By: Nicholas Sohr

Have you heard the one about the newly elected congressman who ran against the federal health care overhaul, then complained when he learned his government-subsidized plan wouldn’t kick in until a month after he was sworn in?

Vinnie DeMarco has. And he thinks it’s “outrageous.”

DeMarco is the president of the Health Care for All coalition that is pushing the dime-a-drink alcohol tax increase and the lobbyist who successfully pushed for the $1 increase in cigarette taxes in 2007. And the congressman in question is Andy Harris, the Republican state senator who defeated Democrat Frank Kratovil in Maryland’s 1st Congressional District.

Politico reported Monday evening that Harris “reacted incredulously” when told that his health care plan would not kick in until Feb. 1, nearly a month after he is to be sworn in. Harris ran against President Obama’s health care plan during the campaign, promised to work toward repealing the legislation and repeatedly lumped Kratovil in with Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was instrumental and shepherding the bill through Congress.

“For a month, he’ll be like 40 million other Americans,” DeMarco said Tuesday morning. “How can he with a straight face deny them health care while demanding government-subsidized health care for himself?”

The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein has more on what how the health care law is expected to shrink the ranks of the uninsured.

According to Politico, a Harris spokeswoman said the newly elected congressman wasn’t being hypocritical, he was simply pointing out the inefficiency of government-run health care. (That, by the way, is the same health care Harris asked if he could purchase early.)

And as for DeMarco’s latest health care cause, his coalition has 19 senators and 56 delegates signed on to his plan to increase alcohol taxes by 10 cents per drink. The bill, which failed to gain traction in the spring, will face stiff opposition once again in 2011. He said the fight this year could come down not to whether or not to raise the tax, but what to do with the revenue.

With a $1.6 billion budget gap looming, the $214 million the tax increase would bring could prove tempting. DeMarco’s plan calls for the revenue to be used for addiction treatment programs, mental health care and an expansion of Medicaid.