Continues. Costello, a republican, also on the energy and commerce committee. We start by talking about the shooting in florida. Your initial thoughts. If there is a role for Congress Going forward . Uest it is horrific i dont know what other word to use. The role of congress, if we go back to the Church Shooting in texas, when that happened i think that i was doing an interview that night and did not know what a bump stock was. Upon learning that came to believe on the heels of las that the texas role of congress, if there is happenedive to what will be understanding what the facts are and ascertaining what ore of legislation, if any, in the atf regulatory environment, what could should be done. I think the bump stocks should not be legal. If they are to be utilized, they should go through the same as if you were to get a fully automatic rifle, which is a rigorous process. Almost impossible to get. Until we know more about the details of what happened, it is difficult to see what the role of congress would be in response to this specific shooting. I only spelt that we should have background checks on all purchases. I always felt that we should have background checks on all purchases. I have legislation to say that states upload to the system so that if you are not allowed to purchase a gun that there is no nothing falls through the cracks. That is a big piece of it. Host if you want to ask questions, the phone lines will be on the screen. Republicans, 202 7488001. Democrats, 202 7488000. Ndependents, 202 7488002 health care is what we has to to come on about. Can you tell us what your interest is . Important piece of legislation. The republican effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care act, which i voted against for a couple of reasons, did not get signed into law. We are looking at 2019 Health Insurance rates, which will make its way through the state Health Insurance commission and to the agency here so that next october new Health Insurance rates will come out for americans. The president , against the recommendations of many of us, decided to do away with costsharing reduction payment, which has the effect of raising Health Insurance rates for many low to middle income americans. , we haveg rid of csr the ability to reduce Health Insurance payments by 20 for many americans. That is coupled with 10 billion a year that would be taxed to states so they can implement their own Reinsurance Programs for anything from preventative care, maternity coverage, Mental Health whatever states feel they have to do to bring down rates on what is known as a federal fall back. You have the federal government being the backstop for those that are the most costly to the Health Insurance system, so that that has the impact across the board of lowering Health Insurance payments. I hope it would be a Pilot Program so that we know the best way to go about reducing and stabilizing the Health Insurance marketplace. A republican or democrat, everyone feels there is too much volatility yeartoyear and we need to do a better job in that arena, coupled with other things on reducing the cost of health care, which is different from Health Insurance costs. Host we have heard republicans it. On dismantling what would give stability to the Current System . Tost if youre going repeal, you need to demonstrate you will replace it with something better. Youegardless of whether dont like the Affordable Care act or not, what all the should volatile is a highly Health Insurance marketplace with unpredictable Health Insurance premiums spikes yeartoyear. What this does is for two years provide that stability we need. That does not mean we shouldnt, we should, continue to have debate in congress and hear from patient advocate Health Insurance providers, consumers, doctors, everyone in the supply chain of the Health Care System in our country, to find improvements to our Health Care System. Whether that means we change the name of the law and some of it remains, we revamp it probably, are we make incremental changes, most americans dont care whether im a republican or democrat, or if it is named the Affordable Care act or something else. They just want their Health Insurance to be stable, less expensive, and they want to know that the Health Care System is functioning at a more optimal level than it is now. Host how much support for your specific legislation has come from the speaker and the chairman of your committee . Guest i do not want to speak to the speaker comment other than to say that i believe there is committeeom the signed on. Of all greg walden has not, but indicated he is supportive. I have support for this bill amongst those in leadership, and i believe leadership looks favorably upon the idea. Withn to meet later senator collins, senator alexander, chairman walden to work out tweaks between the collins and alexander bills in the senate with mine in the house or that we have a unified approach. We are probably facing a march spending bill. S the idea is to wrap the tenants of this bill, this one specifically or a lot of pieces of it, into that spending bill. Host if it goes to the president desk, you are depending on his support . Guest i would encourage the president to sign it. Host other indications that he would veto . Guest i have not heard that, no. Host good morning. Caller i have a simple question. Congressman, i would like to ask this question. I do not want a scripted answer. Are you in favor of singlepayer, yes or no . Guest no. Caller i do not want to hear a scripted answer, yes or no. Host he just said no. Guest no. Caller let me hear it offline. Host he said it twice. You have your answer. Caller my problem with the whole thing, this is what im trying to say, this is what im now, i wake up in the morning and i breathe the air, i drink the water, and i dont have control of what you are putting in the water, the air, for the food. It makes me sick. Why should the government take care of my health care when you are causing the Health Problems . Guest the fda does have oversight and approval of drugs, food safety, some of that goes to the usda. The epa implements and enforces the clean air and clean water acts. I think what the caller was getting at, is why is the government involved in health care . I think everything from medicare cms which covers what will and will not be paid for, as well as the fda approval of drugs, the federal government does have a role in our lives. Regulations can go too far, but they are also there to make sure that the health, safety, and welfare of our country is what it is. Were looking to improve that in a way that does not stifle growth. Forant a Safe Community ourselves, our kids, our grandkids. Host virginia independent line. Caller my question is twofold. A quick comment. I do not think we need to change health care. We need to look at what we havent take stock of but we have. Find the specific areas where the Health Care System is failing. My problem is the changes that Congress Keeps making is i do not know if they are in the best interest of the American People versus the insurance industry. I think every congressman before they tell us their plan is to tell us how much money they take from the insurance company, Prescription Drug company, all of the companies that have such high stakes in the game. How much money in contributions have you taken from the Prescription Drug companies and Insurance Companies . Im sure you will say i dont know the exact figure, so guesstimate. Guest that is my answer. I dont know the exact figure. If you go online and type in my name, you will be pushed to a website called open secrets for who does and does not contribute to me. We need more transparency from outside organizations, who often find political campaigns without the candidates in knowing what is going on. I do think, and this is important, there are a lot of democrats in congress that i do not agree with from an ideological perspective, but i do not question their motivation or integrity. If you are a member of congress, you are making a lot of sacrifices to do this job. It is an honor and an obligation. Im doing it because i feel like i can make a positive contribution to my community and country come as does every other member of congress. The main point that i want to hone in on, which i agree with, is on the element of bush and we do to improve the Health Care System . I agree with you. Especially over the next two years that our focus should be improving incrementally the challenges associated with our Health Care System, weathered is part of the whether it is part of the Affordable Care act, or i have another bill dealing with a graduate medical education. We will have a doctor shortage lessby 2030 will result in doctors than we need for our society. I would like to do medicare sponsored graduate medical education slots, that after you go to medical school and during your residency, we need to increase that number by 3000 every year. It is a bipartisan bill. The main cosponsor is joe crowley, the chairman of the democratic conference. I cannot imagine that he will i cannot imagine he will not be supporting me when i go for reelection. Your job is to not focus on how you will be reelected, for job is to improve the welfare of the country and work with others who you may not agree with on other items, but you have to find out where you do agree so we can move our country forward. I would also say to improve the credibility of congress. Congress has a low approval rating. The best way to deal with that and bring about more credibility and trust from the American People is to make sure you are working with everyone as best you can and to find commonality. Host there is a story about idaho, the state regulator who runs health care there wants to make changes within the aca, saying that the department of insurance became the first regulator where injuries began offering statebased plans. That practice is banned under the aca. What you think about that approach through the aca . Guest i think state Health Insurance commissioners need more flexibility. When the rubber hits the road you have the 10 essential Health Benefits under the Affordable Care act. I think those 10 essential Health Benefits should be part of every Health Insurance plan. On preexisting conditions, i do not think that a state should carve out preexisting conditions so that if you have a preexisting condition a Health Insurance company would be able to charge you more. To the extent to which the Health Insurance commissioner is practicing flexibility to bring down cost is fine, but if you are undermining the integrity of the essential Health Benefits or putting in different price in buckets for patients based on if they have a preexisting condition or not, that is problematic and would lead to price segregation or patient segregation in the Health Insurance system. Where you can do something very efficient, and what my bill is intended to do, is if you have a Reinsurance Program so you do not have price discrimination for those with preexisting conditions, but can treat them differently so that the federal fall back and reinsurance model is used to bring down their costs without driving up the costs of those without preexisting conditions. That is how invisible risk pools in the reinsurance model would work. There is a way to do it that is appropriate and a way that could lead to a pernicious impact on our Health Insurance system or those who need Health Insurance the most. Pennsylvania. Ng, guest in the city or the suburbs of reading . Caller . In the city thank you for having me. I would say that we are paying copay 40 for specialist. When we got a bill from the insurance company, which i assume is the cost sharing part , is this the csr we are talking about that you would like to eliminate . That would be nice. It would be eliminating an extra having a blood test done and things like that. They keep sending us the csr, the cost sharing part, i think. I would like to find out if this is the one he would like to eliminate to help us out with the cost. Thank you. Guest the short answer without looking at your bill is i dont know. Csr payments are intended to reduce the cost of your Health Insurance premium, not your deductible. You will have a monthly premium and you will see your deductible, for your copay rather. If youre talking about your copays, what you would be looking to do next year is to get a Health Insurance plan that would have a lower deductible for dr. Visitation. Doctor visitation. What i would be looking to do is to provide what is called premium assistance. Host representative, the president in the state of the Union Address the individual mandate, how it was handled under the tax law. Listen to what he had to say. [video clip] we eliminated an especially tax that fell mostly on americans making less than 50,000 a year, forcing them to pay tremendous penalties because they could not afford governmentorder health plans. Of theal the core disastrous obamacare, the individual mandate is now gone. [applause] host what do you think about that approach . Guest the president was correct on wh was most impactedo by the individual mandate. 80 of those paying the penalty make less than 50,000 a year. The counter argument to why we should not have repealed it, is that this will lead to more it will create more uninsured. That is not accurate in the following respect. This does not mean you cannot purchase Health Insurance, it just means if you choose not to you will not pay a penalty. Incidentally, we reauthorize the childrens Health Insurance program for six years. I think it was added to to 10 years. Some of the savings we found was a consequence of getting rid of the individual mandate. But we need to do to stabilize the Health Insurance is to mystery institute csrs and allow our states to be creative in having a Reinsurance Program. The individual mandate would be separate from that. I always question the constitutionality of the individual mandate, but the Supreme Court upheld it. The president was factually accurate with what he said. There is political rhetoric disastrous and things of that nature, but he was correct on who pay the individual mandate penalty. It was those who do not make a lot of money. Host there was an effort to replace the aca with the American Health care act. Where did you vote. Guest against it on the floor. I voted for the framework out of committee, but what did not happen for me as we did not increase the tax credit so that if you would move off of Medicaid Expansion or receiving a subsidy, the credit that you would have received under the republican bill was not commensurate with what you had previously. I thought that would lead to a lot of folks that could not purchase Health Insurance. It would have created a state waiver so that states would not have had to offer, or be compelled to offer, the essential Health Benefits package. There was also under preexisting conditions the ability for states to price them differently. For those reasons, i felt like it missed the mark on some of the patient protections in the Affordable Care act which i feel are good and sound from a risksharing perspective in the Health Insurance industry. Host hi. Caller good morning. This is my second time about the it took mecare act. 14 years to get on disability. I have a mom who is 84 years old. She had open heart. I took her to the doctor yesterday and she is doing fine. This is all being paid for by insurance. We are fine. , i called wicker i talked to somebody on the phone and they wrote me a letter. I have voted against the Affordable Care act since 2009. I wish the president , all republicans, i wish they could walk in our shoes. They need to visit Nursing Homes , they need to be in mississippi where we are. Good point. Here is what i think. I think that every american should have access to affordable Health Insurance coverage. If that is your litmus test, you can evaluate any proposal through that lens. That means that for someone who does not make a lot of money, we need Health Insurance system that enables them access to affordable Health Insurance. If you qualify for medicaid, that is one thing. If you dont, and many dont, dont like the term, but the working poor. If you have a job at dont make a lot of money, your budget is very tight. We need to make sure that those who have those tight budgets have access to affordable Health Insurance coverage that leads to access to health care. Some of the criticisms, valid they are, of the Affordable Care act is that many had Health Insurance coverage but not access because of the cost of the deductible. This is a work in progress. Our Health Care System is very complex, and healthcare politics can be very heated. I think that cooler heads need to prevail. What im trying to do with my bill is to provide stability to the Health Insurance marketplace so that those who purchase Health Insurance, particularly on the exchanges in october, do not get sticker shock. As well as many Small Businesses who year to year, i used to own a small business, and if we had a good year we were able to give raises. Often, that was offset by the increase in premiums on health care coverage. We have to Work Together better in washington, d. C. Your point is very well taken. Talk aboutt to immigration politics. There was reports that immigration to deal with daca. What do you think about it and is it something you can support . Guest i would like to see the Senate Passed the bill. When the Senate Passes a bill, send it to the house. Have that be the framework. If that needs to be marked up in the house to get a majority and then sent back to the senate, thats fine. I think that in this environment, that 60 vote threshold in the senate needs to guide us if were going to get to the finish line. Has 4 pillars, to me there are at least 2, addressing daca with a permanent solution and more border security. I do not want americans to think that only means a big wall on the southern border. There is a lot in the way of technology that can be done to better secure our borders. In my district, i have a lot of agricultural and hightech workers. Esa reform is something we need to address as well. A visa reform is something we need to address as well. The senate has been debating immigration legislation this week. Today they voted against all the immigration proposals offered so far dealing with border security, dreamers, and sanctuary cities. You can watch coverage of the senate live on cspan2. This weekend, on American History tv on cspan3, saturday, at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on lectures and history, former Virginia GovernorDouglas Wilder at virginia commonwealth university. I have a oneword definition i use for politics. Can anyone guess what that is . I said one word would define politics. Money. Give me something that is a proposition before any tribunal that doesnt involve money. Sunday at 10 00 a. M. Eastern from the west point center from oral history, Henry Hank Thomas a combat medic in the vietnam war. My grandfather served in world war i. My father served in world war ii. Always for a black man, whenever you served, it was your military service you hope would confirm your bona fides as a first class , redblooded american citizen, entitled to. At 4 00 p. M. On real america with the cpac conference in washington, d. C. Next week, we look back to 1988 when president reagan spoke at a cpac dinner. The American People know what limited government, tax cuts, deregulation, and the move toward privatization have meant. Its meant the largest peacetime expansion in our history and i can guarantee you, they dont want to throw that away for budgets beholden to the liberal special interests. Watch American History tv very weekend on cspan3. Sunday night on q a, michael fabee on his book crash back the power clash between the u. S. And china in the pacific. First of all, there was a public shaming. China lost a lot of face. Its hard for westerners to get an idea of what that means to the asian culture, especially someone that is as big and proud as china. They lost a lot of fwace with that and came away with a never again mentality. Ey start after that this mindset, well build up our navy and our Missile Defense forces in such a way we never lose face like this again. Sunday night at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspans q a. Today House Speaker paul ryan and minority leader nancy