BURR SAYS BAUCUS PLAN IS TOO EXPENSIVE

     The long awaited U.S. Senate Finance Committee chairman's plan for health care reform was unveiled last week, and the committee chairman Max Baucus was "going it alone" as he takes his proposals now before the full Finance Committee.  The Baucus plan is about government control over health care and is not at all what the majority of people in western North Carolina want, according to U.S. Senator Richard Burr from Winston Salem.  Senator Burr told WHKP News that health care reform must include everyone, and it must include preventative care, wellness, and chronic disease management. 

     Burr said that reform also must be fiscally responsible.  He said that Baucus has come up with a blueprint, rather than a piece of legislation, and that it would require $8 billion of taxpayer money up front, and overall, the co-op that his proposing would cost $900 billion, and the payment methods are sketchy.

    Burr said that if people have concerns about health care reform they should sit down, and write a short handwritten letter to the house, or the senate, and make it personal.  He said that if people feel comfortable they should also include their cell phone numbers.