Pomeroy Cannot Support House Health Reform Plan Proposed by Democratic Leaders

Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., announced today he cannot support a House health-reform proposal that he says would jeopardize the state’s medical infrastructure… “That’s a cost too high to accept,” Pomeroy said.

Pomeroy Cannot Support House Health Reform Plan Proposed by Democratic Leaders

July 15, 2009

Fargo-Moorhead Forum

Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., announced today he cannot support a House health-reform proposal that he says would jeopardize the state’s medical infrastructure.

The bill, introduced Tuesday by leading House Democrats, would use Medicare reimbursements for a proposed “public option” to compete with private insurance.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota has estimated that those payment rates, if the public option were embraced by a third of employers, would reduce payments to medical providers by $138 million a year, Pomeroy said.

“There is no way we will maintain the existing levels” of health-care delivery if that happens, he said. Medicare payments in North Dakota are a half or a third of those in other areas of the country.

“That’s a cost too high to accept,” Pomeroy said. Action on the bill will begin Thursday in the House Ways and Means Committee, on which Pomeroy sits.

Pomeroy emphasized that work on the House bill has just begun. He said the current health system is “broken” and reform must be adopted to contain “runaway” health costs.

To read the full article, click here: http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/246772/

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