The president's health reform plan is too costly, too partisan and moving too fast, according to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who will soon introduce a proposal that would allow state leaders to craft their own solutions with federal dollars.

Hatch appeared on "Face the Nation" on Sunday to debate health care reform with Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

President Barack Obama has pushed congressional Democrats repeatedly in the past week to pass legislation before going on their normal August break. Two House committees, including Rangel's, and one Senate panel responded by approving versions of the complicated legislation last week, with all Republicans in opposition. That includes Hatch, who voted against the bill in the Senate Health Committee and is in bipartisan negotiations in the Senate Finance Committee to pay for the more than $1 trillion health care expansion.

He said the president is demanding fast congressional action because "he knows he can't sell it if the debate lasts very long because it is so expensive."

The proposal would be the biggest overhaul of the nation's health care system in more than a half century. It would require everyone to have health insurance and provide a sliding scale of subsidies to make it affordable. It would allow people to keep their coverage when they lose their job and stop health insurance companies from declining to pay because of pre-existing

conditions. It would push for preventative care and electronic medical records.

The controversy comes in with the price of the plan and the president's insistence that it include a government-created health insurance option to compete with private plans. Democrats see this as a key way to keep costs low, while Republicans like Hatch say it is a Trojan horse for a government takeover of the insurance industry.


Beyond savings found in the current system, the House version would increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans, while other plans suggest taxing top-tier insurance plans provided by employers.

Hatch said the tax on wealthy Americans would hit small businesses and cost jobs. Rangel refuted that by saying Democrats would make an exemption for small businesses.

The Utah senator has teamed with Democrats repeatedly during his 32-year career to pass health care legislation, including one bill that he says should be a model for larger health care reform.

That's the Children's Health Insurance Program. The federal government gives block grants to states, which then create plans to cover children in families above the poverty line, but too poor to afford private coverage. The states have flexibility, though must meet minimum federal guidelines.

Hatch said this allows states to tailor health care to their unique populations and circumstances, while encouraging experimentation that could find new ways to cut costs.

"We would give them the money, but let them design their own plans," he said Sunday.

He will most likely have a hard time pushing his idea in a Congress dominated by Democrats, who are feeling the heat to move on health reform now.

"We will have national health insurance, we have to have it for our country," Rangel said.

mcanham@sltrib.com