Transcript: Sebelius, Specter and Hatch

Aug 16, 2009 — -- ABC NEWS, THIS WEEK WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS INTERVIEW WITH HEALTH AND HUMAN SECRETARY KATHLEEN SEBELIUS AND SENATOR ARLEN SPECTER AND ORRIN HATCH.

TAPPER: Good morning, and welcome to "This Week." From town halls...

(UNKNOWN): You don't trust me?

TAPPER: ... to the airwaves...

(UNKNOWN): Government should never come between your family and your doctor.

TAPPER: ... a summer seared by the health care debate.

OBAMA: This is not some government takeover. This is not about politics.

TAPPER: Can President Obama get his health care push back on track? Our headliner this morning, the president's top cabinet official in charge, Health Security Kathleen Sebelius.

And...

(UNKNOWN): You are talking down to the American people if you think we are that stupid!

TAPPER: ... caught in the town hall crossfire. Two key senators on health care reform, Democrat Arlen Specter and Republican Orrin Hatch, a "This Week" debate. Then...

CLINTON: You asked my opinion, I will tell you my opinion. I'm not going to be channeling my husband.

TAPPER: ... the nation's top diplomat has perhaps an undiplomatic moment. That and the rest of the week's politics with Donna Brazile, Bush White House veteran Ed Gillespie, the National Journal's Ron Brownstein, and Anne Kornblut of the Washington Post.

And, as always, the Sunday funnies.

COLBERT: A death panel is a disgusting plan that I will support only if it's televised and called "America's Got Six Months, Tops."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: From the heart of the nation's capital, "This Week"with ABC News chief Washington correspondent George Stephanopoulos,live from the Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue. Filling in thismorning, ABC News senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper.

TAPPER: Good morning. George Stephanopoulos is taking a well-deserved vacation this week, but no such rest for President Obama, whotook to the road with three campaign-style town hall meetings torespond to attacks on Democrats' health care plans, such as falseclaims that legislation in the House creates so-called death panels todeny life-or-death care to seniors to save money.

And last night in Colorado, the president struck a personal note.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I just lost my grandmother last year. I know what it'slike to watch somebody you love who's aging deteriorate. So thenotion that somehow I ran for public office or members of Congress arein this so that they can go around pulling the plug on Grandma, Imean, when you start making arguments like that, that's simplydishonest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Joining me now from Michigan, the president's topcabinet official in charge of health reform, Secretary of Health andHuman Services Kathleen Sebelius.

Secretary Sebelius, thanks for joining us.

SEBELIUS: Good morning, Jake.

TAPPER: Critics say they're uneasy about end-of-life caremeasures being discussed within the context of cost-cutting. Can youunderstand that discomfort?

SEBELIUS: Well, I think end-of-life discussions are very, verypersonal and very difficult, very difficult for family members, verydifficult often for people to confront. My own mother spent 10 weeksin three different hospitals before she died, and I can tell you, itwas the most agonizing, most painful, most terrible time for not onlyme and my siblings, but for my dad.

And what every family wants is good information and an ability tomake a decision that suits their loved one the best way that thefamily is involved and engaged. And I think it's really horrific thatsome opponents of the health reform bill have used this painful,personal moment to try and scare people about what is in the bill.

Nothing could be further from the truth that there's somehow adeath panel. If anything, you know, seniors should welcome the factthat doctors would have a payment provided to sit down with familymembers, if they choose, and -- and have a discussion.

We were desperate to do that. There were way too manyspecialists in and out of the room and way too little time to actuallysit with someone and try to understand what was going on in my mom'scase. And I -- I talk to people each and every day who are havingthat same difficulty.

We wanted to make sure doctors were reimbursed for that veryimportant consultation if family members chose to make it, and insteadit's been turned into this scare tactic and probably will be off thetable. And that's not good news for the American public and not goodnews for family members.

TAPPER: Well, that's what I was going to ask, because it's notjust opponents who have discomfort about talking about end-of-lifecare within the context of cost-cutting, because the reports are thatthe Senate Finance Committee is not going to include anything havingto do with end-of-life care measures, and that -- that was droppedeven before this brouhaha prompted by former Alaska Governor SarahPalin. The House Democratic bill, of course, does have thoseprovisions.

How important is it to the Obama administration that end-of-lifecare be addressed in health care reform?

SEBELIUS: Well, again, it isn't about cost-cutting. It's reallyabout providing some comfort and opportunity for family -- to empowerfamily members and to empower, actually, often the patient who iscoping with some steps that need to be taken and to make gooddecisions.

What you need is somebody who can sit down with some medicaladvice, who knows the family, who knows the patient, and -- and have aconversation, and often that doesn't happen or it's very difficult tohave happen. Doctors are too busy; people are rushing in and out ofhospital rooms; you're trying to make decisions.

So this was actually to provide reimbursement for thatconsultation, if the family chose to have it. I'm hoping that, at theend of the day, that it will be part of the overall package, becauseit's one of the most important conversations a family may ever have.And certainly to try and get some good information, make somedecisions, include the patient in those decisions, have a realisticdiscussion about what's happening and -- and what the next steps mightbe, I think, is -- is so beneficial for family members, who often areoperating in the dark and -- and very conflicted about what to donext, what's best for their loved one, what's best for the next steps.

TAPPER: So you're hopeful, but if I'm reading you correctly,it's not a deal-breaker?

SEBELIUS: Well, I don't think, again, this is a -- acomprehensive measure that looks at all of our health care system,lower costs for all families, providing good coverage, changing therules finally for insurance companies so they don't get to pick andchoose who in America gets coverage and who doesn't, making sure thatthe bill doesn't add to our deficit.