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Oprah: That's the same thing Bob Greene said last night.

Dr. Oz: He's absolutely right. And I think: across the board if you just do the hath you'll realize it's going to be hard to lose more than a pound a week. That stated, that's still a significant amount and in a year you will be where you want to be. The challenge is not to get there. It's to stay there. And if you change your lifestyle, remember it's not a wind sprint, but it's a marathon you're embarked on, and you'll be able to stay there.

Kim: Great. Thank you so much.

Oprah: So it's about looking at it for the long term and not, you know, dropping 8 pounds or 4 pounds in—because you can in the beginning. You lose water weight.

Dr. Oz: You can, but it's really about automating things in your life, because if you can make it subconscious that it happens naturally, then it's going to keep happening. Then it's not a struggle. You're not on a diet anymore. You're just living life. And, by the way, you're headed toward your playing weight. Thank you, Kim.

Kim: Thank you so much.

Oprah: See you the gym.

Dr. Oz: Congratulations.

Oprah: One of the first things on Dr. Oz's checklist is schedule a checkup. Sharon is calling us from outside Dallas, Texas. She has a question about that. Sharon?

Sharon: Yes, hi, Dr. Oz. Hi, Oprah. How are you?

Oprah: Hi, Sharon. I'm good.

Sharon: Well, I was watching your program last week and I've been watching all week, but you mentioned that, you know, to get a basic checkup and some—mentioned some, you know, various tests that should be taken. What about those of us who are not insured—make a little too much for Medicaid or any assistance but not enough money to pay for these tests for, you know, for borderline healthcare?

Dr. Oz: Well, every day we have—

Sharon: What can we do? 

Dr. Oz: Every day there are more people like you, and I completely understand the predicament you face. The good news is there are some real solutions out there most folks don't realize they can access. The first, by the way, you can negotiate. Doctors are human beings. So are hospitals. You know, and so are pharmacists. You can go into places where you're normally forced to pay whatever is charged and say, "Listen, I don't have the money to afford that. Can we figure out something that makes more sense?" And you'll be surprised how frequently you can get folks to work out terms that are acceptable to you.  Even if you're not going to go through all that, we'll give you three things right now that you can go through after the show. The first is the reality that about 20 percent of all the money we spend in healthcare is in pharmaceutical products and drugs. So there are actually programs to help you buy these. The Partnership for Prescription Assistance is a coalition of pharmaceutical companies but also patient advocacy groups, and the link you're going to see on your screen now is the website for this group. You can go there and if you're a candidate, you can get very discounted medications. If you've got kids.

Sharon: Excellent.

Dr. Oz: You can go to Insure Kids Now, which is another government group that can help the many American children who are not insured. By the way, I just read today in the paper that one of the first things that we think the Obama Administration is going to do is cover children of immigrants. My personal belief, and I think a lot of Americans feel this way, is if you're under the age of 21, you ought to just get healthcare coverage. These kids are inexpensive to cover. We ought to help them as best we can. So InsureKidsNow.gov is a wonderful site that you can take advantage of even today. But ultimately I think if you can prove you were born within 21 years, you ought to get healthcare in this country and it will be there. And finally, there are 30 states in this country that have the ability to help you, and you can call the insurance commissioner's office and get help but there's also a website, Find a Health Center, which is on your website right now which is a health and human services group, which can also help you find someplace that you can walk to today and get the care that you desire.

Oprah: This is so interesting for people who are listening from places like Canada and France who are, like, "Gosh, you all are still talking about healthcare."

Dr. Oz: I can tell you were smirking.

Oprah: I was thinking if you're listening and people are listening all over the world people in France, this is how lucky you are that you don't have to discuss, "How do I pay for getting a test?"

Dr. Oz: I suspect that the biggest change that will happen in the next eight years is going to be a dramatic reshaping of the way we pay for healthcare. It's going to be a much easier and safer way to provide health in this country.

Oprah: Well, thank you, Sharon. And I always get all my tests for my birthday. I give it to myself as a gift to myself. So, you know—

Dr. Oz: Very wise.

Sharon: Great. I just turned this 50 year, so that gives me some great ideas too. Thank you, Dr. Oz.

Oprah: That's a great thing to do for every birthday, you know? Give up a pocketbook or give up a pair of shoes maybe and—

Dr. Oz: Exactly right. Put in those terms you give an example but a lot of folks say I can't afford nicotine patches. But you know what? They price those patches to be exactly the price of cigarettes.

Oprah: Really.

Dr. Oz: So you're not actually doing anything but exchanging where you're spending the money.

Oprah: Wow. That's interesting.

Dr. Oz: That's a great idea though.

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