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Speaker 1: Now there are calls for all MP's and their families

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Speaker 1: to give up private health insurance while they're in office

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Speaker 1: so that they have skin in the game when they're

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Speaker 1: making decisions about the public health system. Doctor Marcus Lee

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Speaker 1: is the spokesperson for the group of doctors calling for this,

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Speaker 1: and it's with us.

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Speaker 2: Hey, Marcus God, how are you going? Heather? Very well?

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Speaker 1: Thank you? Are you guy serious about this?

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Speaker 2: Yes, we are. We're absolutely serious. We want our politicians

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Speaker 2: to show some accountability in the disease that they make.

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Speaker 2: They want some integrity and we want them to show

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Speaker 2: that they have got some skin in the game.

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Speaker 1: Okay, well what about the kids though, I mean, does

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Speaker 1: it really have to affect the MP's kids.

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Speaker 2: Well, it's personal for us, it's personal for a lot

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Speaker 2: of Kiwis. You know, they make policy decisions that affect

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Speaker 2: a lot of people in New Zealand. Sure, so it

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Speaker 2: is personal.

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Speaker 1: Have any of the MP's actually committed to doing this?

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Speaker 2: Not my knowledge?

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Speaker 1: Nor have you got private health care?

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Speaker 2: No? I do not. Why not kind of ford it?

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Speaker 2: We've had I've got previous medical issues, so I kind

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Speaker 2: of thought it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, this is actually the part of the problem,

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Speaker 1: isn't it like there will be some MPs now who

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Speaker 1: have medical issues, and if they give up their private

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Speaker 1: health care for the sake of appeasing some people, they

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Speaker 1: may never be able to get it again. Is it

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Speaker 1: worth it?

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Speaker 2: Well, they don't have to give it up. They just

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Speaker 2: have to wave their rights to private health care, that's all.

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Speaker 1: It's so they keep on paying for it. But then

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Speaker 1: then they only exclusively use the public health system.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. I think that that means that they actually have

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Speaker 2: some skin in the game, isn't it? Like Simon Brown

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Speaker 2: says he doesn't have private insurance and I respect him

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Speaker 2: for that, so he should just say make it policy.

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Speaker 2: Now you know he's got nothing. There's no barrier to it. Enough.

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Speaker 1: Okay, what is what has brought this on for you? Guys?

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Speaker 1: What is it that's frustrated you to the point that

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Speaker 1: you've decided to launch this open letter.

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Speaker 2: We're just frustrated and tire with pasions still with long,

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Speaker 2: long times to be seen. We have severe stuffing pressures

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Speaker 2: in our hospitals. We're about to close I think Pulper Hospital,

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Speaker 2: isn't it. And there's a growing delease and kind of

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Speaker 2: get specialist level care.

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Speaker 1: Okay, Marcus, thanks very much appreciate it. Marcus Marcus Lee

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Speaker 1: doctor Marcus Lee, Northland cardiologist, spokesperson for Open Letter.

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