(Washington, DC) - Yesterday afternoon Congressman Baron Hill participated in a roundtable discussion with local health care officials at Harrison County Hospital.  The discussion focused on H.R. 3200, the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act.  Following the meeting, Hill issued the following response:

“I would first like to thank all those who participated in this roundtable discussion.  The issue of health care reform, I believe, is one of the most serious undertakings of recent history.  As such, I want to be sure health care reform receives the attention and time an issue of such gravity merits.  These smaller, more intimate discussions are very productive and the participants offered some constructive criticism that I plan to take directly back to Washington.

One of the concerns I heard repeatedly was regarding private insurance.  I reiterated to the group that if you have private insurance, you can keep it under this plan.  I know there is a lot of misinformation circulating about this, but believe me, I have gone through H.R. 3200 line by line.

Another issue that arose was reimbursements to providers under a public option plan.  The original House proposal tied such reimbursements to Medicare rates, and I voiced my concern about that from the beginning.  The public option must compete on a level playing field with other plans.  To that end, I offered an amendment in the House Energy and Commerce Committee markup that requires the public plan to negotiate rates directly with providers.

I look forward to continuing meetings such as this one throughout the District during the August District Work Period.”