Rep. Michael C. Burgess, Texas Republican, said Monday that it's going to be hard for Democrats or Republicans to come up with a detailed health care reform bill that won't immediately be picked apart by the other party.

"No one has really identified the specifics yet because then it becomes very easy to pick things apart," said Mr. Burgess, who practiced medicine for more than two decades before being elected to Congress in 2002.

"We on the Republican side get a lot of criticism that we don't have a bill out there yet. But I would submit to you that President Obama talked about some very specific things during the campaign but they don't have a bill," he added. "Senate Finance [Committee] doesn't have a bill. [Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman] Henry Waxman doesn't have a bill. There is no bill out there."

Mr. Burgess said during a roundtable discussion with health care experts that he would like to see legislation without firm mandates, such as limits as to the number of times patients can be hospitalized or see a doctor.


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