Newt Gingrich: “Let me say to my good friend, first of all, there are several Republican plans that I have supported, and they have…”

“Let me say to my good friend, first of all, there are several Republican plans that I have supported, and they have evolved over the last 2 years. They would guarantee that you would have portability, and they do guarantee that you would be protected against this kind of precondition. But let me tell you, in the context of Ms. DeLauro's earlier comment, which I respect a great deal, about the cancer that she had recovered from, why my daughter and I, my daughter is a small businesswoman who is afraid she would have to lay off some of her employees. She runs a small coffee company in Greensboro, if I can get a plug in for her. I will tell you why she and I both fear the Clinton plan. In the process of creating these large bureaucratic alliances, our fear is that 10, 15 years from now, as is happening in Canada and Britain, you would not have the cures for cancer. We just saw a news report from Canada over Christmas where they closed the hospitals for 3 weeks, including the cancer therapies, including the AIDS therapies. And they said, if your child is 4 years old and has got a high temperature but is not vomiting, do not bring them in. Now, we look ahead and we say, what price are you charging us for this ephemeral hope of universal coverage the way you do it?”