ANNA KOOIMAN (HOST): Well, some people when they saw this they go, wait a minute, isn't President Obama's Obamacare, you know, kind of stifling innovation with all the penalties and taxes and regulations?
MARC SIEGEL: Absolutely, he's the wrong commander-in-chief for the war on cancer. Now 45 years ago, President Nixon actually put his money where his mouth is. He got $100 million, which was a lot in those days. He got the National Cancer Act passed. The National Cancer Institute started getting behind all the new treatments and research, and it led to 45 years of exciting advances in cancer. Now, right now, Anna, we're on the cusp of some major advances in cancer. So, President Obama's timing is right. We have personalized medicine coming out. We have immunotherapy where everybody's tumor is looked at as different than everybody else's, where we have treatments that cause the immune system to target the cancer, very, very, very exciting genetic treatments. But guess what won't cover this stuff? Obamacare. Because Obamacare is one size fits all. Obamacare is not going to say, hey, this cancer that you have that no one else has, we're going to get insurance to cover it. Obamacare is narrow networks of doctors. It doesn't include most of these major medical centers, the cancer institutes. It won't include these treatments that are $100,000 per year. And not only that, as you just said, it stifles innovation. $500 billion in taxes over ten years under Obamacare. Research and development is going on overseas. It's not going on here.
STEVE DOOCY (HOST): Doctor, we certainly want them to eventually eradicate cancer. But, is, you know, is the national government being mobilized? You pointed out that Nixon asked for $100 million to fight cancer. Whereas, is this an actual effort on behalf of the Obama administration? Or is it an homage to Joe, who in the last year lost his son to cancer, and this would be a good project for him?
SIEGEL: And it's a very nice sentiment for Joe Biden who suffered through the loss of a child, which no one should ever, ever have to do. And Joe Biden has said in a tweet that he wants to get the silos of the country together. Because one thing we do is duplicate a lot, so the major medical centers, if they coordinated care more, maybe that will help. But this is not, Steve, as your point, it's not this major money incentive. It's not going to change the playing field. The playing field of cancer is already changing. President Obama is glomming onto that for purposes of rhetoric. He wants to take a bow here. But he's not really delivering.
