But if a non profit research foundation can raise significant funding from the general population, that may be presumptive evidence of the worthiness of the research endeavor. I am a member of the board of directors of the Diabetes Research Institute, at the University of Miami, School of Medicine. We are currently engaged in a 60 million dollar building and research program that will result in the assembling of 19 teams of the finest endocrinology and genetics researchers in the world, dedicated to a Manhattan Project, like intensive assault on diabetes. We expect that we will cure and eradicate diabetes before the end of this century. This is a private fundraising initiative, and it will save our country more than 50 billion dollars a year in health care expenditures and lost productivity.
Government needs to be involved intensely in medical research efforts.
Of the 33 million who are without health care insurance today, thirty percent of the uninsured have incomes below the poverty level and 32 percent have incomes between 100 and 200 percent of the poverty level. This represents a relatively small amount of assistance that is needed, considering the size of the system. Of the 33 million who are uninsured, only about 10 million people are below the poverty level and need full assistance. Only about 12 million people need partial assistance. Although the problem involves millions of people, the system seems to serve most others well and we should avoid unraveling the entire fabric of the health care system, because it will not be easy to reweave the whole garment in the reality that is the political arena.