4. On being against 'ObamaCare': Although Brazile could admit she was a supporter of ObamaCare despite its flaws, Perino made no secret there is a lot she doesn’t like about the legislation. “And the process point is a big one,” she said. Like Brazile, Perino looked to the way Obama presented ObamaCare and compared it to a recent speech he gave on energy. “I knew he was giving a speech, but I was like, ‘What’s this speech about?’ There was a lot of cheering and yelling, and I thought it was a Democratic fundraiser, but no, it was an energy speech that didn’t bring the seriousness of the moment to the issue; you don’t get too many bites at that apple.” She added that, after good bipartisan work is done on legislation, it’s essential to protect it going forward. 

[See also: 7 highlights from Mostashari’s keynote speech at HIMSS12.]

5. On EHRs: Brazile looked to the tornado that struck Joplin, Miss., to demonstrate the power and effectiveness of electronic medical records. “That tornado destroyed the community, killing people at hospitals … patients evacuated. But you know, what there is now, we have healthcare records – three weeks prior to that hospital being torn apart, they updated their records, and those patients had those.” Based on her own personal experience, added Brazile, electronic medical records have been made invaluable for those affected by the various natural disasters in the South, including Hurricane Katrina. With a hospital destroyed as a result of the storm, it took Brazile a year to determine what medication her sister was taking, which otherwise wouldn’t have been an issue if an EHR had been implemented. “As a result of the ACA, we have incentives for others to have medical records,” she said. “I went in to get an X-ray of my knee, and I asked to carry it, and they said, ‘Oh no, we’re going to transfer it,’ and I was like, ‘It’s sexy now to transfer things; we don’t have to carry paper any more.” 

6. On the benefits of healthcare reform: “I’m from the school where if it’s good, then praise it,” said Brazile, when asked about healthcare reform. “We have one million more young adults who have insurance as a result of the Affordable Care Act, and we should praise that … I don’t have preexisting conditions – other than the fact I’m a woman – and my premiums went down and covered me nicely. I had no idea when you’re self-insured how expensive insurance is, and when premiums go down, it makes a huge difference.” Brazile added she is a supporter of the bill and hopes more Americans will get to know it better. “With my dad being 80 years old, the copays and elimination of things for seniors … there’s a lot of good stuff,” she said. “But we need to tell this story and share this story but not be so down on what we’ve done to get healthcare costs under control in this country.”

Follow Michelle McNickle on Twitter, @Michelle_writes