LISTEN TO ME,

SENS. CONRAD AND DORGAN!

North Dakotans Urging You To Stand Strong,

Slow Down On Dems' Health Care Experiment

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View This Research Briefing At GOP.com

NORTH DAKOTANS OPPOSE DEMS' HEALTH CARE EXPERIMENT

Poll Shows 62 Percent Of North Dakotans Oppose The Obama-Reid Government-Run Health Care Experiment. "Twenty-eight percent of likely North Dakotan voters support the healthcare bill proposed by President Obama compared with 62% who oppose the proposed legislation, including 48% who strongly oppose the bill." ("North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan Trails In Potential 2010 Senate Match-Up," Zogby International, 11/20/09)

North Dakota Medical Association Opposes Government-Run Health Care Because It Would Reduce Quality Of Care. "The North Dakota Medical Association .... [opposes] public option tied to Medicare reimbursement will only make an already unfair situation worse for North Dakota, and would dismantle some of our nation's most successful but vulnerable delivery systems which have produced higher-value, more cost-effective care." (Kimberly Krohn, Robert Thompson, Michael Booth And Bruce Levi, "Public Option Tied To Medicare Reimbursement Not Good For N.D.," The Jamestown Sun, 10/23/09)

The Bismarck Tribune's Editorial Board Urges Conrad, Dorgan To Save Hospitals By Opposing Medicare Cuts. "It will be much easier for Congress to save $400 billion by not paying the full cost of tests, treatments and services. That would be a bad thing for Medcenter One and St. Alexus, and it's something Sens. Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan need to address in the Senate bill. There are other concerns about health care reform on the part of local hospital administrators..." (Editorial, "Hospitals' Worry Over Pay Linked To Medicare," The Bismarck Tribune, 12/6/09)

SENS. CONRAD AND DORGAN,

WILL YOU STAND STRONG AND OPPOSE THIS $1 TRILLION GAMBLE?

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) Blasts "Medicare Buy-In" Compromise Says "Hospitals In His State Would Go Bankrupt." "'It's got many of the same problems I have with previous versions of the public option,' said Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), who contends that hospitals in his state would go bankrupt." (Carrie Budoff Brown, "Public Option Deal Takes Shape," Politico, 12/7/09)

Dorgan Also "Not Happy" With "Medicare Buy-In" Compromise. "But Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. said he's not happy with the idea. 'We have the lowest Medicare reimbursement rates in the country in North Dakota ... We'd have to straighten out the reimbursement rates before I'd want more buy-in to Medicare at current rates." (Julie Appleby & Mary Agnes Carey, "Democrats' Ideas To Expand Medicare Raise Hackles Of Doctors, Hospitals, Insurers," Kaiser Health News, 12/9/09)

Conrad And Dorgan Voted For Failed Amendment That Would've Prohibited Federal Funding Of Abortion In Dems' Bill.  (Motion To Table Nelson S. Amdt. No. 2962 to S. Amdt. 2786 to H.R. 3590, Roll Call Vote #369; Approved 54-45; 12/8/09)

Conrad Calls Long-Term Care Entitlement In Dems' Bill "A Ponzi Scheme Of The First Order." "[T]he program would begin taking in premiums immediately but would not start paying benefits until 2016 ... But deficit hawks and the American Academy of Actuaries have questioned the design of the program, warning that it could require infusions of taxpayer money to cover benefits after 2019. Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) has also expressed concern about the CLASS Act, calling it 'a Ponzi scheme of the first order,' and vowed to block its inclusion in the Senate bill." (Shailagh Murray & Lori Montgomery, "Centrists Unsure About Reid's Public Option," The Washington Post, 10/28/09)

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) Says He Won't "Vote For A Bill That's A Government Take Over Of Health Insurance, Or The Healthcare System." ("Dorgan Holds Town Hall Meeting," KXNET, 8/20/09)