This is a rush transcript from "Your World," November 14, 2013. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: You are looking live at a podium and a backdrop of American flags. So, you know what that means. Any minute, a politician, several, in fact, are going to come up to that podium and start talking about, well, health care. Democratic leadership in the House just wrapping up a powwow. We're sure it's going to wrap up very soon, Nancy Pelosi saying not too keen on a Republican measure that she says would defang the entire health care law itself.
Congressman John Barrow is a Blue Dog Democrat from Georgia. He disagrees, not at that meeting. He is with us now.
Congressman, why aren't you at that meeting, first off?
REP. JOHN BARROW, D-GA.: Well, first off, thanks for having me, Neil.
The reason I'm not at the meeting is, they're just going over the reasons why they're against the bill. I'm in favor of the bill. The Upton bill is actually going to make an improvement in the current situation. I voted against the health care bill in the first place for a whole bunch of reasons, but one of the main reasons is precisely what we're seeing right now.
In addition to all the other things the bill has done, it was going to make folks upgrade their insurance at considerable cost to them, so the folks who liked what they had were going to lose what they had. They might get more in coverage than they had before, they were sure going to have to pay more for it. And that's one of the reasons why I voted against it.
It's also the reason why I'm the first Democratic co-sponsor of the Upton bill.
CAVUTO: All right. So, now, when the president says today, I regret what happened, I think we should allow people to keep their coverage, whatever they have, for another year, we have already heard from insurance types who say, easier said than done, can't do it, and others arguing that it's going to be very hard to make that happen.
So, how does this make that happen?
BARROW: Well, this sure is going to make it harder, and doing it by executive action alone isn't going to make it -- isn't going to be as easy as possible.
What the bill would do is, it would make it possible for the insurance companies to do this, and I know this. If it's legally possible for them to do it and if there's a demand for it, and there appears to be a demand for it, they will find a way to do it.
It's clearly going to be hard to do because of all the disruption. We're stripping all the -- all the cogs off the gears in the process, but if there's a demand and a legal right to do it, they will find a way to do it in those cases where it matters most. And that is what is most important. What the Upton bill does is, it makes it legally possible for the insurance companies to do this. It keeps the promise that was made.
CAVUTO: All right. How united are your fellow Democrats on this? I know you're a different bird here and a Blue Dog and all. You tend to be more conservative than a lot of your colleagues.
But -- but is there concern here that is going to really hurt Democrats in the election and they're urging, as we're told, the president, Nancy Pelosi, let's be very careful on this or we could really get, you know, hit hard by this?
BARROW: Well, Neil, I hope that folks will look at this in terms of what's in the best interests of the voters.
My policy has always been good policy makes for good politics. If you're worried about the optics of this, that's pretty much how we got into this mess in the first place. I also know that both sides are guilty of exaggerating everything that is going on here for their own political gain.
CAVUTO: Really?
BARROW: The only way we're going to get out of this mess is if folks come together in a bipartisan fashion to try and work out various fixes to try and make this thing better. The Upton bill is just one of those.
CAVUTO: All right, fair and balanced, always looking at this crisis, whatever you want to call it, from all sides.
Congressman, thank you.
BARROW: Thank you, Neil.
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