Are we only scratching the surface of ObamaCare disaster?
With 80 million expected to lose employer-based health plans under ObamaCare, how much worse can the Affordable Care Act debacle get?
This is a rush transcript from "On the Record," November 26, 2013. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE, 'ON THE RECORD' GUEST HOST: Should we scrap Obamacare and start all over?
Hello, everyone. I'm Kimberly Guilfoyle, in for Greta Van Susteren.
Growing uncertainty and fear as a big ObamaCare deadline approaches.
Doctor Ben Carson is here to go ON THE RECORD.
Good evening, Doctor.
What can doctors and patients do to protect themselves?
DR. CARSON, PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF NEUROSURGERY: Well, you know, this is a pretty difficult situation, you know, people are obviously fearful because there was willful misrepresentation. You know, you can keep your doctor, you can keep your insurance and it's rolling out. People are seeing that that is not the case. People are seeing that if you can't make a website work after three years, how in the world are you going to deal with millions of health records and keep anything straight? I mean, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that's just not going to happen. And the bill is so complex, we keep finding more and more things in it that somebody obviously didn't know about.
If we really want to solve it, it's going to take more than just doctors and patients. It's going to take a willingness to be honest. And I know that may be a difficult thing in Washington, D.C. But, the fact of the matter is, we just need to recognize that this bill was passed because the facts were not on the table. So, if deceit is used to get a bill passed, is it really even legitimate? If we want to be honest, let's sit down and put all the facts on the table and then re-vote and see if it happens. Or, alternatively and preferably, let's just sit down as a bipartisan group and work it out. We can do that.
(CROSSTALK)
CARSON: That's the American way.
GUILFOYLE: Yeah, of course. That's what should have been done to begin with to avoid some of these inaccuracies and the American people being mislead. Now the president and his administration and those he has put the American people's heath, faith and trust in have let us down. Should we trust them to take us to the next step whether so far all we have got is a failure to launch?
CARSON: There isn't anything to indicate that there is any change of heart. When there is a change of heart, when some humility, when some concern for the masses rather than concern for your poll numbers comes into play, yes, I would be happy to give another chance. But let's do it the right way.
We have to remember that there is another big problem. That is, that we have just turned over a huge chunk of power -- and I mean, we, the people -- to the government with control over our lives. We have to understand that there's severe implications to that. This is only the beginning. We need to heed these warning signs, all of us, and do the appropriate thing when it comes to voting.
GUILFOYLE: Doctor, talk to me a little bit about what is most at risk here for doctors those who are trying to serve faithfully the patients to trust their lives and medical decisions and patients on the other side because there is a strong impact for both.
CARSON: Sure. I talk to lots of doctors every week all over the country. And they are extremely concerned about not only their autonomy but the relationships that they have established over many years. Many of those they have to give up now because people are no longer in their network. And their lives are being controlled. People who go into medicine are very smart people. They didn't go into something to be automatons for some bureaucrat to tell them what they could and could not do. You will see a lot of people quitting. You will see a lot more concierge practices. Of course, the government will eventually try to come in and say you must see these patients as a condition of your license. That's going to cause a big revolt as well.
This is what happens when the government gets too powerful and gets too big. It doesn't know what to do. It wants to mess with everything. This was never the original intent. And I beg the Congress and the Supreme Court to wake up and realize that there was a reason that you are there.
GUILFOYLE: That's a call to action to serve trust and faith in these individuals to do right by them and by their families. But we are seeing the effect across the boards. Seeing Americans from all walks of life, weather this was well-intentioned or not. When people seek your council and say to you, Dr. Carson, what can I do to protect myself, what do you tell them?
CARSON: First of all, I tell them to pray. But, secondly, I say, you know, look out there. There are some things that are being presented by the private sector which do work. There are a lot of alternatives. People aren't willing to sit down and discuss them and talk about them openly. The fact of the matter is, there's a zillion alternatives. You know, we need to insist that those things be looked at because they can take care of the problem in a much cheaper fashion without turning over the most important thing you have, your health care, to the government.
The government has a lot of important things to do. This is not one of them.
GUILFOYLE: Doctor, you came on to the international stage, in fact, international. People came aware of your voice and what you've had to say that has resonated with the American people. You are a man of faith and science and medicine as well. I ask you, there's some new developments now with the Supreme Court agreeing to hear the case regarding contraception and the role and right of corporations to be treated as individuals if they don't want to provide for contraceptive care, morning after pills, things like that. What are your thoughts about that?
CARSON: I say this is just a harbinger of the many things that are going to come up when you take the government and put them in a position where they're start to dictate to us about the affairs of our private lives. It's going to be, you know, contraceptives today. It's going to be something else tomorrow and something else the next day.
Government, please start thinking about the important things that they need to do. I'm not saying that the government isn't important. But they don't need to be in the private aspects of our lives. These kind of things will continue to crop up as long as they are. Because you are taking an independent and free society and now you are trying to impose huge governmental controls on it. It doesn't work. It's like mixing oil and water. It's going to be a continued chaos.
GUILFOYLE: You are absolutely right. Those two were never meant to be together.
Dr. Carson, sir, we're happy to you spent time with us this evening. Thank you.
CARSON: Always a pleasure. Thank you.
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