Press Releases
August 13, 2009
Conrad Outlines Plan to Rein In Health Care Costs
Senator Hears from Slope County Leadership on Need for Health Care Reform
Amidon – Senator Kent Conrad met today with leaders from across Slope County for the latest in his series of statewide, health care-based listening sessions. Senator Conrad is advocating health care reform legislation based on three principles: choice, value and coverage.
“With the cost of health care spiraling out of control and swamping the budgets of North Dakota’s families, it is clear that America’s health care system needs serious reform,” Senator Conrad said. “I am working to pass reform that reins in skyrocketing health care costs, expands coverage, and improves quality for all North Dakotans.”
Senator Conrad made his remarks at a gathering that included health care professionals, small business owners, and Slope County community leaders.
The Senator is spearheading a bipartisan group of six senators – three Democrats and three Republicans – charged with developing a compromise health care plan to cover more Americans while curbing the skyrocketing expense to America’s families.
At today’s meeting, Senator Conrad warned that without significant reform, Medicare will be bankrupt in eight years. More than 105,000 North Dakotans currently receive Medicare benefits.
Additionally, the cost of health insurance in North Dakota is increasing three times faster than wages. By 2016, it’s projected that families will spend $20,000 a year on health care – or 41 percent of their income.
The Senator also noted that the United States is spending twice as much as any other industrialized nation to care for its sick, without significantly better outcomes. Studies show that nearly one in three dollars spent on health care is being wasted.
“We need to improve quality and contain costs. And we must provide health care coverage to more families,” Senator Conrad said. “We need to focus like a laser on making our system more efficient.”
Senator Conrad outlined a bipartisan, compromise health care reform proposal modeled after the co-ops common in North Dakota. The Senator's plan would create private, consumer-owned, non-profit cooperatives that would provide an additional choice to help families, individuals and small businesses afford quality health care.
Senator Conrad is the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and a Senior Member of the Senate Finance Committee.
