The health care reform package crafted by a Senate committee "moves us down the road to a government-run health care plan," Sen. Mike Johanns said Thursday.

Johanns urged the Senate to take the time required to devise a better proposal rather than feel compelled to meet an arbitrary August deadline.

"We need to get it right," the Republican senator said during a telephone conference call from Washington.

The plan approved by the Senate Health, Education and Labor Committee would cost more than a trillion dollars over the first 10 years, Johanns said.

One study has estimated that its public plan option would "probably cause 119 million people who have employer-provided health insurance to shift to the public plan," he said.

That would "jeopardize the private sector," he said.

"Are we caught up in pushing something through this body with little deliberation and little regard for the consequences of our hurried action?" Johanns asked.

It's "more important to craft a good, solid bill," he said.

Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.