Medicare reimbursement top issue in Third District

Iowa’s lowest-in-the-nation Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors and hospitals are an issue in the third district Congressional race. Democrat Congressman Leonard Boswell says he’ll continue to press for reform. Boswell says the President and Vice President have made eight visits to Iowa, but haven’t done anything about the issue. Republican challenger Stan Thompson, who had V-P Dick Cheney campaign for him today, says it’ll take a Republican to get the reimbursement rate raised. Thompson says it’ll take a Congressman who can work with the White House to get changes made.Thompson predicts Republicans will have a majority of seats in Congress after the mid-term elections, and that’ll make it easier for him to get the issue addressed. Boswell, the Democrat, says it’s his opinion that Democrats will win control of the U-S House in November. Boswell says he’s been trying for four years to get the discussion going on the issue.Boswell is co-sponsoring a bill with former Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne, who’s now a Republican Congressman, that would dramatically raise Medicare rates for low-paid states like Iowa and Nebraska.