MSNBC Interview - Transcript
Interview
MSNBC Interview - Transcript
MSNBC INTERVIEW WITH SENATOR SHERROD BROWN (D-OH)
SUBJECT: HEALTHCARE REFORM INTERVIEWER: CONTESSA BREWER
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MS. BREWER: We're about two hours away from a monumental event at the White House. President Obama has invited more than 100 lawmakers and healthcare industry professionals to a summit about reforming the system.
Senator Sherrod Brown is a Democrat from Ohio, sits on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
Senator, can we afford a healthcare overhaul?
SEN. BROWN: We cannot. We cannot afford healthcare overhaul. This is different from 15 years ago. It's to the point now where American businesses are at a distinct disadvantage. Look at the so- called legacy costs in the auto industry. Look at how many small businesses can't afford healthcare for their employees or struggle so much to provide it. Look at the huge out-of-pocket expenses for so many.
If we don't do this right, we lose on international trade. We lose on competitiveness. We lose on job creation. We've got to bring healthcare costs down. We're spending twice as much as almost any other industrial democracy in the world on healthcare, yet our outcomes, our life expectancy, our infant mortality; our maternal mortality rates are higher than many of those countries.
MS. BREWER: Senator, I have to ask you about something that Congressman Zach Wamp just told my colleague, Tamron Hall here on MSNBC. He was using words like "healthcare is a privilege." He says it's only a right for some people and he actually thinks some people turn down healthcare coverage.
What's your reaction?
SEN. BROWN: Well, my reaction is it what said by somebody who has a really good health plan, is a member of the House of Representatives, first of all, but more importantly than that, it's a right in this country. It's just not right when someone who is sick -- a small child who has an ear infection, his mother doesn't have health insurance, so she doesn't take him to a family doctor. The ear infection gets so bad, the mother takes this daughter to the emergency room. It costs $2,000 instead of $100 and the child might have a lifetime hearing problem as a result.
That doesn't make any sense economically. It doesn't make any sense from a humanitarian standpoint. It makes no sense as a moral question for our society. We can do it better and cheaper if we pay more attention to preventive care, if we pay more attention to primary care and do it earlier in the process and do it right.
MS. BREWER: Senator Brown, thank you so much for your time today. Appreciate that.
SEN. BROWN: Glad to be with you, Contessa. Thank you.
END.
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