Nathan Deal, the congressman from Georgia who recently resigned to run full time for governor, said Wednesday the health-care debate didn’t cause the divisiveness around the country, but did help it reach its climax.

The big events - and their magnitude - in the last two years has “created a lot of unease and distrust,” Deal told members of the LaGrange Rotary Club. The $760 billion bank bailout, passed in late 2008, was a lot of money but wasn’t personal to most people, he said. As the economic recession progressed and more industries received bailouts - General Motors, AIG and others - it got more personal, he said.

“Health care brought us out of the stratosphere, and it got very personal,” said Deal, a Republican from Gainesville who resigned the same night the U.S. House of Representatives passed the legislation.

“We were deciding what role government should have in health care,” he said. “That was the tipping point. All of this undermined the confidence of the American people.”

Deal said the health-care legislation likely would have passed with Republican and Democratic support if it had been taken in “smaller bites.” Many Republicans did support efforts to make health care available to those with pre-existing conditions and buy insurance across state lines.

Instead, Congress is fractured, many Democrats have announced intentions to retire or not run again and the nation’s economy still is uncertain how the affects of the legislation will play out. Some believe the discord could last until the midterm elections later this year and cause power in the House and Senate to shift back to Republicans.

“The battle is going to shift to the states,” Deal said.

The federal law mandates large increases in Medicare coverage, which states will be left paying for, he said.

There are opportunities, however, for Georgia to take advantage of some provisions of the health-care bill. Medical device manufacturing is recognized as an emerging industry and there will be more creation and testing of certain drugs, he said.

Deal wants Georgia to be in a position to recruit the companies and have clinical trials for the drugs at hospitals and clinics in the state.

“This is an opportunity we should not miss out on,” he said.

Jennifer Shrader may be reached at jshrader@ lagrangenews.com or at (706) 884-7311, Ext. 236.