Calling the status quo "completely unsustainable," North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad today held a forum on proposed changes to the nation's healthcare system.

Conrad brought a new Obama Administration appointee - Dr. Mary Wakefield, an administrator in the Department of Health and Human Services - to hear from local healthcare officials about the situation.

Jim Olson reports.

(Sen. Kent Conrad) "This is something we simply have to address as a nation." (Dr. Mark Wakefield, HRSA) "The president has made it very clear that the status quo is absolutely unsustainable."


Dr. Mary Wakefield, the administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, and North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad agree - the nation's healthcare system needs help. And when Conrad, the chairman of the powerful Senate Budget Committee was asked to come up with a plan that Democrats and Republicans could support, he thought of North Dakota and its hundreds of cooperatives.

(Sen. Conrad) "We've got lots of models of cooperatives that function very well across many business lines in this country."


Conrad figured a coop system could work for healthcare too - putting local people in control and keeping the federal government out of the equation.

(Sen. Conrad) "Coops are not government-run, coops are membership-run, membership-controlled."


It's an idea that rancher and state legislator Ryan Taylor of Towner likes the sounds of.

(Ryan Taylor, Towner) "Coops have served the needs of rural America for a long time so if we need to get access in rural areas, farmers would certainly have a lot of faith."


Conrad says the principles of a coop are already at work across the state and country. And he thinks the kind of efficiency coops provide can bring down healthcare costs.

(Sen. Conrad) "The ida that the government is going to take over this whole thing, no. The government can't afford to take over this whole thing and I don't think we'd want the government to take over this whole thing."


Conrad says North Dakota providers already lead the nation in providing low-cost healthcare with high quality results.

(Sen. Conrad) "If the rest of the country were at our levels, problem is over, problem solved."


But HRSA Administrator Wakefield says our efficiency simply means we're paying the bills for places that aren't so good.

(Adm. Wakefield) "And we pay for that. North Dakotans pay for that."


Conrad says his healthcare coop idea is gaining support - even from Republicans

(Sen. Conrad) "Senator Gregg, the ranking Republican on the budget committee, serves with me, and he has indicated he believes it has merits."


But he cautions that this idea, or any other that might emerge from Congress will not be the end-all. He says it took years to find ourselves in this position and it will take years of smart decisions to repair a system he says is unsustainable. Jim Olson, KX News.

Conrad is holding healthcare forums across the state in advance of expected moves this year in Washington DC to develop healthcare reforms. watch the video | save this article / add to your favorites list