CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript
Statement
CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript
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PHILLIPS: As you know, we've been dipping in across the country, listening to all the various town halls that are being held by our Democrat and Republican leaders. Now it's Sun City, Arizona, with Senator John McCain.
Let's listen in.
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SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: ... what they do in other countries.
Let me just mention to you, you know, you see a number of organizations like the AMA and some others who are "signed on," which is remarkable. But -- by the way, in England, today -- let me just mention -- you know this -- the NICE is the outfit called National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in the United Kingdom. They have repeatedly blocked breast cancer patients from receiving breakthrough drugs; they forced patients with Multiple Sclerosis to wait two and a half years to receive innovative new treatment; prevent patients in early stages of Alzheimer's Disease from receiving medication; on and on and on.
That's what they do there. But obviously we don't want that in this country.
I'd like to mention to you -- quote to you two things. One is the Mayo Clinic.
The Mayo Clinic said, "The proposed legislation misses the opportunity to help create higher quality, more affordable health care for patients. In fact, it will do the opposite."
Now, the Mayo Clinic went on to say, "Unless legislators create payment systems that pay for good patient results at reasonable costs, the promise for transformation in American health care will wither. The real losers will be the citizens of the United States."
That's what the Mayo Clinic says.
And let me just mention to you what the CBO says, the Congressional Budget Office, who was appointed by the Democrat majority in Congress. And I quote -- when they were evaluating the health bill that's winning its way through the Senate and the House. OK?
"On the contrary, the legislation significantly expands the federal responsibility for health care costs. The changes we have looked at so far do not represent the sort of fundamental change on the order of magnitude that would be necessary to offset the direct increase in federal health costs included in the insurance coverage proposals." And when he was asked if the cost is reduced over time, the CBO director said, "No. The way I will put it is that the curve is being raised."
Now, so you don't have to take my word for it, my friends. We're talking about a new trillion or multitrillion-dollar debt laid on the American people. And unfortunately, not an improvement on the quality of health care in America.
So let me just say, what can we do? What should we do? What must we do?
First of all, we want the premise that health care should be affordable and available to all Americans. Right? We all want it available and affordable to all Americans.
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How do we do that? Let me just give some ideas.
Let's focus on what we can afford. I talked to you about the fiscal problems we are in.
Insurance reforms to improve access. Let's make sure that Americans are not denied access to insurance policies and those who have pre-existing conditions, those who have -- or are "uninsurables," let's put together risk pools and get them insurance so that they will have it available.
Let's reform medical malpractice.
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My friends, any one of our physicians will tell you that they practice defensive medicine, and understandably so, because of their fear of being sued. In no bill that's going through Congress right now is medical malpractice part of the bill. Why? Because of the trial lawyers. Duh.
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So, we could save $100 billion a year in health care costs just by allowing physicians not to have to practice defensive medicine in the prescription of tests and procedures that are absolutely unnecessary.
There are some specialties that are paying as much as $200,000 a year for their insurance for medical malpractice insurance. Who ends up paying for that? We all know who ends up paying for that. We all know who ends up paying for that.
Let's have tax reforms and incentives to purchase insurance.
During the campaign, I was much maligned because I said that we should give every family in America a $5,000 refundable tax credit so they can go any place in America and purchase the insurance of their choice that best suits the needs of themselves and their families. And we should.
You know, right now, you can't go across state lines. If you live in New York and you think that there is an insurance policy available in Arizona that's better, you are not allowed to do that.
Why in the world is that? And as you know, there is great disparities between the cost of health insurance varying from one state to another.
By the way, back on malpractice a second, California has enacted some real improvements. Texas has enacted some real improvement. We need national change too medical malpractice.
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I'm not going to get into too many more details. But you know one of the great increases in costs that we have today is, of course, readmission to hospitals. Everybody here knows someone who went into the hospital, was discharged too early, and then had to go back to the hospital again, and the costs have dramatically increased.
Now, the problem there, my friends, is the insurance companies, because -- and the doctors who know that they won't pay for more than a few days. That needs to be changed. That needs to be changed as well, as you know.
So, I mentioned about the risk pools. I mentioned about long- term cost reductions.
What are those? Wellness and fitness. Wellness and fitness.
You know, there's a guy who's gotten pretty famous lately, and he's the CEO of Safeway. And you know what they've done at Safeway? They have programs and policies that incentivize their employees to practice wellness sand fitness -- not to smoke, to work out, to do exercise, to get regular physical checkups so that -- and they give them cash rebates, even. And they give them policies that fit their particular needs.
And guess what? Safeway's health care costs have gone down. Why can't we adopt that on the national scale? Why can't we reward people for practicing wellness and fitness?
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Finally, there are many things that we can do sitting down together, but I want to emphasize again to you...
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