Chaney calls healthcare reform communism

OLIVE BRANCH — Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney says some parts of the federal healthcare overhaul won’t work because they came from “pure socialist-communist ideas.”

The Republican’s comments came Nov. 10 during a speech to the Olive Branch Chamber of Commerce.

The Commercial Appeal reports that Chaney said he and his staff are sorting through the federal law that started taking effect earlier this year.

Chaney said some ideas came from Republicans or Democrats. But he said the law is partly socialist because it would require “taking money from one class of people and giving it to another.”

Chaney has been insurance commissioner three years. He’s seeking re-election in 2011.