Former U.S. Representative Steve Pearce was in Alamogordo Saturday, campaigning at a Young Republicans meeting. Pearce is running for Congress in the 2nd Congressional District against incumbent Democrat Harry Teague.

While talking about health care reform, Pearce made some comments that might not have been completely true, according to Factcheck.org.“Let’s take care of the ones who can’t take care of it themselves. A lot of those 47 million people could afford health care, but elect not to,” Pearce said, according to the Alamogordo Daily News. “Why should we be taxing someone in Alamogordo for someone who chooses not to buy it in New York?”

Factcheck.org looked at similar claims earlier this year and found that the situation is much more complicated than Pearce allowed:

So it’s true that many of the uninsured could, in theory, spare the $3,354 average annual employee contribution for employer-sponsored family coverage, or even the $5,799 average premium for individually purchased family coverage. But it’s also true that 66 percent of the uninsured make less than 200 percent of the poverty level according to KFF, which is less than $42,406 for a family of four in 2007. And a family’s premium costs may actually be much higher than the average for individually purchased insurance, depending on the number of dependents, the ages of family members, their state of health and the state in which they live. For instance, the average annual premium for individually purchased family coverage in Massachusetts, according to America’s Health Insurance Plans’ Center for Policy and Research, was $16,897 in 2006-2007 (before the state changed its insurance plan), and in New York it was $12,254.

Furthermore, even those who can afford coverage cannot always get it. AHIP found that 72 percent of 2006 applications for health insurance were eventually approved, while the rest were withdrawn, not processed, or denied for medical or non-medical reasons. And of those who got coverage, 11 percent had to pay a higher rate than requested.

Pearce also said, “The public option is too much. People don’t want it.”

A recent Thomson Reuters poll showed that 59.9 percent of Americans approve of a public option. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.8 percent.

However, that is of America as a whole; the 2nd Congressional District is more conservative than the nation as a whole and will likely have a more conservative take on health care reform.

It may be a non-issue, however, as Pearce’s opponent, Democractic Rep. Harry Teague, voted against the health care reform bill. (It passed anyway.)

Also in Alamogordo, Pearce reiterated his opposition to “cap and trade” legislation. That bill, the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act also passed the House earlier this year. Teague voted for that bill and Pearce cited that decision as a reason he decided to run for election.

Pearce says he believes Congress should “first agree on getting the nitrous oxides out of the air and cleaning up our streams” before considering any cap and trade legislation.