Washington, DC - U.S. Congressman Mike Pence, Chairman of the House Republican Conference, made the following remarks on Fox News's The Live Desk with Martha and Trace, after it was reported House Democrat leadership reached a so-called health care reform deal with House Blue Dog Democrats:



FOX NEWS ANCHOR MARTHA MACCALLUM:  The Congressman of Indiana is the Chairman of the House Republican Conference. Good to have you with us. So, what does all this mean? What came out of this bill and what does it mean for Americans across the country when they look at their health care?
 
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE PENCE:  Well, we'll see. Right now we know that the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee will be convening in a couple of hours. There is supposed to be a deal but it sounds like a bad deal for American taxpayers. Up to this point, House Republicans, and a handful of conservative Democrats, have taken a strong stand against a government takeover of health care, which is all about government-run insurance.  At least what we are hearing about this deal is that while they've trimmed $100 billion here, and they've changed the impact of taxes on certain businesses, at the center of this so-called deal is a government-run insurance plan that will cause tens of millions of Americans to lose the insurance that they have and vastly expand the role of the federal government in our health care decisions.
 
MACCALLUM:  In terms of the public option, it's in this plan. They say it's voluntarily. What we're hearing on the Senate side is that the public option is dead. Which is true?
 
REP. PENCE:  Well, we're focused on the House side, although I'm a little skeptical about the talk about the public option being dead in the Senate. You know, last month the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid actually said, "I don't care what you call it, co-op or something else, it's all a government-run plan." So what you're seeing here, if the rumors are true, is that the Democrats have tweaked around the edges the launch of a government-run insurance plan. And even though this Administration and House Democrats continue to insist that people will be able to keep their insurance, common sense tells you otherwise, Martha. During this difficult economy, when companies are struggling to keep the lights on and the doors open, as soon as the federal government is offering free health insurance down the street, millions of Americans are going to be told by their employers that "we don't offer health insurance anymore."
 
MACCALLUM: We're short on time but I want to ask you one quick question.  In your mind, a co-op is equal to a public option? Or is it something different?
 
REP. PENCE: No, I'm quoting Senator Harry Reid...
 
MACCALLUM: I know, but what do you think?
 
REP. PENCE: Well, it really depends. I mean, if you're talking about a co-op that looks a lot like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, then it's just all kind of the same thing, pulling taxpayers into subsidizing - directly or indirectly - a health insurance product for Americans. Republicans and most Americans know we need to lower the cost of health insurance, lower the cost of health care. We can do that by strengthening and increasing the choices within the private insurance marketplace, not by launching a government-run plan with $1 trillion in higher taxes, which it looks like the House Democrats are intent on doing.

MACCALLUM: We know you are working hard on this. Congressman Mike Pence, Republican from Indiana, thank you very much, sir. Good to have you with us.