Group claims health care reform is not being rushed through

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A group that has long supported health care reform takes issue with critics who say Congress is trying to ram it through this summer.

Families USA says 450 Wisconsinites a week are losing their health insurance, and the group says it justifies the urgency.

Group director Ron Pollack says it’s not like the president and Congress are starting from scratch. And he says critics ignore all the analysis on the issue that’s been done for a long time.

Sen.Herb Kohl, D-Wis., has been among those urging his colleagues to slow down.

And Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, tried in vain overnight to drop Democratic proposals for a government health plan to compete with private firms and to make employers provide insurance.

Ryan was among those voting no when the House Ways and Means committee voted 23-18 early this morning to approve the tax items in the reform package House Democrats offered this week.

Two other House panels are working on other parts of the package, as both houses work to get their versions passed before their August recess.

Pollack says states cannot solve the problem on their own even though Wisconsin and others are doing what they can.

This week, the BadgerCare Plus program began serving low-income people without children.

Tags: health care reform, family usa, wisconsin