Farr – still hope for health overhaul

The Monterey Bay area’s representative to Congress says he thinks a good health bill will still make it into law, though he didn’t lay out a specific political path. And Sam Farr says that hope includes hope for his fix for the Medicare reimbursement designations for Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties. These three counties bear a rural designation for Medicare rates since the system was established in the 1960s. So despite costs for operating that are at parity, doctors get about 2/3 the reimbursement per patient visit that doctors get in neighboring Santa Clara County.

On the politics of the health care overhaul, Farr acknowledged the path would be difficult. But he noted that difficulty is the norm with significant legislation. Speaking after the President’s State of the Union Address, Farr alluded to Obama’s chastising of Congressional Republicans. Farr suggested that advocates for the health overhaul may find the traction they need by campaigning for the bill among the constituents of legislators that hold it up.