Bill Frist: ‘What The Obama Administration Is Doing Is Not Socialized Medicine’
Bill Frist: ‘What The Obama Administration Is Doing Is Not Socialized Medicine’
This morning, former Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) — who spent a year working as a doctor for the British national health service — argued that President Obama’s health care reform “is not socialized medicine” and predicted that Congress would pass a health care reform bill by December:
So first of all, what the Obama administration is doing is not socialized medicine. You hear a lot of people on the extreme say that socialized medicine is going to come in and control everything. Socialized medicine is where the government owns the hospitals. They own the doctors and they decide how much people are getting paid. And that’s not what’s in these bills.
Watch it:
These “people on the extreme” are members of Frist’s own party. In July, Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican Party, called Obama’s health plan “socialism.” After the HELP committee passed its health bill, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) predicted that “one in five people have to die because they went to socialized medicine!.” Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) called the public option “socialized medicine” and Rep. Pete King (R-NY) described Obama’s campaign health care plans “socialized medicine.”
Frist has recently characterized Republicans as “party of no,” endorsed the individual mandate, and the Senate Finance Committee’s approach to health care reform. During the CSPAN interview, he even praised certain aspects of the British health care system. “There are some great things about the system as well,” he explained. “The primary care, basic care, those physicians get paid more than primary care physicians here…I think from preventive care is probably better there as well.”
Frist encouraged Congress to invest more dollars in prevention and change the way the government pays for health care services. “If you reimburse not on volume, not on quantity, not on more stuff, but on outcomes, on performance, on value to the patient, what works…if you’re really going to get cost effective health care… you have to come with a value based, and not a volume based system.”
6 Responses to “Bill Frist: ‘What The Obama Administration Is Doing Is Not Socialized Medicine’”
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At Least 36 nations have better systems of healthcare than we. The Republicans are not willing to look at any of them seriously. Even Mexico offers a better option than we. Over amillion people ayear go there from California not just because of cost but becuse they find doctors and nurses equal to those we have who give in many cases more time and attention to the patient. John Troy
October 15th, 2009 at 5:43 pmRepublicans always get saner when they are out of office. When in office all their limited brain power goes to politics, when out they have a little left to attempt to embrace reality.
October 15th, 2009 at 5:45 pmFrist has always been our choice for a senator who cares, especially a “Republican” who cares.
Michael, a bronze teabagger (and gray teabaggers don’t accept bronze teabaggers) has a mental problem and I can’t wait until the Republicans throw him under the bus like the gray teabaggers did. I don’t know why he is stupid enough to think he is one of them. Time will tell.
IF he would just talk more lke a college educated colored instead of being a bronze replica of that racist on the radio….you know who.
It is so sad this country is so sick, evil and hateful with the likes of Michael and Limb and cry baby Beckie who influence evil people like that birther woman who can’t even speak decent English. She says the President was not born in this country but where the heck did she come from, she sounds German to me or from some foreign country, or maybe she is from some hick town that couldn’t teach or speak English right here in America.
God Bless America, we welcome anything to our shores, even trash. And if you are lucky, your trash may make you millionaire.
October 15th, 2009 at 7:20 pmAside from the Dems plan to cover the uninsured (including a whopping number of illegal immigrants) on the backs of senior citizens by cutting 500 billion from Medicare, we can’t afford this blatant move toward a government monopoly of our health care system.
October 16th, 2009 at 6:21 amIs Bill Frist lobbying for an Obama Cszar job? Who cares what he thinks anyway
October 16th, 2009 at 6:24 amWell, I am a resident of Dr. Doom’s home State of TN. His family owned HCA, one of the largest hospital chains in the country;when they merged with co conspirator Rick Scott, it didn’t take long before they were all indicted for MAJOR Medicare fraud. The Frist brothers slipped out of going to the slammer but Rick Scott was judged to run the corporation…and right after he ‘left’, this entity was forced to pay…get ready…$1.2 BILLION to settle fraud charges…hmmmm, wonder why the Doc has now found salvation? It is hard to trust a Rethug…NO matter his claims of redemption!
October 16th, 2009 at 7:06 am