RACINE - It might not be the best time for the nation to debate health care, but now that the conversation has started it's important to have it in full, Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis. said Thursday when he met with The Journal Times editorial board.

Kohl's take on the issue starts with the high cost of health care, the United States pays more than twice the amount per-person of any other developed country, Kohl said citing numbers released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Next, Kohl said he's concerned with the availability of health insurance for the tens of millions in the United States who do not have it. Finally, he said whatever reform might occur, it shouldn't damage the quality of health care that most Americans enjoy.

As he talks with groups around the state, Kohl, who held a forum earlier in the day at a Kenosha health center, said something needs to be done, but he couldn't say whether it would get done this year.

"To do nothing is a bad idea. To do something stupid is worse," Kohl said. "We have got engaged in it. We're now deep into it and we should see it through to some kind of constructive conclusion."

Kohl said he would not support a single-payer health care system because it would be too much of an upheaval of the country's current health care system. But government should play a role, said Kohl, who has come out in support of a government-run public option.

"Delivering a quality health care product that people can afford ... in order to do that, government needs to be involved, as little as possible, as much as necessary, however you find that balance," Kohl said. "You can't just do it by totally making it the private sector, because they're too profit motivated. You don't want to make it just totally public sector, because we are a different country."