The debate about health care reform could come to the floor of the House of Representatives before the end of the month, U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said Oct. 16. She generally opposes many of the reforms in the Democrat-sponsored bills, saying they are costly, would raise taxes and force people out of their current insurance plans.

At the same time, three Republican members of the state House of Delegates said they would introduce legislation in the upcoming legislative session to protect West Virginians from "Obamacare."

Currently three major bills are before Congress that would make substantial changes to the country's health care system. Among the plethora of proposed changes are plans for a public insurance system to compete against private insurance, a ban on insurance companies denying coverage for preexisting conditions and a mandate that people must carry insurance or face financial penalties.

Capito, like most Republicans, opposes many of the proposed changes.

"It is a long steep climb, I believe, and we're waiting to see what comes out," she said on the West Virginia Media television show "Decision Makers." West Virginia Media is the parent company of The State Journal.

In an interview after the show, Capito said she doesn't support a public option, saying that on top of requiring businesses to have health coverage for employees, it will drive people off their private plans, even if they like them.

She believes other reforms should be pursued to bring down the cost of health care, including expanding the age parents can get coverage for their children as dependents, tort reform and portability of insurance plans.

One area where she hasn't made up her mind is whether to require people to have health insurance. On one hand she doesn't like a mandate, but on the other she sympathizes with the argument it would help bring down insurance costs, she said.

Capito said the House version of the bill would likely come to the floor the last week of October.

The Senate version will take longer as senators try to merge two competing versions of the bill. If it passes, both chambers' versions will head to conference committee to work out differences, and it's there Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said he would have the best chance to shape the bill. Rockefeller supports a public option.

At the same time, three state delegates said they would re-introduce the "Health Care Freedom Act" when the state Legislature meets in 2010. The bill had been previously introduced but failed to pass. The lawmakers said the legislation would protect a person's right to contract and purchase health care services and coverage without the threat of punishment from the government.

"The reason for updating the Health Care Freedom Act to apply to both the federal and state governments is due to the direction the Obama administration and the liberal politicians in Congress are taking health care reform," stated Delegate Jonathan Miller, R-Berkeley, lead sponsor of the bill and ranking Republican member on the House Health Committee.

Delegates Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, and Daryl Cowles, R-Morgan, are the other sponsors of the bill.