Politics | Bill Frist I'd Vote for Health Bill: Frist Obama's reforms are a step in the right direction, former Senate majority leader says By Nick McMaster Posted Oct 2, 2009 6:14 PM CDT Copied Former U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, from Tennessee, speaks at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds) Health care reform legislation has the unexpected support of a prominent physician: former Senate Republican leader Bill Frist. If he were still in politics, “I would end up voting for it," Frist said. The surgeon also blamed some Republicans for not engaging seriously in the health care debate: “Clearly, the death panels and public plan arguments have been overblown." Frist said he specifically supports the mandate for individuals to purchase coverage and the ban on denial of coverage based on pre-existing conditions. But he noted that the measure in its current multiple forms does not address the incentives that lead doctors to provide more procedures rather than more effective care. "There is really nothing to bend the cost curve," Frist told Time. Read These Next Venezuela responds to the US seizure of an oil tanker. Hours after Michigan fired its football coach, he was in jail. Another big brand delivers an AI-driven holiday dud. Comedian Andy Dick found unconscious in a disturbing scene. Report an error