thank Perriello for backing the health-care bill.

Among those supporting Perriello on yesterday's call were a physician, a community health-center executive, and a minister.

Ellen Jessee, a small-business owner from Collinsville in Henry County, said the health-insurance premium she pays to cover her 10 employees has increased $1,000 a month because of a lack of competition.

"We're paying the most expensive prices because we're small and we can't negotiate lower prices," she said.

Martinsville resident Shuna Ingram told reporters on the call that she lost her health insurance when she lost her job last September. She was healthy -- and then she had a car accident.

"I was putting off going to the hospital, debating a couple of hours back and forth, because I didn't have health coverage," she said.

Contact Jim Nolan at (804) 649-6061 or acain@timesdispatch.com.

Politics Editor Andrew Cain contributed to this report