It didn’t take long for Congressman James Langevin to get to the heart of his visit to Kent Hospital Tuesday afternoon –legislation to give all Americans health insurance coverage, which he favors in its current form.

However, Langevin wasn’t there to lobby for the bill, but rather solicit input from the medical community and to give an overview of how the system might work. At first his audience of hospital administrators, physicians and nurses were hesitant to question the plan, a keystone of Obama’s agenda and one the President says can be done without adding to the deficit.

John Hynes, president and CEO of Care New England, is not so sure that can be accomplished.

“There’s a lot of stuff out there that’s inaccurate,” Hynes said prior to meeting with Langevin. He referenced claims that if the legislation were enacted, benefits could be rationed to elder patients so as to save costs.

Hynes called the bill “confusing,” although he said, “something needs to be done.” He favors incremental steps to reform rather than leaving conditions as they are, “because if we don’t get started we’ll never succeed.”

Addressing Langevin, Hynes said the bill offers no additional funds to reimburse hospitals for care they’re obligated to give to people without insurance.

“I think there has to be an investment in the underinsured and the uninsured,” he said. Without that he added, “I’m not so sure the effectiveness is there.”

Langevin assured with the bill “there would be no such thing as uncompensated care.” He talked about the health insurance exchange and how with collective bargaining small businesses would be able to benefit from the cost reductions now only gained by large groups. He said 85 percent of premium payments would go directly into health care and preventive care and no more than 15 percent to administration.

Elaborating in a brief interview following his visit, Langevin said the health insurance exchange would “use bulk purchasing power to get the best deal.” Those businesses required to provide health care insurance to their employees would have to pick up 72 percent of the cost. He said the targeted cost for an employer to pay health insurance premiums is 8 percent of payroll.

“It’s going to be much more cost effective to them,” he said of businesses. Yet Langevin was unable to define what conditions businesses would be exempt from the requirement.

“The final version [of the bill] hasn’t come out,” he said.

He said the bill emphasizes the importance of the primary care physician and among other issues looks to address the shortage of nurses. One aspect of the shortage of nurses he attributed to the pay of teaching nurses that in some cases is less than what their students will make after graduating.

Langevin will host a town hall meeting next Wednesday at the community room in the Warwick Police Station from 6-7 p.m. Health care will likely be the prominent topic.

In addition to Hynes, Langevin got feedback from Kent’s president and CEO Sandra Coletta and Dr. Lisa Merolli. Both focused on primary care.

Merolli described conditions faced by her mother-in-law who handles finances for a South County health clinic as “dire.” She said primary care physicians provide care, but their patients can’t afford to pay, creating a cycle where the doctors can’t afford staffs thereby placing an even greater burden on them.

“It’s a disaster,” she said.

Langevin assured there is going to be “much more support for the enhancement of primary care system.”