October 16, 2009 4:19 PM
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Bill Frist: We Need Health Care Reform
Former Republican Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee, a former heart-lung transplant surgeon, said Friday that he wants health care reform – but added that it should be "through a more consumed-based, provider-friendly patient-centered system" than what is now moving through Congress.
Frist, who has written a new book, "A Heart To Serve," has said he would vote for the health care reform effort if he were still in the Senate. He has not, however, thrown his full support behind Democratic plans, which he says excludes good Republican ideas like addressing frivolous lawsuits.
Frist said the fact that Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine backed the Senate Finance Committee health care bill does not mean that it should be considered a bipartisan effort. He said he would have voted against the Senate Finance version of the legislation and that it's important that Congress find a way to craft a bill acceptable to both parties.
"If it's not done, I think it's going to be to the detriment of the American people," he said of health care reform.
Frist said his book is a call for people to capture their passions and "serve [mankind] in a way that lifts people up." He said his participation in the Senate was his way of serving, even if leaving the practice of medicine initially seemed like a "crazy decision" to some people.
Watch the full interview with Frist above.
"Washington Unplugged" appears live on CBSNews.com each weekday at 12:30 p.m. ET. Click here to check out previous episodes.
Frist, who has written a new book, "A Heart To Serve," has said he would vote for the health care reform effort if he were still in the Senate. He has not, however, thrown his full support behind Democratic plans, which he says excludes good Republican ideas like addressing frivolous lawsuits.
Frist said the fact that Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine backed the Senate Finance Committee health care bill does not mean that it should be considered a bipartisan effort. He said he would have voted against the Senate Finance version of the legislation and that it's important that Congress find a way to craft a bill acceptable to both parties.
"If it's not done, I think it's going to be to the detriment of the American people," he said of health care reform.
Frist said his book is a call for people to capture their passions and "serve [mankind] in a way that lifts people up." He said his participation in the Senate was his way of serving, even if leaving the practice of medicine initially seemed like a "crazy decision" to some people.
Watch the full interview with Frist above.
"Washington Unplugged" appears live on CBSNews.com each weekday at 12:30 p.m. ET. Click here to check out previous episodes.
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Brian Montopoli Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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