Former Surgeon General talks health care and politics

Dr. Richard Carmona, 17th Surgeon General of the U.S. and chair of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, made a visit to Pennsylvania today to highlight issues surrounding chronic disease. Below is an exclusive interview Dr. Carmona gave for PolitickerPA.com this morning.

POLITICKERPA.COM: Why do you think anyone in Pennsylvania cares what you have to say and what will you do to make sure they pay attention in the future?

DR. RICHARD CARMONA: Several reasons they will care about what I am talking about. Being surgeon general of the United States gives you credibility to talk about health. Really these are the same issues I championed when I was in office as surgeon general. Secondly, being the chair person of this coalition, the partnership to fight chronic disease where I represent over 110 organizations, so I speak not just for myself speak but for organizations that are in leadership positions around the nation regarding health. What we are trying to do is engender a dialogue especially with the presidential aspirants and other elected officials to try and start focusing on what the real costs of health care are and what the disease burden is and how we might start on a path to start fixing all of these problems.

POLITICKERPA.COM: There has been a lot of talk about access to health care and not enough talk about how hospitals and doctors can provide better care for less money. Are you satisfied with the state of the debate on this issue?

CARMONA: I am not satisfied on this debate. I think that our candidates have had an opportunity to give some in depth discussion on these complex issues but they really haven't and so we're hoping we can change that dynamic and make sure that our presidential aspirants both on the R and D side are engaged on this problem because it is the number one domestic policy issue. The public is very concerned about their health and how they will receive health, they are trying to find ways to stay healthier. There is an understanding now that prevention does work, so when you look at the marketplace and see what they spend their discretionary dollars on, trying to get healthy, trying to lose weight, trying to get exercise, better ways to achieve health. It's very clearly stated and unstated that the public is dissatisfied with the system they have and they are looking for a better way to stay healthy.

POLITICKERPA.COM: Is McCain talking about this enough and does he have a serious plan?

CARMONA: It's hard for me to guess on any of the candidates, McCain, Hillary or Barack because they have said so little about health other than an occasional comment that is a very general comment about universal care, and a universal payer and making broad statements about something needs to be done. That really doesn't help us and get into the substantive issues on what the problems are. And from our standpoint, and the partnership to fight chronic disease, the, the science is very clear. We spend over $2 trillion on health care each year that is 16 percent of our gross national product and $0.75 on every dollar we spend is on a chronic disease, many of which are preventable. Any approach to the transformation of our health care system has to include dealing with the largest contributor of economic and disease burden in society and that is chronic disease.

POLITICKERPA.COM: As a Republican are you happy all of this information is getting out there?

CARMONA: Did I say I was a Republican? You have the wrong impression. I have been a registered independent my whole life. I am not happy about it at several levels. First of all, all of us who have leadership positions and continue to be in leadership positions have a duty and obligation to continue try and educate the American public as to what the issues are, what knowledge base they need to take appropriate actions individually, as a family, as a community. We also need to insist that our elected and appointed officials engage in these issues based on substantive discussions with the experts and start to make a commitment to how our system needs to be changed.

That's what our partnership to fight chronic disease is all about. We are non-partisan. We have both D's and R's and I's all within this organization. If you look across at the 110 organizations that are our member organizations from academics from business to advocacy groups we run the full spectrum of politics but what is clear is they have left their politics behind and we are focused on this one issue, which is a non-partisan issue.

POLITICKERPA.COM: With AARP spending a ton of money on this issue what can you say that is different and do you think that your group's efforts so far have been successful?

CARMONA: I think that our group has been successful. Our Executive Director Ken Philip who is a nationally recognized health policy expert, myself and other leaders, we have been all over the country many times. We have been to South Carolina and Iowa, New Hampshire with editorial boards. And I think we are starting to move the debate and move the discussion. Before we started there was very little discussion from various appointed and elected officials and the presidential aspirants. Now we see it occasionally within their speeches it's just that it's not enough. We are hoping to continue pushing that dialogue and get a commitment. Ultimately we would hope that whoever the presidential nominees are they are, reaffirm a commitment to taking this on because it is the number one domestic policy issue.

POLITICKERPA.COM: Can you comment on the ABC News debate from the other night and was the flag pin a distraction?

CARMONA: My only comments on the debate, which I didn't see. I only saw the aftermath if you will in the press. I was disappointed there was not discussion about the health care crisis in our nation and what each of the candidates are committing to do about it.

POLITICKERPA.COM: Is there anything else you can say about your visit to Pennsylvania today?

CARMONA: Specifically to Pennsylvania, when you look at the metrics here in Pennsylvania. There are very significant problems here. Pennsylvania is among the hardest hit by chronic disease. It was ranked sixth worst among the 50 states in the recent Milken Institute Chronic Disease Index.

If you go to www.cdc.gov and look at some of our federal statistics on obesity and other indicators you will see Pennsylvania is not where it should be. It is a significant drain on Pennsylvania's economy and chronic disease is costing more than $50 billion dollars in lost productivity. When you look at the numbers and the disease burden and most importantly that you see this is largely preventable. We can mitigate significantly and/or prevent most of this cost and disease burden improve the quality of life for all of the citizens in Pennsylvania and our nation while decreasing the cost of those good years you are getting. So it's all good. These are all very positive changes and the good thing is, it's not very costly to do this. It's not like we are having to spend money on MRIs, CT scans and complex operations or drugs, this is simple behavior changes that lead to improved health and wellness.