MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript

Interview

MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript

MSNBC "The Ed Show" Interview With Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)

Interviewer: Ed Schultz

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MR. SCHULTZ: Now let me turn to another key player, the newest member of the Senate Committee on Health Care, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.

Senator, great to have you on tonight.

SEN. WHITEHOUSE: Thanks, Ed.

MR. SCHULTZ: What do you make of the president's statement to the committee chairs here about competing with insurance companies with this public option? What do you think?

SEN. WHITEHOUSE: For those of us who believe in a public option, the fact that the president came out so strongly is a very, very good sign. And I think that there is room to work with the Republicans to come up with a public option that is not founded on government subsidies but is founded on a new and better business model for health care, one that doesn't depend, as the insurance industry now does, on denying coverage if they think you're going to get sick, denying claims if you have the temerity to get sick, and trying to deny payment to your doctor if they can't get rid of the responsibility for your coverage. That's a lousy business model. And a public option has the opportunity to try to find new ones that are based on prevention, that are based on improved quality, that are based on better coordinated care.

MR. SCHULTZ: And Senator, we should point out that the president also asked for a hardship waiver, meaning people that can't afford to buy insurance, they would still get covered because they'd get a hardship waiver. Could you support that?

SEN. WHITEHOUSE: I think it's important to reach out to all Americans. As you were saying, it is now the number one -- has actually been for a while the number one cause that American families go into bankruptcy is health care expense. And for a lot of them, they're insured already. But we really have to get our arms around making sure that every American has access to this coverage, and if they can't afford it, that they get support to help them get the care that they deserve.

MR. SCHULTZ: Yeah. Are you in favor of taxing health care benefits? Could you support that?

SEN. WHITEHOUSE: It depends. If you've got a CEO with a concierge health care plan that was designed for them as part of a multimillion-dollar benefits package, yeah, I could tax that. If you've got a union member who gave away wages for years so that he could have his benefit and now you're suddenly going to tax that, no, I'm not interested in that.

I think you've got to find a medium point where you protect the people who have given up wages, have given up other things, in order to have that benefit. But if you're taxing high-end concierge luxury policies and things like that, it's a different story. Where it falls out in the middle, I think it's too early to tell.

MR. SCHULTZ: And Senator, quick answer -- six weeks, can you get it done? Yes or no?

SEN. WHITEHOUSE: Yes.

MR. SCHULTZ: Okay, great to have you with us tonight.

END.

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