State Sen.

Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg) maintained this week that his bill offering

consumers more choices in health care will actually help more residents

obtain insurance.

Senate Bill

50, authored by Seabaugh, would allow residents who are unemployed or

work for small businesses an opportunity to buy cheaper health insurance,

Seabaugh said.

"It allows

people choices. For instance, a 21-year-old single person working for

a small business could opt out of maternity insurance," he said.

the coverages you need, the health insurance premiums are lowered and

the insurance becomes more affordable, he said.

Seabaugh's

proposal came under fire in The Citizen last week from Tonya Holder, a

letter writer from Peachtree City, who claims the measure will hurt more

than 40,000 working families in Seabaugh's Senate district.

Holder called

the bill "Healthcare Light" and said it allows the insurance

companies to get away without paying for mandated healthcare tests, such

as pap smears, mammograms and prostate cancer screenings.

But Seabaugh

believes there is confusion about the bill.

"There's

a difference between health insurance and health care. The focus of this

bill is allowing people to pick which things they want covered. By being

able to afford insurance, they will then have access to healthcare,"

he said.

The senator

estimates the bill applies only to about 20-25 percent of the population

that is currently not covered by insurance.

"It gives

people an opportunity to get insurance without having to pay high premiums

for tests or care they don't need," he said.