Transcript: Rep. Dennis Kucinich
The following is a transcript of Representative Dennis Kucinich's speech at the Presidential Forum.
KAREN TUMULTY: Next we're going to hear from Congressman Dennis Kucinich.
DENNIS KUCINICH: Good afternoon. Good afternoon. It's wonderful to be here with you. And as I'm listening to this discussion today it reminds me that you are the ones who have to insist that America reconnect with its greatness and its goodness.
Yesterday in the House of Representatives Americans were told that we can't have peace. We have to keep a war going for another year or two in order to have peace. I voted against that because I believe that we have to take a new direction which says if you want peace, you vote for peace and you have a plan for peace.
We're being told in this state and other place that you can't have kindergarten care or universal pre-kindergarten care, and yet when you accept that then you don't get it. Efforts are made to just cut short a movement. Today at this forum the sub-message is that you can't break the hold that the insurance companies have. Not a single candidate up here has challenged the underlying problem with our health care system, and that is insurance companies are holding our health care system hostage and forcing millions of Americans into poverty with unconscionable premiums, co-pays, deductibles.
So I ask you, is it constant with America's greatness that candidates step away from the one solution that could change it all? A not-for-profit health care system is not only possible, but HR 676, a bill that I introduced, and a number of Congressmen, the Conyers-Kucinich bill, actually establishes Medicare for all, a single-payer system and it's a not-for-profit system. It's time we ended this thought that health care is a privilege. It is a basic right, and it's time to end this control that insurance companies have not only over health care but over our political system.
Think for a moment if Lincoln had decided, well, you know, there's just too much resistance to this idea of emancipation. Think if the suffragettes had decided, well, you know, we can't take on these men who are determined not to include women in the political process. What if Martin Luther King [Jr.] had said, you know, we can only push so far for civil rights, or Cesar Chavez had said well, you know, no [unintelligible]?
What if we buy into this logic that says can't have peace? We're being told here today to buy into a view of the world which says that, well, you know, but the insurance companies run the system. We'll have people, you know, we'll work out competition between the insurance companies and maybe we'll have government subsidize the insurance companies. Where is our call for greatness? What if FDR said, well, you know, we can't really do the New Deal?
I'm talking about a real deal for the American people, a universal single-payer not-for-profit Medicare for all, and it's good to be here with you to talk about it. It's already into legislative form. Sixty-two members of Congress have signed onto the bill. Over 14,000 physicians have signed on to the bill. The people of California voted for a plan just like it. The senate of New Hampshire endorsed it the other day. The legislature in Kansas put their name on it and endorsed the idea. We can do this. Yes, we can. Break the hold of the insurance company on our health care system and lift the American people out of poverty. That's what my presidency is going to be about. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So let's talk. Let's have a conversation.
KAREN TUMULTY: Congressman, you are the first advocate we've heard today of the single-payer health care system, essentially Medicare for everybody. However, the last time my understanding is that it was on the ballot was in Oregon, which is, you know, except for Vermont probably, you know, the most liberal state in the country on these issues and it didn't pass. Where do you find the political will for a single-payer system?
DENNIS KUCINICH: I traveled this country in the last election, came to an understanding that health care is one issue that unites everyone. Where does the support come for a not-for-profit health care system? It comes from all over the country. But it's waiting for a candidate for president who will lead the way, and I've already done that. The Conyers-Kucinich bill, HR 676, is the vehicle. Now, how can you break the hold that insurance companies have? Because, let's face it, in Oregon they pumped millions of dollars into doing everything they could to try to defeat the initiative. This is really simple.
You need a president who doesn't have strings attached. Someone who is ready to confront these insurance industries. Someone who isn't owned by the interests.
Look, right now on Wall Street the hedge funds are coming together to pour millions into campaigns of candidates for president. We're looking at a system that people are telling you the words you want to hear, but when you're looking for specifics in a plan, they're not developing it.
Why can I do it and other candidates can't? Because simply I don't have strings attached. I've been in politics 40 years. I've been a councilman, a clerk of courts, a mayor, a state Senator, a six-term U.S. Congressman. I'm known for having integrity and the willingness to take a stand and for changing the outcome when others say it can't be done. This is the moment that I call upon you and the SEIU and the American people to say, let's join this movement that already exists, call upon the power of our hearts and our intellect.
What are the animating forces? How is this: Half of the bankruptcies in America right now are directly connected to people not being able to pay their hospital bills. And of that amount, 75 percent of the people are working, have jobs. People's whole lives are on the line here. So the question is will the American people be given a real choice in this election. You know, this isn't “American Idol” here, I mean, really, you know. I mean, I could come up here and, you know, do a little dance about, well, you know, we're going to take on those insurance companies. Oh, really? Are you going to take away their profits? Are you going to remove the fact that, you know what, 31 percent of the money that's in the system right now of $2.2 trillion a year goes for the activities of the for-profit system?
If we take that money away from the insurance companies and use it for the American people, well, guess what, we have enough money for vision care, dental care, mental health, prescription drugs and long-term care. I'm going to call on the American people to stand up for their rights. Health care is a right, not a privilege.
KAREN TUMULTY: Congressman, we have an email question from James in Patterson, California who wants to know why are health care costs going up so much and what can we do to stop these increases? And can I just add a question to that, because in the framework of a single-payer system people say the consequence of trying to contain cost in a single-payer system would ultimately be rationing. So could you take us through first how a single-payer system would address costs and also what you say about these sorts of concerns that people raise about it?
DENNIS KUCINICH: You know, think about it. The insurance companies, when they look at a single-payer system, a not-for-profit system, they'll say, my God, you're going to end up with rationing. What do we have now? Forty-six million Americans don't even have coverage. Talk about rationing. They're not even in the line, okay. Give me my portion. No. Another 50 million people are underinsured and the rest are paying these high premiums, co-pays and deductibles. We've got to break the hold the insurance companies have. And their public relations operations would say, well, rationing. The fact of the matter is this plan I'm talking about covers everyone.
How do you reduce costs? Let's look at the costs that are involved in the system rights now. Corporate profits, stock options, executive salaries, advertising, marketing, the cost of paperwork. All this takes about 31 percent out of the health care dollar. Now, what does all that have to do with health care? Zero, zip, nada. I'm talking about creating a system which, by the way, is similar to that in every other industrialized nation in the world. We take the profit out of medicine. Health care is a right, it is not a privilege.
So how do we control costs? By having everyone in the same pool, everyone, having everyone covered and having the benefits be available to everyone whatever their income, no means testing, and by creating a movement. I want to add something to an earlier question you raised, and that is that good friend Senator Edwards, who he and I campaigned together four years ago, he raised this question, which is a very, you know, which is the question in Washington.
Well, it's just not feasible to take this plan for not-for-profit health care. Senator Clinton, talking about charging the insurance companies but doesn't really get to the ultimate challenge of who controls health care in American. Senator Obama, still developing his plan. This plan that I'm talking about, I co-authored this plan. I'm one of the ones that wrote the plan. I know the way the system is set up. The area that I represent, Cleveland, people are losing their homes because they can't pay the doctor bills. And so the question is what it ultimately comes down to is who has the courage and the willingness to take a stand and can reach out to the breadth and depth of the American people and call for that greatest to say we're going to change this.
We're not going to be strapped by these insurance companies who give us diminishing returns who insist on higher premiums, co-pays and deductibles.
KAREN TUMULTY: Congressman, you're kind of an urban kind of guy. And Ashley Osborn, who is a labor and delivery nurse in Elko, which is a rural county in northern Nevada, has a question for you about how you would address concerns in people who are in her situation.
ASHLEY OSBORN: Good morning. As you know my name is Ashley Osborn and I'm a labor nurse in Elko, Nevada, which is a rural area up in northeastern Nevada. And commonly I see moms come in to my department with pregnancy induced, severe pregnancy induced health care issues that could be eliminated or caught early with fetal care. Unfortunately they're unable to get that. What are your plans on improving health care in the rural areas in the U.S.?
DENNIS KUCINICH: Well, first of all, this plan covers everyone, rural as well as urban areas alike. Rural areas tend to be underserved. I'm looking also at creating an infrastructure program to create millions of jobs for building America's infrastructure, which would build hospitals in rural areas. And rural people would then have access because access is a huge question in rural areas. And when you talk about women being able to get the care they need, this system, prenatal care, postnatal care, I have a plan for child care.
This system of not-for-profit health care doesn't try to stop women from getting the care they need because there's not an insurance agent telling a doctor, you know, OB/GYN doctor that we just can't do this, you're asking for too much. This system will meet the health care needs of the American people. We're being told we just can't have those needs met. We've got to start thinking differently.
Does that answer your question? Thank you.
KAREN TUMULTY: Thanks. And now I would like to turn to a public health student here at UNLV, Megan McCormick, who raises a pertinent point if there's any place where you're interested in outcomes it's in health care. Megan?
MEGAN MCCORMICK: Hello, I'm Megan McCormick and I'm a junior at UNLV here. We're spending an increasing percentage of our gross domestic product on health care while we continue to have poor outcomes than those countries who are allocating a lower percentage of their GDPs towards their own health care. How does America plan to stay globally competitive with increasing health care costs?
DENNIS KUCINICH: You know, that's a key question. I mean, in my own congressional district we have auto plants that have been threatened and others throughout the country have been threatened because the high cost of health care is causing Ford and GM to pay billions of dollars in health care, in health care costs. Now, Canada, on the other hand, has a much stronger industry because they have a health care plan for their people. This plan that I'm talking about is going to help American business. It's going to strengthen the economy. It's going to make it possible for individuals to be able to hold on to more of their money.
It's true that many families right now are spending in excess of $10,000 a year for health care. With this plan only a fraction of the money that is being spent right now would have to be part of the financing of the system. I mean, do you know that 60 percent right now of the money that's in health care is spent by the government? The government has 60 percent of the spending right now. If you eliminate administrative costs, if you purchased bulk purchase of drugs, just the way veterans do, you start to come due, you start to come up with the money that you need to provide coverage for everyone, and that is major help for small businesses and large businesses alike.
This patchwork proposal that you've been given here today by other candidates locks us into insurance companies who then take their pound of flesh, and generally it keeps people from being able to have any control over their own budgets. I want to go back to what most American people are experiencing: Economic uncertainty because the way the health care system is set up.
People are aware no matter how much money they have that if they have an illness in the family, it could wipe them out. Who isn't going to make the choice to take care of a loved one? You do what you have to. But why, I would ask you, should someone have to lose their home in order to ensure the health of a loved one? Why should someone not be able to get the long-term care they need for a loved one or have to sign on the dotted line to give away everything, you know, you work for a lifetime in order to get the long-term care you need?
See, what I'm talking about is real transformation. I think the American people are ready for that, but they need someone to be not just a messenger but someone who knows this issue, is ready to stand up and speak out. Yes, we can improve our economy and save our businesses, large and small, and I'm dedicated to do that and I'm able to do it too. Thank you.
KAREN TUMULTY: Congressman, earlier Senator Edwards pointed out that there is a single-payer Medicare like option built into his plan. And it would be, you know, one of the things that people could consider in making their health care choices. And he raised the possibility that if that were out there as an option and people started choosing it and found out that they really liked it, that the country could almost, you know, evolve towards a single-payer system. Do you see this as a real scenario, given the other interests that are out there, or do you think that, in fact, you know, it's going to have to sort of come down in one fell swoop if it's ever going to happen?
DENNIS KUCINICH: Well, I think you just answered the question, and that is that if you have competition between insurance companies, everyone knows what happens. That doesn't drive down costs, it drives up profits. That's a fact. If you say, well, you're going to give people a choice, either be on a private plan or be with the government, what happens is that the private companies start cherry picking the best, you know, the people in the best health, and then you end up with what's called adverse selection, those as far as the most medically compromised end up on programs that the government is paying for, and then the government program starts to go down. You end up in an insurance death spiral, which is what it's called in the industry.
Now, think about it. Candidates up here advocating that government provide subsidies to the insurance industry. What's that about? I mean, didn't we have enough with subsidizing the pharmaceutical companies with that phony Medicare D program that President Bush had? How are we any different as Democrats? Think about that.
Do you know what, universal health care, oh, everybody is for it. Almost resonant with that fellow in the Music Man who said, There's trouble in River City. Universal health care. You know what, even the insurance companies are for universal health care, especially the insurance companies if the government is subsidizing them. What a deal that is for the insurance companies, but what a rotten deal for the American people.
We've got to have not-for-profit health care, get the insurance companies out of the picture. Health care is not a privilege; it is a right and it is a human right. Universal health care, right. I mean, come on. You need a president who didn't fall off the Christmas tree. You need a president who will be involved in straight talk straight from the shoulder, and you need a president who doesn't have a key in the back being wound up by special interests to come before the American people and tell them what the interests want. I'm telling you what the American people want and I'm ready to take that message all across this country and I'd like your help in doing it. Thank you.
I have four seconds left. Buzzer shot. You want not-for-profit health care, I'm the candidate who can deliver. Thank you very much.
