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Rep. Herseth Sandlin discusses healthcare in RC
October 13, 2008 | By Julie Oberlander, KEVN

South Dakota's lone representative in the U-S House says the Federal Government cannot sustain its spending level and must prioritize its programs. With many baby-boomers now retiring, she says Medicare is the health care program most in crisis.

Stephanie Herseth Sandlin says there are ways to stem growth without compromising services to beneficiaries by stopping the fraud, waste and abuse by some contractors, and looking for more long-term solutions to the problem.

Herseth Sandlin calls Medicare a "ticking time bomb," along with Medicaid, which she says was never intended to be a long-term care policy for middle-income Americans.

She says, "That's why we have to grow the long-term care insurance market ... But Medicare, we only fixed the physician payment cut ... and that we only fixed until March of next year. We can't have these short-term fixes anymore either. We have to look at the long-term, economic approach to these programs that will mean they can be solvent and they can meet the needs of an aging generation."

The Congresswoman sat down with folks at the Canyon Lake Senior Center Monday to talk about health care and the economy. She told one woman that she voted against the 700-billion dollar financial bailout package because it didn't include the oversight she wanted, and didn't hold people in the banking industry accountable.

Herseth Sandlin says this generation has been through tough economic times in the past and they've been smart about saving. She says some big businesses "just don't get it," and don't cut back or sacrifice the way South Dakota families have to when times get tough.

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