In a 2007 speech at the University of California at Berkeley, Reich began his address by saying he was going to deliver a refreshingly honest talk about health care from the vantage point of an insider who would never run for president.

“In other words, this is what the truth is," he said.

Reich admitted: "If you're very old, we're not going to give you all that technology and all those drugs for the last couple of years of your life. It’s too expensive...so we're going to let you die."

“Also, I'm going to use the bargaining leverage of the federal government … to force drug companies and insurance companies and medical suppliers to reduce their costs," he admitted. "What that means, less innovation and that means less new products and less new drugs on the market which means you are probably not going to live much longer than your parents.”