Healthcare Reform in South Dakota 012010 (audio)

Air Date:01/20/2010

By: Eryn Clement

The healthcare reform bill continues to move forward in Washington D.C. but many local residents wonder what healthcare reform would mean for them. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee convened in Pierre on Wednesday to discuss healthcare in South Dakota.

It is estimated that more than eight-five thousand South Dakotans are uninsured. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee spoke with Dave Hewett to receive additional insight as to what can be done in the state to improve the healthcare system. Hewett is with the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations. He says the overarching goal of healthcare reform is to establish a system that has some basic attributes.

“It should leave no one uncovered, medical debt must disappear as a cause of personal bankruptcy in America, it should no longer be an economic catastrophe for employers, it should hold doctors nurses hospitals drug and device companies and insurers collectively responsible for making care better safer and less costly,” says Hewett.

Hewett says it’s also important for patients to contribute to their handling of healthcare.

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