MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript

Interview

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MR. SCHULTZ: Vice President Joe Biden was down at the ballpark in Baltimore yesterday. And, you know, he said something really interesting. "If the economy comes back and the middle class doesn't, we've failed." We all know that the middle class is flat-out going broke in America because of health care costs in this country.

The New York Times is out with a new poll today, and it says, after the economy, health care is the biggest priority for Americans. Thirty-five percent of the folks want the president and the Congress to focus on getting health care reform done this year. And this is because health care costs are going through the roof, and the middle class is paying big-time. The situation is so bad that 57 percent of Americans would be willing to pay higher taxes for universal health care.

So what's the chance of getting health care reform done this year, and how are we just going to get this thing done?

Joining me now is the bipartisan trailblazer on all of this, Senator Ron Wyden from the great state of Oregon.

Senator, great to have you with us tonight here on the "Ed" program.

SEN. WYDEN: Thanks, Ed. I gather this is your second show. We're looking for a lot more.

MR. SCHULTZ: Well, I wanted to get you at number one, but, you know, that was a different story yesterday. (Laughs.) We've got to have you talking about this, Senator. This is just such a hot issue in America. But first I want to take you to an interview on my radio show that I did with President Obama just a few weeks ago, and we were talking about this issue, health care in America. Here's what he had to say.

(Begin audiotaped segment.)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Cost is the thing that everybody is most concerned about. So we've got to invest in health information technologies. We've got to change how we incentivize providers so that, instead of just providing more and more care, they provide quality care that produces better outcome. We've got to focus on prevention. We've got to make sure that insurance companies and drug companies aren't working the system in ways that increase costs but don't improve health care quality. So there are a range of reforms that are built into any package that we put forward. But I'm confident that this is the year where we can get health care done. We're just going to have to really work hard to do it.

MR. SCHULTZ: You can get health care done in 2009, you think.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: That's what I believe.

(End audiotaped segment.)

MR. SCHULTZ: Senator Wyden, can you back him up on this? Have you got enough bipartisan help?

SEN. WYDEN: We do. And we've got two chairmen, Max Baucus and Ted Kennedy; when you talk about this subject, they get a glint in their eye. And the fact is, Ed, you've been talking about wage- earners on the show. The reason people don't see their take-home pay going up is it all goes to medical care.

So the president made a number of points about cost containment. Let me just add a couple of others. It really starts with private insurance reform. Private insurance today is all about cherry- picking. These companies take only the healthy people, send the sick people over to government programs, more fragile than they are. We're going to change that. We're going to make sure, for example, that everybody is going to be able to buy as part of a big pool, a big group, so they can get more cost containment.

MR. SCHULTZ: Now, do I have this right? You must enroll in a health plan if this version would pass. Is that correct?

SEN. WYDEN: We do believe there ought to be some personal responsibility. But let's start with the fact that there are 11 million people in this country, Ed, with incomes well over $60,000 a year. A lot of those folks use a hospital emergency room inappropriately. So a big part of health reform is getting all of us in.

Then we start rewarding prevention and wellness. Medicare, for example, is the biggest outpatient health program in the country. They don't provide any rewards for staying well. So what we say to the seniors, "You lower your blood pressure, you lower your cholesterol, you're going to get reduced premiums."

MR. SCHULTZ: Well, I want to ask you, Senator, about this standard benefits. You know, I read on your website about standard benefits. It was a little foggy to me. What does this mean? Does this mean that Americans are going to get the exact same health care that you men and women in the Congress and the Senate get?

SEN. WYDEN: You got it, Ed. Everybody in this country ought to have a floor of decency in health care. That means prevention. It means outpatient. It means inpatient for hospital and catastrophic. And for the amount of money we're spending in this country, Ed, we can do it. For the amount of money we're spending in this country, you could go out and hire a doctor for every seven families, pay the doctor $225,000 for the year. We're spending enough money. We're not spending it in the right places. And now 14 United States senators, a number of Republicans, are going along with us Democrats to get everybody good-quality, affordable coverage, just like Congress people have.

MR. SCHULTZ: What's this about $83,000? I see that $83,000 seems to be the magic number in this. Are you actually going to subsidize premiums for everybody under that number?

SEN. WYDEN: That's correct. And here's the way it would work. We've got these tax rules in this country with respect to health care, and they just favor the most affluent. In effect, affluent folks can go out and get a designer smile on the back of those wage-earners that you're talking about on this show. We want to make sure that no middle-class person pays any tax on their health care.

But as far as I'm concerned, somebody who's well off ought to pay for those designer smiles with their own money, not the taxpayers' money, not the wage-earners' money. We'll take those tax breaks away and make sure that middle-class folks can afford health care. And if you're making, say, $83,000 a year, you're a family of four in Michigan, you aren't going to pay a dime on a basic health package.

MR. SCHULTZ: Senator, I hope you get it done --

SEN. WYDEN: With a dime of taxes, excuse me.

MR. SCHULTZ: Yeah. Can you give me just a couple of names quickly of some Republicans you're going to be able to count on?

SEN. WYDEN: Well, the sponsors -- and this is a pretty amazing group -- we've got Bob Bennett of Utah, Mike Crapo, joining myself and Debbie Stabenow, Maria Cantwell. I just think, with good leadership, this time we can get it done. And the fact is, Ed, you cannot fix this economy without fixing health care.

MR. SCHULTZ: You can't. You can't do it. Senator, great to have you on. We'll do it again. We'll stay on the story. And please do something for small businesses in this country when it comes to health care.

Ron, thanks so much. We'll visit again.

SEN. WYDEN: Look forward to it.

MR. SCHULTZ: You bet.

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