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Hey everybody!
  If you are interested in how the health care system works (or doesn't
work!), read on if not delete...
  This is the transcript of an interview of Al Gore by George
Stephanopolous from ABC on 12/8.  It gives a basic beginning discussion of
the idea of a single-payer system.  And, as Gore may be the 2004
presendential candidate, it helpful to learn about his views on health
care.  Enjoy!

Take care,
 Celia
 
> 
> Here is a writen transcript of the Gore interview.  Enjoy!
> 
> Robyn Banino
> NJMS 2005
> GORE INTERVIEW =E2=80=93 =E2=80=9CThis Week With George =
> Stephanopolous=E2=80=9D =E2=80=93 ABC-TV, 12-8-02 =E2=80=93=20
> excerpt
> 
> GS:  One of the proposals you surprised a lot of people with this fall =
> and=20
> during your book tour was on health care.  You said now that =
> you=E2=80=99ve come to the=20
> conclusion that we need a single payer universal health care plan.  =
> Single=20
> payer means government collects the revenue and finds a way to provide =
> coverage.
> 
> AG:  Not necessarily.  It can be privately run and offer consumers =
> choice, but=20
> it needs to go through a single mechanism, so you get rid of the =
> overlapping=20
> bureaucracies.  Let me give you an example of why this is needed.  First
=
> of=20
> all, look at the situation.  The restraint in health care premium =
> increases,=20
> that=E2=80=99s gone now.  And in many parts of America, premiums are =
> increasing 25% per=20
> year.  Businesses are capping their contributions, and so the extra is =
> spilling=20
> over onto the individual, and now middle income families are joining =
> those=20
> Americans who are choosing to go without health insurance, because they =
> can=E2=80=99t=20
> afford it.   Many of them can=E2=80=99t afford it any more.  States are =
> now in deficit =E2=80=93
> they=E2=80=99re not picking up the slack.  Businesses are under =
> pressure; they=E2=80=99re=20
> being made to feel like bad guys for having to choose between cancelling
=
> the=20
> health care benefits of their employees or eliminating the jobs of their
=
> 
> employees.  And underneath it all, we=E2=80=99re spending a trillion =
> dollars on=20
> healthcare, and fully one-third of it, more than 300 billion dollars a =
> year, is=20
> being spent on unnecessary paperwork and bureaucracy.  As much as $20 to
=
> $25=20
> for processing each transaction, when banks and brokerages are down to =
> one=20
> penny per transaction.
> 
> GS:  So for all these reasons, you=E2=80=99ve changed your view.
> 
> AG: Absolutely.
> 
> GS: Back in the 2000 campaign, you were against this.  You said we had =
> to go=20
> step by step.
> 
> AG: Well, this proposal wasn=E2=80=99t even on the table then, nothing =
> like it was, but=20
> yes, I was against a comprehensive overhaul in theory then, and the =
> reason was,=20
> states had revenue, businesses were picking up the slack, we had a =
> federal=20
> budget surplus, 85% of the American people were happy with the health =
> care=20
> coverage that they had.  The viability of building on an incremental =
> approach=20
> was still very real.  Now you=E2=80=99ve got John Breaux among others =
> saying the health=20
> care system is collapsing around us.  The National Academy of Science =
> has just=20
> put out a report saying that it is completely unworkable in the present,
=
> much=20
> less in the future.   Look, American families are now seeing their =
> premiums go=20
> up.  They=E2=80=99re seeing their employers cancelling a lot of their =
> coverage and=20
> putting more of the burden on them.  This system is collapsing, George.
> 
> GS: There have been single payer systems out there.  I want to show one =
> created=20
> by some of your supporters in the 2000 campaign. [graphic on screen]
> 
> AG:  Well, okay, I=E2=80=99m not going to take credit for whatever =
> somebody else has=20
> proposed on single payer.
> 
> GS: Right.  This is the American Nurses Association, and they put out a =
> single=20
> payer proposal that will provide several benefits =E2=80=93 preventive =
> services,=20
> prescription drugs, catastrophic, mental health services.  =
> You=E2=80=99re for all those=20
> benefits, correct?
> 
> AG: Yes, sure.
> 
> GS: The problem is the cost.  The Lewin Group, a respected health =
> research=20
> organization, did an analysis of this proposal, and I understand =
> it=E2=80=99s not=20
> yours, but it=E2=80=99s a generic single payer proposal, and it showed =
> it would be a=20
> 9.6% payroll tax, if we could see the other board there [graphic], for =
> the=20
> average American family.  That=E2=80=99s a huge new tax.
> 
> AG: Yeah, but that=E2=80=99s not my proposal and that=E2=80=99s not what
=
> I=E2=80=99m in favor of.  The=20
> point is that our current system =E2=80=93
> 
> GS: You=E2=80=99re saying no new taxes to pay for health care?  =
> That=E2=80=99s not possible, is=20
> it?
> 
> AG: Well, we have taxes now that pay for health care.  And what =
> we=E2=80=99re paying=20
> for, one out of every three dollars is completely wasted.  You know, we =
> have by=20
> far the most expensive health care system in the entire world.  Per =
> person,=20
> we=E2=80=99re spending more than any other country by a country mile.  =
> And yet,=20
> coverage is being reduced, families are getting rid of their health =
> insurance=20
> because they can=E2=80=99t afford it.  Businesses are cancelling =
> coverage for their=20
> employees.   Look, with the same revenue we have now, we can do a much =
> better=20
> job if we don=E2=80=99t waste one out of every three dollars on this =
> overlapping=20
> paperwork.
> 
> GS:  Every time a single payer proposal has come forward, whether it was
=
> Bob=20
> Kerrey in 1992, or Congressman Pete Stark in 1994, or the American =
> Nurses=20
> Association proposal, or any of the proposals in the states, =
> it=E2=80=99s required new=20
> taxes.  Have you ever seen =E2=80=93
> 
> AG:  Yes, I=E2=80=99ve seen one that doesn=E2=80=99t.  Let me give you =
> an example =E2=80=93 just=20
> something like the Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan, just to take =
> one=20
> example.  That=E2=80=99s the plan that supplies health care benefits to =
> members of=20
> Congress.  You can have a model that=E2=80=99s similar in some ways to =
> that, where it=E2=80=99s=20
> privately run through a defined framework.  It can still have some=20
> contributions from employees, some from employers, but you eliminate all
=
> of the=20
> unnecessary overhead.  You eliminate the complication and the =
> complexity, and=20
> you focus it and rationalize it and get the dollars to the health care=20
> providers and the patients instead of bureaucracy.  Look, what we have =
> now is,=20
> we=E2=80=99ve got utilization review panels, panels reviewing the review
=
> panels, health=20
> insurance brokers, brokers brokering the brokers, insurance companies=20
> competing, health care providers having to deal with 20 or 30 different =
> plans=20
> and computer programs.  And all of these different entities are taking =
> their=20
> cuts and adding their profit margins on top of it.  None of them has
an=20
> incentive to cut the cost, and so that=E2=80=99s a recipe for the kind =
> of disaster that=20
> we have now.
> 
> GS:  The kind of plan you describe, the Federal Employee Health Benefits
=
> Plan,=20
> that=E2=80=99s very much like what Bill Bradley called for in the last =
> campaign, and=20
> you criticized him for that.  In this campaign, Governor Howard Dean has
=
> 
> proposed a much more limited =E2=80=93
> 
> AG:  Ok, but I don=E2=80=99t want you to lay that premise down there, =
> that I criticized=20
> the kind of plan that I think is useful now.
> 
> GS: But it was based on the Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan.
> 
> AG: But it was a very different kind of a plan, involving subsidies to =
> go out=20
> and forced choice =E2=80=93
> 
> GS: But I just want to pin you down on this.  Are you saying a single =
> payer,=20
> national health care plan, universal coverage plan, without new taxes - =
> are you=20
> making that commitment?
> 
> AG: I don=E2=80=99t know.  But I think that the amount we=E2=80=99re =
> spending now is more than=20
> enough to cover an improved health care system that would have better =
> benefits=20
> for more people at lower cost.  I don=E2=80=99t think that new revenues =
> necessarily are=20
> required.
> 
> GS: But if it takes new taxes, you=E2=80=99re willing to do it in order =
> to get health=20
> care?
> 
> AG: Yeah, I am.  But let me make this point.  After the first of the =
> year, I=E2=80=99m=20
> going to have a far more detailed presentation of exactly what approach =
> I think=20
> needs to be taken.  The phrase single payer doesn=E2=80=99t mean =
> government-run.  It=20
> doesn=E2=80=99t mean Canada=E2=80=99s system, or England=E2=80=99s =
> system.  What I think we need is an=20
> American system that is designed here within our situation to take care =
> of what=20
> is a looming catastrophe for tens of millions of families.
> 
> GS: But it may mean new taxes.
> 
> AG: Or it may mean fewer taxes.  It may mean less expense overall.  I =
> think it=20
> would mean less expense overall, because of all the money that=E2=80=99s
=
> wasted now.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ida Hellander, MD
> Executive Director
> Physicians for a National Health Program
> 29 E Madison, Suite 602
> Chicago, IL 60602
> 312.782.6006
> fax 312.782.6007
> www.pnhp.org
> [log in to unmask]
> 
> 
> --Boundary_(ID_35s/CPJsDXAmaY/I8qDqAw)
> Content-type: text/html; charset=UTF-8
> Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable
> 
> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
> <HTML><HEAD>
> <META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; charset=3Dutf-8">
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> <BODY>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial color=3D#0000ff size=3D2><SPAN =
> class=3D040464200-10122002>Here=20
> is a writen transcript of the Gore interview.  =
> Enjoy!</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial color=3D#0000ff size=3D2><SPAN=20
> class=3D040464200-10122002></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial color=3D#0000ff size=3D2><SPAN =
> class=3D040464200-10122002>Robyn=20
> Banino</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial color=3D#0000ff size=3D2><SPAN =
> class=3D040464200-10122002>NJMS=20
> 2005</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial color=3D#0000ff size=3D2><SPAN=20
> class=3D040464200-10122002></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial color=3D#0000ff size=3D2><SPAN=20
> class=3D040464200-10122002></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV class=3DOutlookMessageHeader dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><FONT =
> face=3DTahoma=20
> size=3D2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> [log in to unmask]
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Monday, December 09, 2002 5:20=20
> PM<BR><B>To:</B> [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask];=20
> [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; =
> [log in to unmask];=20
> [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask];
=
> 
> [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask];=20
> [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask];=20
> [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask];=20
> [log in to unmask]<BR><B>Subject:</B> Transcript of Gore interview =
> ABC Sunday=20
> night<BR><BR></FONT></DIV><FONT face=3Darial,helvetica><FONT lang=3D0 =
> face=3DArial=20
> size=3D2 FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF">Forwarded Message: <BR>Subj: <B>Gore =
> ABC-TV interview=20
> Sunday 12/8/02 </B> <BR>Date: 12/8/02 7:30:43 PM Pacific Standard =
> Time=20
> <BR>From: <A href=3D"mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]</A> =
> <BR>To: <A=20
> href=3D"mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]</A> =
> <BR><I>Sent from=20
> the Internet (Details)</I> <BR><BR><BR>Jerry - As you may know Gore was =
> on "This=20
> Week" this morning.  A lot of time <BR>was devoted to his new =
> position on=20
> health care.  I happened to tape the show <BR>and after listening =
> to it a=20
> couple of times decided it is potentially pretty <BR>important so I made
=
> a=20
> written transcript, which is both reproduced below and <BR>attached as =
> an=20
> MS-Word file.  I encourage you to circulate it. - =
> Pat<BR><BR>*  =20
> *   *   *<BR><BR>GORE INTERVIEW =E2=80=93 =
> =E2=80=9CThis Week With George=20
> Stephanopolous=E2=80=9D =E2=80=93 ABC-TV, 12-8-02 =E2=80=93 =
> <BR>excerpt<BR><BR>GS:  One of the=20
> proposals you surprised a lot of people with this fall and <BR>during =
> your book=20
> tour was on health care.  You said now that you=E2=80=99ve come to =
> the=20
> <BR>conclusion that we need a single payer universal health care =
> plan. =20
> Single <BR>payer means government collects the revenue and finds a way =
> to=20
> provide coverage.<BR><BR>AG:  Not necessarily.  It can be =
> privately=20
> run and offer consumers choice, but <BR>it needs to go through a
single=20
> mechanism, so you get rid of the overlapping <BR>bureaucracies.  =
> Let me=20
> give you an example of why this is needed.  First of <BR>all, look =
> at the=20
> situation.  The restraint in health care premium increases, =
> <BR>that=E2=80=99s gone=20
> now.  And in many parts of America, premiums are increasing 25% per =
> 
> <BR>year.  Businesses are capping their contributions, and so the =
> extra is=20
> spilling <BR>over onto the individual, and now middle income families =
> are=20
> joining those <BR>Americans who are choosing to go without health =
> insurance,=20
> because they can=E2=80=99t <BR>afford it.   Many of them =
> can=E2=80=99t afford it any=20
> more.  States are now in deficit =E2=80=93<BR>they=E2=80=99re not =
> picking up the=20
> slack.  Businesses are under pressure; they=E2=80=99re <BR>being =
> made to feel like=20
> bad guys for having to choose between cancelling the <BR>health care =
> benefits of=20
> their employees or eliminating the jobs of their <BR>employees.  =
> And=20
> underneath it all, we=E2=80=99re spending a trillion dollars on =
> <BR>healthcare, and=20
> fully one-third of it, more than 300 billion dollars a year, is =
> <BR>being spent=20
> on unnecessary paperwork and bureaucracy.  As much as $20 to $25 =
> <BR>for=20
> processing each transaction, when banks and brokerages are down to one =
> <BR>penny=20
> per transaction.<BR><BR>GS:  So for all these reasons, =
> you=E2=80=99ve changed your=20
> view.<BR><BR>AG: Absolutely.<BR><BR>GS: Back in the 2000 campaign, you =
> were=20
> against this.  You said we had to go <BR>step by step.<BR><BR>AG: =
> Well,=20
> this proposal wasn=E2=80=99t even on the table then, nothing like it =
> was, but <BR>yes, I=20
> was against a comprehensive overhaul in theory then, and the reason was,
=
> 
> <BR>states had revenue, businesses were picking up the slack, we had a =
> federal=20
> <BR>budget surplus, 85% of the American people were happy with the =
> health care=20
> <BR>coverage that they had.  The viability of building on an =
> incremental=20
> approach <BR>was still very real.  Now you=E2=80=99ve got John =
> Breaux among others=20
> saying the health <BR>care system is collapsing around us.  The =
> National=20
> Academy of Science has just <BR>put out a report saying that it is =
> completely=20
> unworkable in the present, much <BR>less in the future.   =
> Look,=20
> American families are now seeing their premiums go <BR>up.  =
> They=E2=80=99re seeing=20
> their employers cancelling a lot of their coverage and <BR>putting more =
> of the=20
> burden on them.  This system is collapsing, George.<BR><BR>GS: =
> There have=20
> been single payer systems out there.  I want to show one created =
> <BR>by=20
> some of your supporters in the 2000 campaign. [graphic on=20
> screen]<BR><BR>AG:  Well, okay, I=E2=80=99m not going to take =
> credit for whatever=20
> somebody else has <BR>proposed on single payer.<BR><BR>GS: Right.  =
> This is=20
> the American Nurses Association, and they put out a single <BR>payer =
> proposal=20
> that will provide several benefits =E2=80=93 preventive services, =
> <BR>prescription=20
> drugs, catastrophic, mental health services.  You=E2=80=99re for =
> all those=20
> <BR>benefits, correct?<BR><BR>AG: Yes, sure.<BR><BR>GS: The problem is =
> the=20
> cost.  The Lewin Group, a respected health research =
> <BR>organization, did=20
> an analysis of this proposal, and I understand it=E2=80=99s not =
> <BR>yours, but it=E2=80=99s a=20
> generic single payer proposal, and it showed it would be a <BR>9.6% =
> payroll tax,=20
> if we could see the other board there [graphic], for the <BR>average =
> American=20
> family.  That=E2=80=99s a huge new tax.<BR><BR>AG: Yeah, but =
> that=E2=80=99s not my proposal=20
> and that=E2=80=99s not what I=E2=80=99m in favor of.  The <BR>point =
> is that our current=20
> system =E2=80=93<BR><BR>GS: You=E2=80=99re saying no new taxes to pay =
> for health care? =20
> That=E2=80=99s not possible, is <BR>it?<BR><BR>AG: Well, we have taxes =
> now that pay for=20
> health care.  And what we=E2=80=99re paying <BR>for, one out of =
> every three dollars=20
> is completely wasted.  You know, we have by <BR>far the most =
> expensive=20
> health care system in the entire world.  Per person, =
> <BR>we=E2=80=99re spending=20
> more than any other country by a country mile.  And yet, =
> <BR>coverage is=20
> being reduced, families are getting rid of their health insurance =
> <BR>because=20
> they can=E2=80=99t afford it.  Businesses are cancelling coverage =
> for their=20
> <BR>employees.   Look, with the same revenue we have now, we =
> can do a=20
> much better <BR>job if we don=E2=80=99t waste one out of every three =
> dollars on this=20
> overlapping <BR>paperwork.<BR><BR>GS:  Every time a single payer =
> proposal=20
> has come forward, whether it was Bob <BR>Kerrey in 1992, or Congressman =
> Pete=20
> Stark in 1994, or the American Nurses <BR>Association proposal, or any =
> of the=20
> proposals in the states, it=E2=80=99s required new <BR>taxes.  Have =
> you ever seen=20
> =E2=80=93<BR><BR>AG:  Yes, I=E2=80=99ve seen one that =
> doesn=E2=80=99t.  Let me give you an=20
> example =E2=80=93 just <BR>something like the Federal Employee Health =
> Benefit Plan, just=20
> to take one <BR>example.  That=E2=80=99s the plan that supplies =
> health care=20
> benefits to members of <BR>Congress.  You can have a model =
> that=E2=80=99s similar=20
> in some ways to that, where it=E2=80=99s <BR>privately run through a =
> defined=20
> framework.  It can still have some <BR>contributions from =
> employees, some=20
> from employers, but you eliminate all of the <BR>unnecessary =
> overhead.  You=20
> eliminate the complication and the complexity, and <BR>you focus it
and=20
> rationalize it and get the dollars to the health care <BR>providers and =
> the=20
> patients instead of bureaucracy.  Look, what we have now is, =
> <BR>we=E2=80=99ve got=20
> utilization review panels, panels reviewing the review panels, health=20
> <BR>insurance brokers, brokers brokering the brokers, insurance =
> companies=20
> <BR>competing, health care providers having to deal with 20 or 30 =
> different=20
> plans <BR>and computer programs.  And all of these different =
> entities are=20
> taking their <BR>cuts and adding their profit margins on top of =
> it.  None=20
> of them has an <BR>incentive to cut the cost, and so that=E2=80=99s a =
> recipe for the=20
> kind of disaster that <BR>we have now.<BR><BR>GS:  The kind of plan =
> you=20
> describe, the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan, <BR>that=E2=80=99s =
> very much like=20
> what Bill Bradley called for in the last campaign, and <BR>you =
> criticized him=20
> for that.  In this campaign, Governor Howard Dean has <BR>proposed =
> a much=20
> more limited =E2=80=93<BR><BR>AG:  Ok, but I don=E2=80=99t want you =
> to lay that premise=20
> down there, that I criticized <BR>the kind of plan that I think is =
> useful=20
> now.<BR><BR>GS: But it was based on the Federal Employee Health
Benefit=20
> Plan.<BR><BR>AG: But it was a very different kind of a plan, involving =
> subsidies=20
> to go out <BR>and forced choice =E2=80=93<BR><BR>GS: But I just want to =
> pin you down on=20
> this.  Are you saying a single payer, <BR>national health care =
> plan,=20
> universal coverage plan, without new taxes - are you <BR>making that=20
> commitment?<BR><BR>AG: I don=E2=80=99t know.  But I think that the =
> amount we=E2=80=99re=20
> spending now is more than <BR>enough to cover an improved health care =
> system=20
> that would have better benefits <BR>for more people at lower cost.  =
> I don=E2=80=99t=20
> think that new revenues necessarily are <BR>required.<BR><BR>GS: But if =
> it takes=20
> new taxes, you=E2=80=99re willing to do it in order to get health =
> <BR>care?<BR><BR>AG:=20
> Yeah, I am.  But let me make this point.  After the first of =
> the year,=20
> I=E2=80=99m <BR>going to have a far more detailed presentation of =
> exactly what approach=20
> I think <BR>needs to be taken.  The phrase single payer =
> doesn=E2=80=99t mean=20
> government-run.  It <BR>doesn=E2=80=99t mean Canada=E2=80=99s =
> system, or England=E2=80=99s=20
> system.  What I think we need is an <BR>American system that is =
> designed=20
> here within our situation to take care of what <BR>is a looming =
> catastrophe for=20
> tens of millions of families.<BR><BR>GS: But it may mean new =
> taxes.<BR><BR>AG:=20
> Or it may mean fewer taxes.  It may mean less expense =
> overall.  I=20
> think it <BR>would mean less expense overall, because of all the money =
> that=E2=80=99s=20
> wasted now.<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=3D0=20
> style=3D"BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" face=3D"Bradley Hand ITC" =
> color=3D#000000 size=3D3=20
> FAMILY=3D"SCRIPT">Ida Hellander, MD<BR></FONT><FONT lang=3D0=20
> style=3D"BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" face=3DArial color=3D#000000 =
> size=3D2=20
> FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF">Executive Director<BR>Physicians for a National =
> Health=20
> Program<BR>29 E Madison, Suite 602<BR>Chicago, IL 60602</FONT><FONT =
> lang=3D0=20
> style=3D"BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" face=3D"Bradley Hand ITC" =
> color=3D#000000 size=3D2=20
> FAMILY=3D"SCRIPT"><BR></FONT><FONT lang=3D0 style=3D"BACKGROUND-COLOR: =
> #ffffff"=20
> face=3DArial color=3D#000000 size=3D2 =
> FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF">312.782.6006<BR>fax=20
>
312.782.6007<BR>www.pnhp.org<BR>[log in to unmask]<BR><BR></FONT></FONT></BODY>=
> </HTML>
> 
> --Boundary_(ID_35s/CPJsDXAmaY/I8qDqAw)--
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