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McCollum opposes health care public option; Sink take no position

Posted Sep 8, 2009 by William March

Updated Sep 8, 2009 at 06:33 PM

Attorney General Bill McCollum, Republican candidate for governor, brought the health care reform issue into the governor’s race today, saying he opposes a “public option” plan for health care reform—and trying to draw his Democratic opponent, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, into the debate.

McCollum said the state’s biggest problem in health care is medical malpractice insurance premiums.

In response, Sink put out a statement a few minutes ago saying McCollum had voted while in Congress to cut spending on the Medicare program.

“Bill McCollum is in no position to question anyone else until he answers for his decades-long record undermining Medicare, Social Security, and affordable health care,” said her campaign manager, Paul Dunn.

The statement didn’t say whether Sink favors a public option. But it did say McCollum had “voted eight times to cut Medicare by at least $650 billion, voted to raise the eligibility age for Medicare and Social Security,” and voted for a law some said would undercut Medicare fraud investigations.

That could raise the question debated heavily between the two parties during the 1990s, about whether decreasing the anticipated spending for the program was actually “cutting” it.

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