U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, R-Corning, continues to work to lower health care insurance premiums.

On Tuesday during his weekly conference call with regional media, Reed discussed how the Affordable Care Act is causing health care cost to rise. He said the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus has created a proposal that combines both left and right political ideas to stabilize the market place.

Reed said one way to lower health care cost is by giving flexibility to states to create a dedicated stability fund that can be used to reduce premiums and limit losses for providing coverage–especially for those with pre-existing conditions.

The congressman also said Hospice & Palliative Care is a wise investment. He said several studies and reports have shown that Hospice improves the quality of life and in some cases extends it.

Reed said he is committed to taking on the health care questions, which he said weren’t answered when the Affordable Care Act was passed. He said “Obama Care” never got to the root cost analysis that drives health care cost through the roof, which then causes health insurance costs to increase.

“As Obama Care becomes fully implemented and takes over the health care world, expect costs to continue to go up,” he said.

Reed said the Problems Solvers Caucus proposal will give people and doctors the power to hold pharmaceutical companies and health care providers accountable, which will make health care more accessible to people of all walks of life.

“We want to make sure when transactions are occurring, is that really worth the price you are charging me,” he said. “We want to make it fundamentally understandable how much health care costs … it is about using market forces to drive prices down.”

Reed said the proposal is a combination of new and old legislation that the Problem Solvers Caucus has pieced together. He said hopefully some of the cost-cutting proposals will be implemented before health insurance companies calculate next year’s premium costs later this year.

In other business, Reed also discussed the Korean summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He continued to say he is cautiously optimistic about the talks that will hopefully lead to a denuclearized North Korea. He added that if Kim doesn’t want to take the path to peace, than the only option left will be the military option.

“President Trump offered Kim Jong-un a different path to the world stage. A path not even thought of by our former leaders — one of economic prosperity instead of failed nuclear destruction,” Reed said in a statement following his conference call. “While there is a long way to go to achieve verified denuclearization, I look forward to seeing North Korea become a free, prosperous and demilitarized state. However, if Kim Jong-un throws away this opportunity, it will mean the military destruction of his country and his death.”