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American Morning

Medicare Standoff

Aired August 13, 2003 - 08:42   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk health care now, and are America's seniors getting closer to getting prescription drug coverage under Medicare? The House and Senate passed bills in June, but some senators take issue with the House bill, which calls for moving many seniors from Medicare to private carriers. Will the two houses forge a compromise? And if they do, would President Bush sign it? With us now from Washington, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and Dr. Julie Gerberding.
Good morning to you, Mr. Secretary.

And Dr. Gerberding, good morning to you, the CDC.

Thompson is sending some top doctors across the country to talk about Medicare. Good to have you both here with us.

TOMMY THOMPSON, HHS SECRETARY: Well, good morning, Daryn, thank you very much for having us.

KAGAN: Mr. Secretary, I'm going to go ahead and start with you, kind of cut through the policy, and the inside the beltway, because I think most seniors out there basically are just kind of interested in what they're going to get. They want prescription drug coverage. President Bush has been adamant that they will get that. But will they get that given what is going through Congress?

THOMPSON: Absolutely. I'm very confident and optimistic that the conferees are going to come up with a very viable package, one that's going to allow every senior in America the opportunity to have Medicare coverage and have a choice in the Medicare coverage, just like you and I do, Daryn, and be able to have prescription drug coverage, something all seniors are asking for. And we're very close to achieving that. And that's why I'm sending four of the most highly acclaimed doctors in the department and across America to go out and talk to the seniors and talk to the newsmakers about the possibilities and the importance of getting the conferees to reach a package that's going to be suitable and constructive and is going to accomplish what everybody wants to accomplish, prescription drug coverage.

KAGAN: And I know you consider Dr. Gerberding to be one of those top doctors.

THOMPSON: She's outstanding.

KAGAN: And, doctor, we will get to you in just a moment.

But first of all, I want to ask you, Mr. Secretary, will the dollars for that prescription drug coverage come at the expense of the doctors out there? And Medicare giving yet another pay cut of reimbursement to doctors, making it difficult for them to provide the health care for the seniors in the first place?

THOMPSON: Well, there's no question that the doctors are going to receive a reduction this year, unless Congress makes some adjustments. And I'm fairly confident that that's going to take place. That's being considered also in the Medicare package, and that's another reason why the Medicare package and the reform package needs to get passed, so that we can take care of the doctors, as well as make sure that they can provide the coverage, and provide seniors with preventive care as well as prescription drug coverage.

KAGAN: We could take the lead of senators and Congressmen out there and talk Medicare all day long and into the night. But since I have both of you here on our time is short, I want to get a few other topics in, and Dr. Gerberding, bring you in on this one.

West Nile Virus continues to spread, not just in numbers, but spread westward. Best indication of that Colorado having the toughest time this summer.

DR. JULIE GERBERDING, CDC DIRECTOR: Absolutely. We're watching the monitoring of the mosquitoes and the horses, and most importantly, the people with West Nile infection. And what we can say right now, it's certainly not better than last year, and the indicators are that for at least the people in Colorado and the West it's going to be worse.

KAGAN: We're looking at some video of some spraying. Do you think in terms of public policy the idea or the best idea for controlling this is spraying, or going after a vaccine?

GERBERDING: You know, you can't solve this problem with a single measure. It takes everything from knowing where the next area to be hit is going to be, and we do that through our monitoring systems, taking care of the mosquito larva through larvacide programs, spraying where there are cases and we can't control it anyway, but most importantly, individual people can take the steps they need to take to protect themselves. And that includes emptying the standing water on their property, but also using mosquito repellent containing deet any time they go outside, especially during the late evening or early mornings when the mosquitoes are most likely to bite.

KAGAN: We started our discussion talking about seniors. Now let's talk about America's young people.

Mr. Secretary, there's a condition out there that they're calling metabolic syndrome. Four percent of teenagers are obese in this country and have this, where they are going to get diabetes by their 20s, heart disease by their 40s. Does there need to be a bigger health campaign to get the message of what it does take to be healthy to America's young people?

THOMPSON: Absolutely, Daryn. We need to do a lot better job. We're trying to get the department completely motivated in order to do that kind of a job. And we're undertaking this initiative throughout the department and across America. We're teaming up with fast food companies, restaurants, the grocery manufacturers and food manufacturers. We're trying to make sure that the foods that are out there are going to provide much better diets. We're trying to make sure Americans exercise more, and we have to get America and Americans to realize, preventative health is the way to go. Watch your diet and exercise, and get prepared.

KAGAN: Because, if not, that health bill, bring it around to the discussion of Medicare, is just going to balloon and be even more out of control than it is now.

THOMPSON: When you start looking at the figures, $155 billion a year in tobacco-related illnesses, $132 billion on diabetes, $117 billion on obesity, you start realizing the tremendous cost and the importance of prevention. And that's why CDC, led by Julie Gerberding, and the Department is doing everything we possibly can to impress upon everybody across America the needs to start looking out for themselves and taking care of themselves, and their families and their communities.

KAGAN: We should mention that our Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be along in the next half hour to talk more about the syndrome and what people can do about it.

Meanwhile, though, Mr. Secretary, Dr. Gerberding, thank you for your time.

THOMPSON: Thank you very much.

GERBERDING: Thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired August 13, 2003 - 08:42   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk health care now, and are America's seniors getting closer to getting prescription drug coverage under Medicare? The House and Senate passed bills in June, but some senators take issue with the House bill, which calls for moving many seniors from Medicare to private carriers. Will the two houses forge a compromise? And if they do, would President Bush sign it? With us now from Washington, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and Dr. Julie Gerberding.
Good morning to you, Mr. Secretary.

And Dr. Gerberding, good morning to you, the CDC.

Thompson is sending some top doctors across the country to talk about Medicare. Good to have you both here with us.

TOMMY THOMPSON, HHS SECRETARY: Well, good morning, Daryn, thank you very much for having us.

KAGAN: Mr. Secretary, I'm going to go ahead and start with you, kind of cut through the policy, and the inside the beltway, because I think most seniors out there basically are just kind of interested in what they're going to get. They want prescription drug coverage. President Bush has been adamant that they will get that. But will they get that given what is going through Congress?

THOMPSON: Absolutely. I'm very confident and optimistic that the conferees are going to come up with a very viable package, one that's going to allow every senior in America the opportunity to have Medicare coverage and have a choice in the Medicare coverage, just like you and I do, Daryn, and be able to have prescription drug coverage, something all seniors are asking for. And we're very close to achieving that. And that's why I'm sending four of the most highly acclaimed doctors in the department and across America to go out and talk to the seniors and talk to the newsmakers about the possibilities and the importance of getting the conferees to reach a package that's going to be suitable and constructive and is going to accomplish what everybody wants to accomplish, prescription drug coverage.

KAGAN: And I know you consider Dr. Gerberding to be one of those top doctors.

THOMPSON: She's outstanding.

KAGAN: And, doctor, we will get to you in just a moment.

But first of all, I want to ask you, Mr. Secretary, will the dollars for that prescription drug coverage come at the expense of the doctors out there? And Medicare giving yet another pay cut of reimbursement to doctors, making it difficult for them to provide the health care for the seniors in the first place?

THOMPSON: Well, there's no question that the doctors are going to receive a reduction this year, unless Congress makes some adjustments. And I'm fairly confident that that's going to take place. That's being considered also in the Medicare package, and that's another reason why the Medicare package and the reform package needs to get passed, so that we can take care of the doctors, as well as make sure that they can provide the coverage, and provide seniors with preventive care as well as prescription drug coverage.

KAGAN: We could take the lead of senators and Congressmen out there and talk Medicare all day long and into the night. But since I have both of you here on our time is short, I want to get a few other topics in, and Dr. Gerberding, bring you in on this one.

West Nile Virus continues to spread, not just in numbers, but spread westward. Best indication of that Colorado having the toughest time this summer.

DR. JULIE GERBERDING, CDC DIRECTOR: Absolutely. We're watching the monitoring of the mosquitoes and the horses, and most importantly, the people with West Nile infection. And what we can say right now, it's certainly not better than last year, and the indicators are that for at least the people in Colorado and the West it's going to be worse.

KAGAN: We're looking at some video of some spraying. Do you think in terms of public policy the idea or the best idea for controlling this is spraying, or going after a vaccine?

GERBERDING: You know, you can't solve this problem with a single measure. It takes everything from knowing where the next area to be hit is going to be, and we do that through our monitoring systems, taking care of the mosquito larva through larvacide programs, spraying where there are cases and we can't control it anyway, but most importantly, individual people can take the steps they need to take to protect themselves. And that includes emptying the standing water on their property, but also using mosquito repellent containing deet any time they go outside, especially during the late evening or early mornings when the mosquitoes are most likely to bite.

KAGAN: We started our discussion talking about seniors. Now let's talk about America's young people.

Mr. Secretary, there's a condition out there that they're calling metabolic syndrome. Four percent of teenagers are obese in this country and have this, where they are going to get diabetes by their 20s, heart disease by their 40s. Does there need to be a bigger health campaign to get the message of what it does take to be healthy to America's young people?

THOMPSON: Absolutely, Daryn. We need to do a lot better job. We're trying to get the department completely motivated in order to do that kind of a job. And we're undertaking this initiative throughout the department and across America. We're teaming up with fast food companies, restaurants, the grocery manufacturers and food manufacturers. We're trying to make sure that the foods that are out there are going to provide much better diets. We're trying to make sure Americans exercise more, and we have to get America and Americans to realize, preventative health is the way to go. Watch your diet and exercise, and get prepared.

KAGAN: Because, if not, that health bill, bring it around to the discussion of Medicare, is just going to balloon and be even more out of control than it is now.

THOMPSON: When you start looking at the figures, $155 billion a year in tobacco-related illnesses, $132 billion on diabetes, $117 billion on obesity, you start realizing the tremendous cost and the importance of prevention. And that's why CDC, led by Julie Gerberding, and the Department is doing everything we possibly can to impress upon everybody across America the needs to start looking out for themselves and taking care of themselves, and their families and their communities.

KAGAN: We should mention that our Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be along in the next half hour to talk more about the syndrome and what people can do about it.

Meanwhile, though, Mr. Secretary, Dr. Gerberding, thank you for your time.

THOMPSON: Thank you very much.

GERBERDING: Thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com