Sen. Richard Burr says he doesn't need 1,000 pages to reform health care.
He told listeners of the Bill Lumaye Show on WPTF, 680-AM, agreed with a caller that the famously-long health care bill is too long and does the wrong things.
"The health care reform does not take 1,000 pages. I could boil it down to one word that makes a huge difference: portability," Burr said. "That gives you the ability to take your coverage with you."
Burr said such a system would ease the adversarial relationship between insurance companies and health care providers.
"We can use one word, we can use five pages, but we don't need a host of mandates on private insurance where states currently do that today," Burr said.
Comments
Re: Health care reform, the short version
August 25, 2009 - 9:53pm — mbrock49Just watched Senator Burr along with Congressmen Price, Etheridge and Mel Watt debate the health care reform bills on UNC-TV. I have three words for Senator Burr: campaign finance reform! Until we get that, we will have Senators like Burr who are indebted to donors and more responsive to them than their constituents.
he repeatedly brought up hot button issues of little real impact in reducing healtthcare costs. As Mel Watt pointed out in response to Burr's comments on "Tort Reform" the savings would be minimal and this is a strawman issue of the Right to deflect attention from the resl needs of health care reform.
i am trying to give Burr the benefit of the doubt and say he is really behind his alternative to the Senate bills he criticizes. But, i think his bill is payback for contributions from the Pharma and Insurance industries PACS.
Sure we can
August 25, 2009 - 3:46pm — James_Protzmanas long as the reform preserves the status quo and locks in insurance company profits with a coverage mandate. See how simple!
Maybe someone should ask Burr to explain how portability helps when you don't have coverage in the first place. I know that might take a few extra words, but maybe he'll humor us. He obviously thinks people are stupid in the first place.
Re: Health care reform, the short version
August 25, 2009 - 11:59am — bnartistThere are 2,992 pages in the Merck Manual. Can we really reform healthcare in only 1,000 pages?