CNN "Erin Burnett Outfront" - Transcript

Interview

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The Supreme Court decision today flies in the face of what Senator Barrasso has been vowing to do since January of last year -- repeal and replace the health care law.

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SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R), WYOMING: Nothing should come between you and your doctor. Not a government bureaucrat. Not an insurance company bureaucrat. Nothing. Republicans will fight to repeal this job-destroying law and replace it with patient-centered reforms.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: What exactly are those reforms he's talking about? Senator Barrasso is OUTFRONT tonight.

Senator, good to see you. Appreciate it.

I know you've been talking about repeal and replacing this health care law for quite some time. Obviously, you're going to vote in favor of the -- you would, you're in the Senate, but they're going to be repealing it in the House in a couple of weeks. Let me just ask you where you stand on the provisions that Americans love.

You can't discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions. Young people can stay on their parent's plans until they're 26. Subsidies for lower income households. Small businesses get tax credits.

Would you keep all those things?

BARRASSO: You know, my wife is a breast cancer survivor. She's been through three operations, chemotherapy twice. I know how important it is for people with pre-existing conditions to be able to get coverage and to get care.

And there are a lot of ways we can do it in a way that is actually more cost effective than happens through this health care bill. The same thing with those under the age of 26. You're talking about fewer than 1 percent of all people in this country where -- are covered that way. So there are things we can do to lower the cost of care and help everyone.

Under this health care law, though, you look at the president, so many of his promises that have been broken. He said under the law that insurance premiums would drop $2,500 per family that first year. Instead what we've seen is premiums have gone up $2,400 a family.

This law, it was a bad law yesterday. And in spite of the Supreme Court's decision today, it's still a bad law tonight.

BURNETT: All right. So let me -- just a couple things you said there I want to clarify. First of all, you're saying that yes, you would pay for it, but you would keep things like young people can stay on their parent's insurance, coverage for pre-existing conditions, right? That would be part of a good health care bill in your view?

BARRASSO: Well, I think it is. I said that on CNN two years ago, the day of the White House summit where we were discussing -- I think someone from CNN asked me, what could we pass today that people agree on? And that was one of those things. I think there's some benefits for that.

Fundamentally, we have a health care law that gives people fewer choices and increased costs and fewer control of their own life and own health care. And I think it's still a bad law and should be repealed and replaced.

BURNETT: OK. So let's get to this issue of cost. You've raised something we've been talking about.

Premiums are going to rise. Estimates are 7.5 percent under this. That is still more than any raises Americans are getting. It's four times the rate of inflation. That's really bad.

But, you know, this president tried to fight that. He went out to the doctors and said, I want to cut what you guys are getting. I don't want so many tests. And he fought back by them, by Democrats, by Republicans. Nobody wanted to take the political heat for paying for it.

Would you tell doctors, forget it, guys, stop with all those tests?

BARRASSO: Well, as somebody who's practiced medicine for 25 years, I can tell you that doctors worry about the lawsuit abuse that exists out there, which cause them to order many expensive tests. It's called defensive medicine. It's when a doctor orders a test more to treat the doctor than the patient because they don't want to miss that one in a thousand, or one in 10,000 cases that's going to end up for them to be in the courtroom rather than in the operating room --

BURNETT: Fair point but they also order those tests, those machines --

(CROSSTALK)

BARRASSO: -- expensive tests.

BURNETT: OK, that's true but they also old those expensive test machines and put them in their office because they know they can get reimbursed by insurance for a lot of money by putting those tests through. That's why doctors keep going in practices and ordering those machines. That's been proved in study after study to be true.

BARRASSO: You know, it's an interesting concept about just how much money is wasted in health care that's not really being used to help the patient get better. But the physicians I have worked with over the years, it is driven by the concern about getting sued. Defensive medicine is a huge part of the cost of care.

And some physicians do put the machines to order these tests in their own offices for the convenience of the patient but it is driven by the defensive medicine that's been practiced. And the president has essentially ignored this, refused to admit how much this contributes to the cost of care.

The American people need health care reform and the reason they need it is because of the cost of care. That's what this whole thing was supposed to be about from the beginning -- making sure the patients get the care they need from the doctor they choose. Not that the government chooses or some insurance company chooses at lower cost.

And this health care law has failed on all of those accounts. BURNETT: OK. But let's look at the biggest cost -- things that account for costs in America. You've got hospitals. You've got these tests that come from doctors. You've got prescription drugs. Obviously, a big part of that came from the prescription drug plan under George W. Bush.

So are you going to go to those hospitals, to those drug companies, and tell them, we're just not going to do this anymore? I mean, you know, you have to admit, the president did try. It was Democrats and Republicans, both who were afraid to go ahead and fight the costs.

BARRASSO: Well, I think that the president basically misled the American people. He said the negotiations would be covered on C-Span. Things would be all open.

These were all closed door negotiations. It was one party making all of the decisions. They were -- the bipartisan ideas were not accepted. The patient refused to listen to Republican ideas aimed at lowering the cost of care, bringing more competition into this, allowing people to buy insurance across state lines, giving individual incentives for people who take efforts to actually lower their cost of care by losing weight, by taking more control and prevention in their own lives.

The president ignored item after item and came out with a one- size fits all, which has really driven up the cost of care faster, report show us, than if the law had never been passed in the first place.

BURNETT: Senator, thank you. Appreciate your time.

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