CNN "Lou Dobbs Tonight" - Transcript
Interview
CNN "Lou Dobbs Tonight" - Transcript
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
DOBBS: The battle over health care rages on in Washington, D.C. opponents of the president's plan still trying to eliminate the public option. And we think the president is continuing to support the public option. Which some say is necessary and in the house, they're pressing to keep it in. Joining me tonight are two influential senators, Republican Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire who says a bipartisan bill is necessary. Good to have you with us. And Senator Bernie Sanders. Independent of Vermont who says the public option is absolutely necessary. Gentleman, let's start with the president's joint session speech tomorrow. First, you, Senator Gregg, what do you hope to hear from the president to influence you positively on health care legislation?
SEN. JUDD GREGG (R), NEW HAMPSHIRE: It would be great if he would indorse the efforts of Senator Baucus and Senator Grassley to reach a bipartisan solution and get to some solutions. The president's been very general in what he supports. He hasn't been very strong on specifics. When you get down on the details, that's where you get to the issues that are important and make a difference in how the whole process works and whether we get a better healthcare system or not. So there's a lot of specifics coming out of this joint group that is negotiating. Senator Baucus, Senator Grassley, I think if the president were to say give that group his support that would move things down the pike a long way.
DOBBS: Do you agree, Senator Sanders?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: No, I don't. I would hope the president comes forward and explains the very serious health care crisis that we're facing, Lou. You know, I'm glad we're talking about health care internationally because every viewer should know the United States today embarrassingly is the only country in the industrialized world that does not guarantee health care to its people, and yet we end up spending twice as much per person on health care as any other nation and our outcomes in terms of life expectancy, infant mortality, deaths, are larger. I hope he urges Republicans to come on board. Bottom line is, we need health care reform so that we cut the costs of health care spending and make it affordable and guarantee health care to all people.
DOBBS: Let me ask you this, because it seems to many in this country that very little has been done in the way of public hearings, putting intelligently and comprehensively, facts on the table about health care in the country, about who owns what when it comes to pharmaceutical companies. What is the role of the doctor and what is their compensation? How will we make up for a deficit of doctors in this country whether we follow health care reform or whether we follow the status quo? Those are public policy questions that aren't even being discussed for millions of Americans by their elected representatives in the house and senate. And frankly, many in the national media cannot begin to understand why there has been this reluctance to hold substantive, open, forthright hearings whether it be on part of the Obama administration, under the leadership of Senator Reid, or by Nancy Pelosi. Let me turn to you, Senator Gregg.
GREGG: There's no question the president tried to rush through this through because he didn't want people to pay attention to it and then as people started to pay attention to it and the implications for their health care, the fact that literally millions of people would be forced off their health care system which they generally like. About 180 million people have health care that is privately delivered, and most of them like that. They may not like their insurance company but they like their health care. They like their doctors, and they usually their hospitals. And as a very practical mater, as you look at the plan which came forward which Senator Sanders supports, which is a government public plan or a single-payer plan, most of those folks or a large percentage of those folks would have lost their private insurance. As people started to focus on that, they got a little upset.
I do think it was moving quickly. I do think you have to take time on something this complex and I do think it has to have a lot of discussion and a lot of airing and I don't think we should try to rush it through because if you do, you get a lot of unintended consequences like people losing their health care who like their health care.
SANDERS: Well Lou, I mean I think you're asking a good question, and I think certainly if I was directing the nature of the debate, I think we would have started off by saying how come we spend twice as much, almost twice as much per capita as any other country, twice as much as France, for example, yet we have 46 million uninsured even more under insured? And this year, we're going to have close to 1 million people going bankrupt because of medically related illnesses. So the bottom line here is why do we spend so much and why is the outcome not so good? And one of the reasons is we spend almost 30 percent of every health care dollar on administrator costs. Not on doctors. We need more dentists, we need more nurses. Yet what we're seeing an explosion is in health care bureaucrats working for private health care insurance companies that are telling us we're not entitled to the benefits we thought we paid for. I think we have a wasteful and inefficient system. And I agree with you. That should have been exploited.
DOBBS: Senator Gregg, you were smiling as Senator Sanders was saying that.
GREGG: If you want to see an explosion of bureaucrats, just turn the entire system over to the government. Bernie's very forthright about this. He says that he wants a single payer plan, he wants a nationalized system. A very honest statement. He believes in that. He ran as a socialist and he actually believes that. I don't think that gets you good quality health care. I think it stifles innovation. I think in the end it causes a lot of people in the country who are quite comfortable with the health care system, literally millions, tens of millions, they have to have to leave that system and move to something that is very unpredictable which I think would be massively bureaucratic and would inevitably lead in my opinion to a government that puts bureaucrats between you and your doctor.
SANDERS: Well right now, as I think every viewer knows the bureaucrat between the physician and the patient is often somebody working for the insurance company and is telling the doctor, and doctors by the way are widely upset about this, what they can prescribe and what kind of therapy they can use. I happen to believe in a Medicare for all program. I think Medicare works pretty well. In fact, in terms of administrative costs, they spend less than in distraction than do the private insurance companies. But a single payer Medicare for all is not on the table. What is on the table is a public option and the right of the American people to be able to choose a Medicare type option as opposed to private insurance.
DOBBS: Let me ask you --
GREGG: Medicare works. This point needs to be made. Medicare works. It works because it pays about 80 percent of the full cost. The extra 20 percent is passed on to the private sector and people paying private insurance. And in addition, there's a lot of treatments that aren't allowed.
DOBBS: I have to bring it to a close. Quickly, can I ask you for a yes or no? Every viewer, every listener answering this question, would the senators and congressman be willing to put aside the plan, the health care insurance that they have now and take on the one that they would create? Senator Gregg, you first?
GREGG: I actually sponsor a bill that does that. It's a bipartisan bill that has ten Democratic sponsors, ten Republican sponsors.
DOBBS: Senator Sanders?
SANDERS: If the public option were there and was better for me than the Blue Cross/Blue Shield I have right now, I certainly would take it.
DOBBS: What if it wasn't? SANDERS: Like every other American, I surely wouldn't take it. It's a choice. Nobody has to take it. People should have that choice.
DOBBS: As Senator Gregg said, and honest, forthright Senator Sanders. Thank you for being with us. Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Judd Gregg.
Joining me now with an update on the other stories we're following here tonight, Ines Ferre.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source