Teddy Kennedy's Brain Surgeon: Optimistic About Obamacare

[Triana]

Ted Kennedy, the liberal torchbearer from Massachusetts, has mostly been missing in the Senate as he battles a brain tumor. But from the sidelines he's pushed the president and his Democratic colleagues to pass a bill this year that would result in universal coverage via a new government health plan.

Kennedy's stated that the care he received should be made available to everyone. "I have enjoyed the best medical care money (and a good insurance policy) can buy," he wrote in a recent Newsweek essay.

Of all the brain surgeons in the country, Kennedy chose Allan Friedman, Duke University Medical Center's chief of neurosurgery. Friedman removed part of the senator's tumor during a three and a half hour operation a year ago. "He's terrific, the kind of guy you want to go out for dinner and a ball game with," Friedman says.

While Kennedy has recovered--receiving radiation and chemotherapy treatments closer to home--Friedman has followed the health care debate from afar. Unlike many in his profession, he's optimistic. "People hate change," he says.

Friedman still thinks expanding coverage is a good idea. "Some patients get two or three heart operations because they can't afford their anti-hypertensive or cholesterol drugs," he says.

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http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/06/obamacare-ted-kennedy-business-healthcare-obamacare.html