One of Wisconsin's best-known Republicans is praising a key health-care reform bill up for a vote this week before a U.S. Senate committee.

Former governor and federal Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson made the comments in a joint statement with former Democratic congressman and House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri, saying the Senate Finance Committee bill "moves us down the path of providing affordable, high-quality health care for all."

"Failure to reach an agreement on health reform this year is not an acceptable option," Thompson and Gephardt said in their statement.

Despite acknowledging problems with the Senate bill, the bipartisan pair said there was "broad support" for provisions in the measure such as forbidding insurance companies from denying coverage to sick people seeking to buy it and dropping coverage of customers who they become ill.

But the health-reform bills being pushed by congressional Democrats continue to receive criticism from most state Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Janesville. In a statement Monday, Ryan said the health-care bill would hurt state governments around the country by forcing them to help pay for expansions of Medicaid health coverage for the poor.

"The health care overhaul being pushed through Congress would make matters worse, imposing added financial burdens on states already facing severe budget shortfalls," Ryan said.

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