Gingrich, Pawlenty pan health care proposal

Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich are giving similarly bad reviews to the health care reform bill introduced this week in Washington.

The two Republicans shared their concerns during a joint appearance at the University of Minnesota Wednesday, where hey spoke at a forum sponsored by Gingrich and his Center for Health Transformation.

Gingrich said the legislation unveiled by House Democrats will do nothing to bring down health care costs or bring innovations to the system.

"This is a 1975, socialized-medicine model brought up 34 years later," Gingrich said. "Because the people who wrote it have been in congress since the early 1970s, and they finally after all these years got enough power they can do what they wanted to do 35 years ago."

Pawlenty said the federal legislation could end up punishing Minnesota, because it would preserve the state's low reimbursement rates under Medicare.