After reviewing the final health reform proposal before Congress, Innovis Health is calling on Senator Byron Dorgan, Senator Kent Conrad and Congressman Earl Pomeroy to do what’s right for North Dakota and support the final legislation, by voting “Yes”.
Innovis President, Dr. Greg Glasner, said that while the proposed bill is not perfect, it makes significant strides toward controlling health care costs and ensuring North Dakota’s doctors, hospitals and health systems are paid fairly by Medicare.
“The health reform bill that is before Congress right now is the single most important piece of legislation for North Dakota health care in decades,” Dr. Glasner said. “It makes important strides to help reduce cost increases and will make sure our children and families can get care when they need it, now and in the future.”
“But from the perspective of the head of one of our state’s leading health systems, this is what health reform means to me:
For decades, our hospital has received inadequate reimbursement from Medicare – payments that are well below those paid to hospitals in other states for the exact same services, even though our costs to provide these services are very comparable. This has put a strain on our budgets and led to cost-shifting to our commercially-insured patients which in turn has likely led to higher health care premiums for North Dakota residents.”
“Provisions in the health reform bill make significant progress to correct this inequity. It means our hospital will be able to invest in expanding services and community-based programs, recruit and retain highly-skilled health care professionals and also insures we will have the resources to continue to provide the highest in quality care to our patients.”
“Our senators and congressman have a chance – and a responsibility – to dramatically improve health care for all North Dakotans. I hope they seize this opportunity and vote “Yes”.
