Hinchey:  "Quality of health care"

KINGSTON – While second-term Congressman John Hall spent his summer vacation holding a series of lively, and at times loud, local ‘listening sessions’ on health care, his senior colleague, Rep. Maurice Hinchey, stayed away from the road show tour.

Many of the critics at the sessions that have been held, locally, were seniors who distrust government intrusion, but say they want to make sure nothing negatively impacts their Medicare.

Hinchey, during a Kingston news conference to discuss the economy, touched on the pending showdown, and said he sees two critical concerns …. one of them, Medicare.

“Deal with rising cost of Medicare, and to stop that rising cost of Medicare and to make the cost of Medicare much more  sustainable, much more significant.   What I mean by that is, focusing on health care and improving the quality of health care for older Americans.”

Hinchey said another part of the formula must be improving the situation for the providers. 

“We’re promoting funding for the hospitals, here … trying to improve the circumstances of reimbursements for Medicare, Medicaid and other aspects of it.”