Bismarck Tribune

The Bismarck-Mandan Chamber of Commerce this week voiced concerns over pending federal health care reforms in a letter to the state's congressional delegation.

"From our perspective there is no way the government can or will be a 'fair' competitor to the private sector," wrote chamber president Kelvin Hullet. "The government has no need to make a profit, will not pay taxes, has unlimited resources, etc."

All three members of the congressional delegation oppose tying a public option to Medicare reimbursement levels. "Any ties to Medicare rates is not acceptable," Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.

The letter came after 600 chamber members responded to a survey about the health reform legislation.

Hullet's letter argued it changes the cost of health care and who pays for it.

He warned hospitals will lose millions of dollars in profit margins if the public option is utilized at Medicare rates.

Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D agreed. "It would create an extra hardship on North Dakota because we have the second or third lowest level of reimbursement in the country. We are getting below cost of treatment for Medicare." He said other states get higher levels of reimbursement under Medicare because the formula is based on the the history of the cost and would not cover current costs.

He said a proposal by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., drops ties to Medicare reimbursement as does a House proposal. Conrad said Reid is blending proposals from a finance committee bill and a health committee bill. The bill will come to the Senate floor later this month.

Rep. Earl Pomeroy said the connection to Medicare has been dropped. "In North Dakota, we have value medicine - high quality care being delivered for a cost lower than average and sharply lower than some parts of the country."

Pomeroy said he opposes requiring all employers to offer health care. He wants small employers exempt from the requirement. He said legislation being considered in the House exempts employers with annual payrolls less than $500,000 from offering insurance.

Hullet said chamber members would like to see making consumers active partners in the process and increasing consumer responsibility. The letter outlined concerns over raising personal and business taxes for the reform.

It identified concerns over a PricewaterhouseCoopers study which showed an average family policy spike at a much higher annual rate than where they are now.

Pomeroy sees the study as a conflict of interest. "That study was funded by the health companies," he said. He said the health insurance industry will not solve its own problems. He said the study paints the worst case scenario.

Conrad questioned the findings from the study. "It left out the effects of $400 billion in tax credits to people who need assistance." he said.

"Overall, we are requesting that you help our country find a way to provide coverage to our small businesses and entrepreneurs without mandating additional taxes," Hullet said.

"I will not support any legislation that represents a government takeover of the insurance agency," said Dorgan. He said he favors bringing more competition to the insurance industry to drive down rates.

Dorgan said letters like those from the chamber are very helpful in giving input to and amending the reforms, "We don't have a bill yet," he said. He expects to see something come to the Senate within the next two weeks.

Being so many people are uninsured, Pomeroy said ignoring health reform is not an option.

(Reach reporter LeAnn Eckroth at 250-8264 or leann.eckroth@bismarcktribune.com)