N.C. Sen. Kay Hagan on Health Care, Obama and 'Jobs, Jobs, Jobs'

2 years ago

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Mary C. Curtis

National Correspondent

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North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan supports health care reform, the president and getting the job done in Afghanistan. Democrat Hagan, who ran a smart campaign to defeat Republican incumbent Elizabeth Dole last year, continues to cover all the bases. On Monday, Hagan, who is years from her own re-election bid, opened an office in Charlotte. It was a timely appearance in her home state, as Republicans feel cautiously hopeful in this election cycle over discontent in a still-unsettled economy.

"Before the end of the year, we will have health care reform," Hagan said. "We've got to get down the cost of health care." She said the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, on which she serves, has come up with a public option -- the community health insurance option – which assures that people with pre-existing conditions can still get access to health insurance.

"Over the last 10 years in North Carolina, premiums have increased 98 percent, wages have increased 18 percent. We can't continue on this trajectory; people cannot afford it." Hagan supports a Senate proposal that allows states to opt out, and she favors a backstop option, "a gateway," so those without employer-sponsored coverage can go online to compare insurance plans. "I will not support something that increases the federal deficit."

On Obama, Hagan said he has a tough job, "and I think he's doing well."

Hagan, who visited Afghanistan and Pakistan in May, said she understands the president's deliberation about what America's next step should be. It's important to make sure Afghanistan's leaders are carrying out the will of the people, she said. "I don't think we ought to reduce troop levels; I think we need to be there and get the job done."

Hagan rode to her new Charlotte office – a symbolic short hop – on the Lynx light rail line, a reminder that earlier this year, she secured $24 million for the Charlotte Area Transit System in the Senate version of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill. Republican N.C. Sen. Richard Burr co-sponsored the project. It's smart to work together in a state that's more purple than blue and that's still feeling the effects of a weak economy.

"When I'm looking at the unemployment rate in North Carolina hovering around 11 percent," Hagan said, "every morning when I wake up it's what I think about -- jobs, jobs, jobs." She puts a lot of faith in the green energy sector, optimism backed up by recent news that the state's two biggest power companies, Progress Energy and Duke Energy, each qualified for the maximum $200 million in federal stimulus money to upgrade power systems in the Carolinas, Florida and the Midwest.

Filed Under: Senate, Economy, Health Care, Woman Up, Afghanistan, Congress

Tagged: kay hagan, KayHagan

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