The odds are even whether or not Congress will approve proposed health care reform, U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tyler) told a meeting of the Northeast Texas Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts in Gilmer Monday night.

There is a “50-50 chance of (it) going either way,” the Congressman said during a 72-minute presentation. Some 70 persons attended the gathering at the Gilmer Civic Center, said Upshur-Gregg Soil and Water Conservation District Technician John Wade.

Gohmert, who discussed topics ranging from the proposed reform to cap-and-trade (which he calls “crap-and-trade”), expressed objections to the idea of a single-payer system for health care.

“When we’re talking about the federal government making things better for you. . . . the problems they cause in the aftermath just aren’t so good,” he said.

He noted he had brought a copy of the proposed health care reform bill (which has more than 1,000 pages, and which sat on the speaking stand before him), and he discussed it in detail, saying “I report; you decide.”

“If we go to single-payer socialized medicine. . . people die waiting for their treatment” and diagnostics, Gohmert said. That happens in France and Germany, the Republican added.

“They put you on a list, and you die waiting for it,” said Gohmert. He said he knew of a woman whose mother in England died with cancer because the victim couldn’t get it treated quickly.

Gohmert also differed with the argument that the proposed health care reform would provide more choices for consumers.

“There may be hundreds of insurance companies, but they’re going to offer the same plan,” he said. And while a public plan can offer consumers certain “incentives,” private plans can’t, he said.

Gohmert also said that under the proposed legislation, a person could keep their current health insurance only under certain conditions. Even a change in the premium amount or the co-pay amount would cause someone to lose that coverage, he said.

In addition, Gohmert contended that employers who don’t provide health coverage for all their employees must pay eight percent of their payroll as a “contribution to the federal government.”

Since providing insurance would generally cost more than eight percent of payroll, “everybody will be eventually on the federal plan,” Gohmert predicted.

And while it may be true that illegal aliens won’t be covered under the bill, the Congressman added, “there’s no enforcement mechanism.” Gohmert meanwhile said he has proposed legislation that would let consumers know what medical providers are charging.