Pete Domenici: “He probably was. The Senator was making those flying trips back and carrying the hearts so he actually could transplant…”

“He probably was. The Senator was making those flying trips back and carrying the hearts so he actually could transplant them in a timely manner. But when we first started talking about HMOs, there was a big battle going on between whom? The doctors of America and the legislators because the doctors were not accustomed to HMOs. The doctors were all accustomed to what was called traditional care; that is, they themselves ran it. They did not have any kind of group practice. They did not have any kind of clinical practice. As a matter of fact, we used to have to go home as legislators and meet with doctors and try to convince them that the goal was not to destroy the medical practice but rather to give them an opportunity to practice in a different way.”