caller: the first thing i wanted to say is i do not have any love for the va system. i'm 50 percent disability veteran and i live in winter haven, fla., and the closest veterans hospital is in tampa. no buses go from here to the va hospital in tampa. so if you are sick and you got to go to a hospital, you can't find one around here, you have got to go from here 30 miles away to another county and catch a bus -- the driver might be there to take you to the hospital and then he might not be there. this person 100 percent disabled, i think he was wrong because if you are 100 percent disabled you could go to any hospital and the va will pay for it. guest: of first of all, i am sorry about that situation, which sounds really rough. it underscores i think my point that -- again, just my impression -- have not been detailed study of it, is that people's experiences with and be a tend to vary widely in part based on where they are. host: john joins us from the republican line calling from tampa, florida. caller: good morning. i can't understand how the government can do anyth

knowledge as far as what goes on in the background, and i am also a veteran, and if we would look at the va system, they have electronic records, they also by durable medical equipment in bulk -- c o p d machine that medicare pays a rental every month and pays, like, 2004 it and the va buys it for $200. they also have their doctors on salary is and on their medications, brand-name medications,, they make the brand-name manufacturers and a generous for the va. guest: we have had a lot of veterans calling in -- i said earlier, but i should also announce a, i salute your service. some the points he made a really good. the first point you made, essentially the va has integrated care, long-term information tracking technology to i think is an excellent argument for reforming the private marketplace so that it can do that as well. in terms of the bulk purchases and cost savings, all of these government programs attempt to use the bargaining power of the federal government as a buyer of medical equipment and services to bargain prices down. the problem is, it leads to higher prices in the private market,

orphan disease als is one that quitely where we're just now beginning to see the cost to will will va system, it's something we should be thinking about. but to the extent where so many people can live far berth lifestyles, healthier, more accommodating if they can be at home. instead of a nursing home situation. wherever we can provide respite care or financial help through tax credits or other ideas for those providers, those people in that home

what i can take is that veterans throughout this country by and large are very supportive of the va systemwhich is run far more cost-effectively by the way that most other hospital and medical programs. you have medicare. does medicare have problems? it sure does, but the administrative costs of medicare are a fraction of what private health insurance costs are. it runs more smoothly. i think that's the goal we have is to create a simplified system, because the complexity of the current system has to do with insurance companies among other things, cherry picking saint we want to cover you because you just won the marathon and a you're 20 years of age and we are quite sure that you're not going to get sick. you're a good guy to cover. on the other hand, if you are 50 years of age and had a cancer operation, we really don't want to cover you at all because we're going to lose money on you. it becomes a very complicated process to cover you, not cover them. but we have got to say we are all in this together, we are all going to get coverage and we are going to do that delivery system in the m

he declared this country bankrupt, and great organized it vas -- with infrastructure projects. then he had an exchange rate system. until we do that, we will suffer the consequences. and hosthost: 2 new york next. caller: talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words. i heard president obama, i don't call him met me -- my president. last week in a speech he made, here is iran fighting for democracy and he is not doing a thing. he is taking the easy way out, straddling the fence. i then worry, like you said inflation, hyper inflation. the cbo tell them not to spend the money. he was a community organizer. he does not know anything about how to run a business. these people do. have a wonderful weekend. thank you. host: to michigan on the democratic line. caller: if you are living in michigan, ohio, we are in a recession. the country needs to -- the republican party needs to help this president bring this country back together. they stood on the fence when bush, cheney, and that gang robbed the country blind. now that obama is in office, all they can do is criticize him. help get this stuff straightened out. hos

if you look at the va, they put in a billion dollar computer system which was supposed to help of the veterans. well, since they put that in, it cost the veterans a ton of money because now they charge you for different types of health care and stuff. guest: can i jump in here? ernest, we have a factual disagreement. i think the facts show that both the cases you raised are quite the opposite as you have betrayed them, with respect. health care in the va has constantly been cited as one of the most efficient, effective forms of health care provision in the nation, if not, the world. this is a model program. secondly, public health care -- if you are talking about medicare, if you compare overhead and you compare efficiency and compare how much of $1 of spending in that program goes to direct health care provision to patients verses the private sector, both of those programs come out way, way on top. it is one of the motivations for health care reform. i have to tell you, the reason why we are here talking about this -- there is a much waste and not saying just the private sector, publ

system the government can't do anything right. ask a veteran of the would be willing to give up their va health care and the government can't do anything right. ask a senior citizen of the one to stop receiving their social security check, ask somebody on medicare since we can't do everything right if they like health care system. i am not saying they are perfect but we do have an opportunity to change the way we do business and quite frankly, if you don't have a public option to who is going to go in competition with the insurance companies? the are competing against themselves and they are not even covered under legislation so we need to get real from my perspective and all these statistics that we hear people flooding into minnesota and other states to get health care, i don't know about the floods, i'm from illinois, but i do know this, we have a flood of people every day that go to bed and are worried to death their children or themselves are not going to get sick and if they lose their jobs they don't have portability of health care and we have to fix that, this bill will do it and if i sound a little bit agitated it is because i