Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., said Tuesday that he thinks the Senate's version of health care reform likely will be the ultimate policy voted on by lawmakers.

Pomeroy voted against the House version of the health care overhaul in his Ways and Means Committee this month, saying he couldn't support a proposed public health care option that uses Medicare reimbursement rates. North Dakota health care providers say they would be financially hampered by it.

"It was a loser strategy," Pomeroy said. "That's why the Ways and Means Committee is really a non-player in this debate. If they had engaged these issues I was raising more seriously … prospects for passing would have been improved."

Unlike negotiations taking place in the Senate Finance Committee, which includes Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., Pomeroy said the Ways and Means Committee didn't seek out bipartisan support for the bill.

"I think the House bill could have been improved with an effort to get both parties involved," Pomeroy said, adding, "Many House Republicans are not engaging seriously on the issue. They want to kill the bill to send a defeat to the president."

Liberal and conservative groups also are ramping up their efforts to persuade Pomeroy to vote for or against the sweeping health care system overhaul in the House.

The Republican National Committee is running ads targeting 60 "Blue Dog," or moderate, Democrats to oppose the health care bill in the House. Pomeroy was among those targeted.

On Tuesday, labor and progressive groups delivered letters to Pomeroy's Bismarck office, urging him to support a public health care option, which they say will lower the cost of health care.

Don Morrison, the executive director of NDPeople.org, said he understands Pomeroy's concerns, but his nay vote could hurt the prospects of a health care bill ultimately passing Congress this year.

"Pomeroy has valid concerns about the bill," Morrison said. "But we should not allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good."

N.D. Diet Food

The six lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee debating health care reform aren't eating carrots and celery sticks during their negotiations, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

Instead, they're chomping down on "North Dakota Diet Food," otherwise known as "chippers," the chocolate-covered potato chips that originate from the Carol Widman's Candy Company in Grand Forks.

"There are Doritos, pretzels, Oreo cookies and beef jerky: fuel to get through hours of talks on topics like the actuarial values of private insurance plans or the cost-sharing provisions of Medicare," the Times reported.

Windman said Tuesday that she was happy to hear her company's snacks were feeding the nation's leaders in Congress during the long debates over health care.

"I know chippers have made their way to Washington quite often," Windman said. "So we're proud of that."

Hoeven in D.C.

Gov. John Hoeven will be in Washington, D.C., today meeting with U.S. Department of Energy officials about potential grants and policies that could affect North Dakota energy production, Don Canton, the governor's spokesman, said Tuesday.

Canton said the governor is meeting with DOE Under Secretary Christine Johnson about a potential $35.2 million grant for Great River Energy to expand the Spiritwood Industrial Park near Jamestown, a $377 million project.

North Dakota Department of Commerce Commissioner Shane Goettle also is accompanying Hoeven on the trip.

(Reach reporter Brian Duggan at 223-8482 or at brian.duggan@bismarcktribune.com.)