Mar. 10--As President Barack Obama prepared to visit Missouri to campaign for health care reform, Republicans Kit Bond and Roy Blunt today said it was a plan the country did not want and could not afford.

Bond called the legislation "a monstrous government takeover." Blunt said, "The people get it, and the people don't want it. The biggest reason not to do it is it costs too much and is crippling Medicare and is a big obstacle to job creation."

Bond is a U.S. senator from Missouri who is retiring after this year. Blunt, a congressman from southwest Missouri, is campaigning to replace him. Together they held a conference call with reporters to criticize the plan Obama is encouraging Congress to approve.

"He is trying to cram this through," Bond said. "He has shown he is not listening. The problem is the American people understand. If he would listen, there is a real move for common-sense reforms."

Asked about the health care provided in other industrialized nations, Bond said: "We've seen what happens when you have government-run health care in other countries. Americans have better survival rates than Europeans, and Americans spend less time waiting for care."

But in a recent briefing, Karen Edison, a physician who directs the University of Missouri Center for Health Policy, pointed out that the United States ranks poorly against other industrialized countries in terms of life expectancy and infant mortality. According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics, an estimated 46.3 million Americans lacked health care coverage in 2008.

Blunt said federal law requires hospitals to provide care, but he added that the emergency room is not the best place to deliver it.

"This is not the right plan," Blunt added. "We are going to continue this fight. ... We are not advocates for the status quo. We want to keep what works and fix what's broken. There is not enough competition in the system. Let's fix that."

The Missouri Democratic Party issued a statement today pointing out a Kansas City Star report that Blunt planned to raise campaign funds from insurance and pharmaceutical lobbyists on the same day he was joining Bond in a media call to "bash health insurance reform."

Reach Terry Ganey at 573-815-1708 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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