Sunday, March 11, 2007
Labor Leader Dennis Rivera With Gabe Pressman On News Forum
WNBC.COM
Gabe still has it....watch Rivera do a few "tap dance" steps when asked some pointed questions about waste and fraud..very interesting interview..let me give you a little bit of a taste..then click on the link below to read the rest...andy
PRESSMAN: The governor--the governor says that there's a lot of waste. Isn't that a fact?
Mr. RIVERA: Well, we believe that there are some waste. But I believe that there is not $1.3 billion of waste, that's for sure.
PRESSMAN: And then that commercial concluded, and the only people who are opposing this are the special interests. Do you plead guilty to being a special interest?
Mr. DENNIS RIVERA: Well, to be very honest with you--first of all, Gabe, I want to thank you for having us here and giving us the opportunity to speak to you and to your audience. The reality is that the governor is misstating the facts. The reality is that, yes, health care and the Medicaid program, it's quite costly in New York, but it's because 25 percent of all New Yorkers are enrolled in Medicaid. So that's one of the problems. So...
PRESSMAN: Is it true we have the most expensive medical system in the country?
Mr. RIVERA: Well, we certainly have one that is very expensive, but, at the same time, that has been recognized throughout the world as one of the best. And the reality is that, as we speak right now, we believe, like Governor Spitzer, that there should be reform in the health care system. As a matter of fact, this is not a problem unique to New York, it's a problem of the United States. How do we deal with the problem of the high cost of health care? So, in that context, what we believe is that we should have true reform. And what Eliot Spitzer is doing is basically not putting forward a program that is true reform but simple Medicaid cuts, cutting health care. When George Pataki was the governor, he use to call them cuts. Now we call them reforms.
for the rest......click here............andy
Gabe still has it....watch Rivera do a few "tap dance" steps when asked some pointed questions about waste and fraud..very interesting interview..let me give you a little bit of a taste..then click on the link below to read the rest...andy
PRESSMAN: The governor--the governor says that there's a lot of waste. Isn't that a fact?
Mr. RIVERA: Well, we believe that there are some waste. But I believe that there is not $1.3 billion of waste, that's for sure.
PRESSMAN: And then that commercial concluded, and the only people who are opposing this are the special interests. Do you plead guilty to being a special interest?
Mr. DENNIS RIVERA: Well, to be very honest with you--first of all, Gabe, I want to thank you for having us here and giving us the opportunity to speak to you and to your audience. The reality is that the governor is misstating the facts. The reality is that, yes, health care and the Medicaid program, it's quite costly in New York, but it's because 25 percent of all New Yorkers are enrolled in Medicaid. So that's one of the problems. So...
PRESSMAN: Is it true we have the most expensive medical system in the country?
Mr. RIVERA: Well, we certainly have one that is very expensive, but, at the same time, that has been recognized throughout the world as one of the best. And the reality is that, as we speak right now, we believe, like Governor Spitzer, that there should be reform in the health care system. As a matter of fact, this is not a problem unique to New York, it's a problem of the United States. How do we deal with the problem of the high cost of health care? So, in that context, what we believe is that we should have true reform. And what Eliot Spitzer is doing is basically not putting forward a program that is true reform but simple Medicaid cuts, cutting health care. When George Pataki was the governor, he use to call them cuts. Now we call them reforms.
for the rest......click here............andy
