WASHINGTON -- Health care reform legislation will not do enough to bring down the costs of medical care and his district is overwhelmingly against it, U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire said today in announcing that he will not vote for the bill.

Mr. Altmire, D-McCandless, had been one of the most sought-after Democrats as the House of Representatives prepares for what will certainly be a close vote on the final bill Sunday.

After voting against the more expensive original House bill in November, Mr. Altmire had shown signs that he preferred the slimmer Senate measure and the $940 billion compromise revealed this week that would add 32 million Americans to the health insurance rolls.

But after tens of thousands of calls and emails from constituents -- most of whom were urging a no vote -- and reviewing the bill, Mr. Altmire this afternoon said he could not vote for the bill.

"I want systemic reform that's going to lower the costs of health care," Mr. Altmire said in an interview.

"If you just cover everybody, have the American taxpayer pay to bring more people into the system -- which is what this does -- and do the insurance reforms, you're not changing the delivery system at all. You're just changing who pays."

Mr. Altmire would not say whether he had his campaign conduct a poll of his district, but it was clear to him that the majority of his constituents wanted him to vote "no" again.

Another decisive factor, he said, was the bill's proposed cuts to Medicare Advantage -- privately administered Medicare plans that are more popular in the Pittsburgh area than anywhere else in the country.

Mr. Altmire said that how this vote will affect his re-election campaign -- former U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan and attorney Keith Rothfus are vying for the chance to face him this fall -- did not come into play.

"This is probably the biggest vote of my career, and I want to have done the right thing," he said. "It's not about politics. It's about representing my district. I think it's the right vote on policy, and I know it's the right vote for representing my district."

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