Dole Accused of Using Health Care for White House Bid : Reform: Rockefeller criticizes Senate GOP leader’s opposition to package as political. Chafee says his charges are ‘bizarre.’

A health care debate between leading Republican and Democratic senators grew sharply partisan Sunday as Sen. John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) accused Senate GOP leader Bob Dole of Kansas of opposing reform in order to advance his presidential ambitions.

“See, I think Bob Dole is really a major problem here. He wants to be President in ‘96,” said Rockefeller, who is President Clinton’s staunchest congressional ally on health care reform.

Rockefeller also accused other, unnamed Republicans of “stalling and saying no” to all Democratic overtures on a number of key compromises.

Dole was not present during the debate on NBC-TV’s “Meet the Press,” but panelist Sen. John H. Chafee (R-R.I.) dismissed Rockefeller’s charges as “a little bizarre” and derided the West Virginian as “captain of the Titanic.”

Dole spokesman Clarkson Hine said after the program that the senator “is working for health care reform that can win broad bipartisan support, not something that creates a gigantic government bureaucracy.”

Rockefeller’s exchange with Chafee was noteworthy on several scores.

It reflected the growing frustration among many Democrats in Congress--and the Administration--at the snail-like legislative pace on what they hope will be the centerpiece of Clinton’s first term. It now seems all but certain that no committee in the House or Senate will be able to report out a bill by the end of this week, when Congress begins a Memorial Day recess.

Also, such harsh words--and in so public a forum--cast doubt on whether genuine bipartisanship on the issue can prevail, as nearly everyone in both parties has preached.

Finally, the partisan accusations provided a glimpse of the rancor and recriminations that undoubtedly will mar the fall congressional campaign if Congress adjourns without enacting health reform this year.

The Chafee-Rockefeller exchange also served as a reminder of the utterly unpredictable course that health care reform legislation will continue to take, with many twists and turns in the months ahead.

Just last Thursday, many were elated when the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee unanimously approved a compromise on cost-containment as all seven of the panel’s Republicans joined with the Democrats.

But only a day later, the Republican National Committee unveiled a $500,000 national television ad campaign--featuring Dole, among others--attacking Clinton’s reform agenda as a “government-run” system that was too ambitious.

The sharp words between Chafee and Rockefeller, both members of the key Senate Finance Committee, were surprising in part because Chafee, perhaps more than any other Republican senator, is a longtime champion of health care reform, as is Rockefeller among the Democrats.

And Chafee agrees with Clinton and Rockefeller that serious health care reform must mean coverage for the estimated 38 million uninsured Americans. But Chafee would accomplish that goal much more slowly, relying on a government requirement that all individuals must buy insurance.

Clinton proposes to achieve universal coverage through an employer-and-individual mandate, requiring all employers to pay at least 80% of a worker’s premiums, with the individual paying the rest.

Dole in the last two years has often changed his position on health care reform. Early on, he favored comprehensive reform. Then he backed off, saying there was no health care crisis. He has also been a co-sponsor of Chafee’s bill, but now says Congress should not pass a bill with any mandate.

Still, Chafee insisted Sunday that Dole “is deeply concerned” about health care reform.

But Rockefeller was not convinced. “We’re reaching out to Republicans. And I think he’s one of the problems that we’re running into--obstructionism from the Republican Party.”

Chafee denied that Republicans were “dragging their feet,” noting that it was Democrats who control the congressional committees.

Despite the partisan bickering, both Chafee and Rockefeller said Congress is still likely to enact health care reform legislation.

“I’m confident that when all is said and done, the final bill that passes will look much more like our bill than any other bill,” Chafee said.

Rockefeller added: “I think we’re going to get a bill, but I think we’re only going to get a bill if the Republicans stop stalling and saying no to everything.”