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Reform of the medical liability system should be considered as part of a comprehensive response to surging medical malpractice premiums that endanger Americans' access to quality medical care.

We don't we agree that litigation reform to lower the cost of healthcare would be a good starting point?

I'm strongly for a patient Bill of Rights. Decisions ought to be made by doctors, not accountants.

I think legislation needs to put an end to doctors profiting on businesses to which they can funnel patients - that is business, not medicine. If you try to call it medicine, then it is corruption. Without legislation, it will keep happening.

Medical decisions have been politicized. What doctor wants a state legislator in his consulting room?

The fact of the matter is right now politicians and insurance companies are making decisions. We're saying we want doctors to be making decisions. And I think that will lead to a higher-quality, lower-cost system over time.

I don't know if there is a Democrat who necessarily doesn't believe health care is a right instead of privilege. There is a significant between us and the Republican Party on that issue.

If medical doctors can be sued for malpractice, shouldn't financial professionals practice under the same safeguard?

The bottom line: health care reform is about the patient, not about the physician.

For 25 years practicing medicine, I never asked anybody if they were a Republican or a Democratic or an independent and asked if they had insurance or not. I took care of everybody.