Sen. Frist '74 to discuss impact of Sept. 11 on economy, public health

During his seven years as the only physician in the U.S. Senate, Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) has been a leading voice in legislation regarding Medicare reform, patients rights and stem cell research — and has even treated politicians on the Senate floor.

After Sept. 11, however, Frist has played a more important role as the answer man for the anthrax scare. His expertise has made him the point person in the United States on public health as it relates to bioterrorism.

Frist will discuss the impact of the Sept. 11 attacks on the economy in a lecture at 5 p.m. today in Dodds Auditorium.

A heart and lung transplant surgeon before joining the Senate, Frist will also discuss efforts to buttress the public health system in preparation for disease outbreak.

The spread of anthrax through the mail has personalized terrorism, resulting in public fear, he said in an interview. Recent events diminished the already withering economy and nudged it into what Frist called "a soft, mild recession."

"The consumer spending drop," he said, "has been a reaction to the terror of what happened on Sept. 11 with a drop in optimism, a drop of going outside of the home."Expectations that the U.S. public health system could not handle a smallpox or anthrax epidemic have exacerbated the economic downturn, he said. Politicians have recently expressed concern that the health system is underfunded and uncoordinated.

The problems with public health services stem from a dramatic reduction of funding during the 1980s, said Wilson School professor Uwe Reinhardt, an expert in economics and health care policy.

"With a fanaticism that borders on fundamentalism, we pursued steps to cut taxes and cut government," he said. "Along with that, we cut the public health service."

Frist — a member of the family for which the Frist Campus Center is named — plans to introduce a $3 billion package, co-sponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), to bolster the nation's public health defenses. The legislation would set up safeguards, such as a stockpile of vaccines, improved laboratories at the Centers for Disease Control and emergency tactics for local agencies.

"The Frist-Kennedy bill, which will be introduced later this week or early next week, addresses the gaps in our public health infrastructure so that our country is prepared for a bioterrorist attack," Frist said.

But filling all the gaps may cost five times the amount proposed, Frist said. While Reinhardt called the plan "a good start," he said it may not be enough over time. "We're a big country," he said. "$3 billion dollars — you'd be surprised to see how little that is."

In addition to other factors, Frist's publicized comments on recent political debates have made him a prime candidate, in the eyes of analysts, for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. Frist, 49, is young, popular and respected by both Republicans and Democrats. But he only says he plans to finish his second term in the Senate and then decide.

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"It may be medicine; it may be serving the country through some elected or appointed position," he said. "At this juncture I have no idea what I'll be doing five years from now."

While it is nice to speculate about his prospects, the immediacy of the Sept. 11 aftermath has occupied the political focus. Frist's public health improvement package, coupled with the economic stimulus bill passed yesterday by the Senate Finance Committee, will only lift the economy if consumers spend the money they are given, he said.

Frist said he expects the economy to remain in its funk for the next few months but stabilize by the second quarter next year. By the end of next year, he said, the United States may see minor growth — with one condition.

"The big unknown today that can affect every prediction is what happens if there is another attack?" he asked. "What happens if there is a plague introduced?"