Article Photos

NEW ULM - U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and an aide met for about an hour Sunday in the New Ulm Medical Center auditorium with representatives of the Heart of New Ulm project and Bridging Brown County to hear how these two groups are resolving problems at the local level.

Then, at the end of the meeting, Klobuchar took a moment to reflect upon what she had heard.

"It was incredibly helpful for me to learn about how a town the size of New Ulm and Brown County would take to this health issue with such a vengeance. I think it's very exciting, and it will be a good example for me to use in Washington about how people can be determined to get something done and they're going to do it," Klobuchar said.

The year-old Heart of New Ulm project has screened approximately 5,000 people for heart disease as part of its goal to greatly reduce the number of heart attacks within the 56073 zip code.

"So, I really thought that was interesting as well as hearing generally about the economy and some of the farm struggles with livestock which I knew about. But, hearing it, it's always good to get a sense of that," Klobuchar said.

"We talked a little bit about the National Guard. We talked about the wet corn and some other issues, as well. So, it's always helpful to not just focus on specific programs, but to get a sense of what's going on in the county so that I can do a better job for the county when I go back. And, part of that is hearing about the livestock issues again to make sure we do everything we can to help," she said.

"This idea of taking individual responsibility for things like your own health - you can't beat that. That's why one of the things that is most important for me as we look at any kind of reform is creating that environment where you reward people who are taking responsibility," Klobuchar said.

"So, if people are willing to lose weight or stop smoking, they can do what they want. It's no crime if they smoke or eat too much, but if they're willing to make themselves healthier, they should be rewarded for that with reductions in insurance premiums and things like that. So, that's why we want to make that easier actually for individual people to take responsibility for their health."

While some may think it's scary that people have to be rewarded for taking proper care of themselves, Klobuchar indicated she is willing to take pragmatic approach in dealing that issue.

"Well, it is what it is. You want to make it easier for private insurers to be able to reward people for that. That's what we're trying to do."

Ron Larsen can be reached at rlarsen@nujournal.com