Reform needs to be economically responsible and done in targeted steps. That’s what North Carolina Rep. Mike McIntyre said when he announced that he will vote against the $1.2 trillion health-care bill in the House of Representatives.

“The need for health care reform is clear, but the focus should be on lowering the skyrocketing costs of health care, bringing down the cost of premiums and ensuring access and affordability of health care for all,” McIntyre said.

U.S. President Barack Obama convened a closed door meeting with Democratic lawmakers last Saturday in hopes to gain further commitments. Democrats take up 258 seats in the House and can afford 40 defections and still have a majority of 218 votes. As expected, all 177 Republicans will vote “no”.

The bill’s main objective which is to provide health coverage to millions of uninsured Americans would necessitate most employers to offer health insurance. Moreover, it will outlaw private insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions.

As you are now probably aware of, the most controversial issue in the bill is the new government-run insurance plan that would go against private coverage in new purchasing marketplaces, or “exchanges”. This we can say garner a lot of objections from numerous hall assemblies in various states.