Suitorman, Senior Editor at reason magazine. Kasie, let me start with you. Weve already seen far right groups like Heritage Action criticize the plan, Club For Growth as well, freedom works, rand paul calling it obamacare light. You tweeted this a few hours ago. Here it is, it is still early so caveats apply but events of today suggest Gop Health Care bill is already on life support, if not Dead On Arrival. How can that be so early, kasie . Reporter well look, craig, this bill has run into extraordinary opposition just in the first handful of hours that it has been out in the public, and youre saying you tick through some of the groups that have come out and opposed this, the Heritage Action went so far as to say this doesnt repeal obamacare. That of course kind of the cardinal sin for a party that has spent the last however many years campaigning specifically on repealing obamacare. So the people who are
to younger people and less generous to older people. There would be a cap so that really high income people wouldnt be able to get access to it at all, but really the question here is what are republicans trying to do with this bill, and im not sure they know, except to say we have a bill that has repealed and replaced obamacare, because its really not clear who the constituency is for this legislation, and the fact that so many major conservative groups have already come out in opposition. Heritage action, freedom works, americans for prosperity, this bill was supposed to unite the right which was really fractured about health care, going into this process. And they have united the right in opposition to the bill. One of the chief complaints, peter, as you know to obamacare, it was rammed down our throats so fast. No one had time to read it. It was 1200 pages, we couldnt get our heads around it. No cbo scoring, no public hearings, markup on the bill set for tomorrow. Why the rush . The secrecy surrounding the writing of this bill is really telling. It just does not inspire confidence that this bill was locked in a room, that senators, republican senators who want to repeal obamacare were not allowed to see the bill last week, and that they have decided to forego the cbo process early on here. They say that the cbo will have a score at some point, perhaps by easter, but thats a ways off here and the cbo score is really what sort of rallies people. The cbo is imperfect and it doesnt always get things right but at the same time what it does is it provides a singular number for coveragestimates, for effects on the budget for cost. Singular number that essentially everyone has to either agree to or provide a really good reason why they are not agreeing to and the fact that republicans arent going to with that, arent going through that process is really telling. Kasie, lets pivot here and talk about todays hearing for Deputy Attorney general romney
Rod Rosenstein. Lot had to do with the performance of Attorney General Jeff Sessions. I want to play this Fiery Exchange between republican chuck grassley, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee and al franken of wisconsin. As i remember senator franken asking his question of Senator Sessions, he referred to something that there had just been something come on cnn that obviously, and franken said that Senator Sessions wouldnt know what it was and he was going to take that into consideration that it would have been all right for you to ask your question, and you probably should have given him a chance to get the information you had and reflect on it, and give an answer in writing. Now the way i tend to, and you both of you know that i said this to you when you were in the privacy of my office. If i was going to ask you a Gotcha Question, i was going to tell you about it ahead of time and i consider what senator franken asked sessions at that late moment that that story just
come out is a Gotcha Question. It was not a Gotcha Question, sir. It was, from the standpoint that he didnt know what you were asking about. But i said that as i was asking the question. Senator, no. You havent heard this and i dont expect you have heard it. Senator tillis . Look at the tape mr. Chairman, please. A Testy Exchange the likes of which we do not see often in the upper chambe kasie hunt. The big question onrosenstein today was would hupport an independent counsel to investigate the election in the trump russia ties. What did he say to that . Reporter right. That obviously the sessions, the question to sessions that franken asked is what ultimately has resulted in a chain of events that has led to anybody having any idea who mr. Rosenstein is at this stage in the game, because sessions of course ended up having to recuse himself from anything related to the Trump Campaign and democrats have focused on the Deputy Attorney general slot as the one that will ultimately be making
decisions about prosecutions and other issues around any inquiries into the Trump Campaign and ties to russia. So at this point, mr. Rosenstein did not commit one way or the other to having a Special Prosecutor. He says hes potentially open to it, that no decisions have been made. So were going to have to see if thats good enough for some of the democrats who interest threatened to hold up his nomination over this. In the blumenthal of connecticut saying he doesnt want to allow this to go forward without that commitment. It only takes one senator to do that. Craig . Senator blumenthal standing by for us, well talk to him in a few moments. Matt, as we watch this hearing play out here in real time its ongoing, we just saw texas senator ted cruz asking some questions. You worked at the doj under eric holder, tell us about this man named Rod Rosenstein. Whats he like . Hes a straight arrow. Hes a prosecutors prosecutor. I think hes about as good a choice as we can expect for Deputy Attorney general. Personally i wish he was the Attorney General rather than Jeff Sessions. If Rod Rosenstein was left to investigate this Russia Question or appointed a Special Counsel to iestigate the question he would do a good job. The Deputy Attorney general regularly sits in the Situation Room with the president. long with others is vying for influence with the president , is asking the president to pass judgment on things, Policy Things the department of justice is doing on investigations and so its difficult at the same time youre constantly interacting with the president and members of the white house to be investigating the president s campaign and expect that to be done fairly. This is such a tenuous time in the department of justices history, after the incident with Loretta Lynch and the meeting with bill clinton, with jim comeys actions last year in july, and then right before the election, and then of course
sessions recusal. There are a lot of americans asking whether the department of justice can investigate political matters fairly and independently, and in a situation like this its so damaging for the departments credibility. I think the only solution is to follow kind of the press decede that happened in the Bush Administration when ross rosensteins predecessor appointed a Special Counsel to investigate the white house, the only situation that would allow americans to believe this was being handled fairly. Matt thank you. Senator Richard Blumenthal democrat from connecticut sits on the Judiciary Committee. Let me show you, show everyone what you tweeted on sunday, ill use every possible tool to block doj Deputy Ag Nominee unless he commits to appoint independent Special Prosecutor. Let me play who Rod Rosenstein said today when asked that question. Are you willing to auto point
a Special Counsel to examine russiainterferences in elections and other Criminal Activity . Im willing to appoint a Special Counsel whenever i determine appropriate based on the policies and procedures of the Justice Department. After what you heard today, will you block him . I will use every tool available to block him, because he has failed to commit to appoint a Special Prosecutor, and make no mistake. We know enough right now to see that this nation is careening toward a constitutional crisis. The russians meddled in our electoral process, our democracy, the Intelligence Agencies are all in a consensus on that point and donald trump seems to have accepted it. There are clear evidence of ties between the Trump Campaign, the trump transition team, the Trump Administration and the russians. There are false statements made by now Attorney General Jeff Sessions during his nomination
proceedings, false statements that could lead to a coverup, all of these threats demand an independent objective impartial investigation that is seen by the American Public as credible and trustworthy, not just in fact trustworthy and credible, and so i think that he must commit to a Special Prosecutor, and when i asked him again today about that commitment, he really failed to commit himself. Senator, for those of us who are watching and listening, who might not be as familiar with parliamentary procedure there in the upper chamber, precisely how will you go about blocking this nomination . There are ways that we can ask for delays in votes. There are procedures we can use on the floorthe United States senate, all of the Technical Details may be obtuse but they are not unlimited, so
the ultimate ability to block the nomination may not be unlimited either, and so i will do everything in my power because i believe so strongly the nation needs an independent Special Prosecutor. I support the Intelligence Committee doing its investigation. I support the creation of a select committee, and also a special commission that can produce findings and recommendations in a report thats fully transparent. Only a prosecutor can pursue criminal wrongdoing, whether its false statements or other violations of the law. Lets talk in a moment here about the house plan to fix health care. I imagine that youve had an opportunity to thumb through it, to a a certain extent. On its face, is this something that is a legislative Starting Point or is this Dead On Arrival . It seems like less coverage at higher cost, fewer people covered, and higher payments, which seems like a recipe for
disaster in health care. The ones who suffer most are older folks, children, women. It would be devastating to Womens Health care by Defunding Planned Parenthood and that is an abhorrent sacrifice that i will oppose with every ounce of energy that i have, and the ones who seem to be better off are the Insurance Companies and the healthy. That also seems to me to make it highly suspect, and so i think with seven of my colleagues here, republicans opposing it right now, its pretty much a nonstarter. Lets talk about the travel ban that was announced yesterday. Not so much whether you agree with it as a matter of policy. Considering the changes that have been made by the administration, do you think that it will at least pass constitutional muster . It raises the same constitutional questions as the senator, hang on one second. I want to get back into the Judiciary Hearing to listen to your colleagues for a second. Cnn just published a story and im telling you this about a news story thats just been published, im not expecting you to know whether or not its true, but cnn just published a story alleging that the Intelligence Community provided documents to the President Elect last week that included information that russian operatives claimed to have compromising personal and Financial Information about mr. Trump. These documents also allegedly say there was a continuing exchange of information during the campaign between trumps surrogates and intermediaries for the russian government. Now again, im telling you this as its coming out, just so you know, but if its true, its obviously extremely serious, and if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump Campaign communicated with the
russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do . I think that was a fair question and certainly not a Gotcha Question, and he didnt answer my question. What he said to that question was, senators franken, allegations get made about candidates all the time and theyve been made about President Elect trump lots of times. Most of them virtually wait a minute, i am sorry. Im not aware of any of these activities. Ive been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign, and i did not have communications with the russians and im unable to comment on it. So in other words, it cant be a Gotcha Question if he didnt understand the question. So the thing that got him was
him saying that he had not met with russians, but that wasnt even my question. My question was just if this is and i asked it of mr. Rosenstein, which is if it turns out to be the case that members of the mpaign, of the tru campaign have met with russians and you know, Includclud Kohl cd with them, it was not a Gotcha Question. Thats all i want to say. If you go back and look at the tape i have to say i couldnt have been nicer. I couldnt have been sweeter. Really. So thats that. Mr. Rosenstein, i want to ask you a question. The. s former National Security adviser, michael flynn, resigned his position because he misled Senior Administration officials
regarding his communications with the russian ambassador, and its been reported sally yates, who once held the position you are looking to fill and was acting Attorney General earlier in the Trump Administration warned the white house that mr. Flynn could be vulnerable to blackmail because of his coverup. Mr. Rosenstein, knowing what we know now, do you think ms. Yates was right to be concerned . Senator, i hope ive been clear on this point throughout my testimony. I appreciate the opportunity to clarify it. At this point, i believe as a lawyer, and as a Justice Department official currently and potentially in the future, its important for me to limit my testimony to matters of which i know both the facts and the law, and where ive consulted with the department of justice professionals who are engaged in handling the matter, so on issues like that one i appreciate Senate Whitehouse sharing his perspective earlier that you need to know the facts and the relevant information. You cant prejudge matters. Theres currently an acting Attorney General dana boente in that position with regard to any investigation that may be occurring. With regard to yr specific question, my answer is, senator, that i do not know the details of what the basis was for that, and i wouldnt reach any opinion about it just based on what i read in the newspaper. Senator from hawaii . Thank you, mr. Chairman. There are more than 18,000 Law Enforcement agencies all right, senator blumenthal you heard that exchange. What say you, got cha question . Not a Gotcha Question . Not a Gotcha Question at all. In fact, the point senator franken was making essentially is that then Senator Sessions offered an answer that wasnt even required by the question. He on his own offered that he never met with the russians, and so he really dug himself this hole, and the question when it was gotcha or whatever, didnt
necessarily require that answer. And i think there is overriding need for an independent Special Prosecutor precisely because all of these political headwinds are going to hit whoever does this investigation, and it better be someone who is independent and is not investigating his own boss as mr. Rosenstein would do, if he were the one doing the investigation. Senator Richard Blumenthal of connecticut, senator, thank you for your time this afternoon. Thank you so much. Thank you. Trumpcare versus obamacare. How different are they, and what would the new plan mean for you . Well take a deep dive on that, and roughly 15 minutes or so from now, Sean Spicer Set to take that podium there in the White House Briefing room. You see the screens that have become commonplace for reporters to appear via skype. There was also a small table next to the podium. We are expecting props. Wheres frank . Its league night saved money on Motorcycle Insurance with geico goin up the country. Bowl without me. Frank. im going to get nachos. Snack bars closed. Gah ah, ah ah. Im goin up the country, baby dont you wanna go . Im goin up the country, baby dont you wanna go . Geico motorcycle, great rates for great rides. Know where you stand instantly. Visit quickbooksdotcom. Termites, feasting on homes twentyfourseven. Were on the move. Roger. Hey rick, all good . Oh ya, were good were good. Termites never stop trying to get in, we never stop working to keep them out. Terminix. Defenders of home. The search for relief often leads here. S, today theres drugfree aleve direct therapy. A high intensity tens device that uses technology once only in doctors offices. For deep penetrating relief at the source. Aleve direct therapy. Say. Lot of times say theyre lower 25 they cant afford private. Universal health care. Ill take care of everybody. We begin by repealing the awful taxes, the Mandate Penalties and subsidies in obamacare. When all is said and done will the Republican Health care plan cover more americans or less americans than obamacare . We really think it will cover more. After years of railing against obamacare, we now have the republicans plan. So what might it mean for you . Lets bring in ali velshi to break it down for us. Whats in the new plan, sir . Ill tell you what is in it and out of it. Ill try to make this as simple as possible. There are tax credits now to pay for insurance instead of the mandate. Theres been an expansion of Health Savings accounts and flexible spending accounts. Ill show you about that in a second. There are very big changes come to federal medicaid payments. This is going to affect the poorest americans, and the elimination of Planned Parenthood funding largely
because of Planned Parenthoods relationship with abortion. Tax credits everybody gets a tax credit whether or not you earn income or you dont, they are going to be based on your age, not your income. So a 20yearold 2,000 tax credit per year, that can probably get you a good piece of insurance. 60yearold will get 4,000, nd me a 60yearold who can buy an Insurance Policy other than catastrophic care for 4,000 bucks. These tax ritz will be reduced as you go higher up the income scale. Individuals making 75,000 or more will start to see them going down, couples making 150,000 or more. Health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts are going to get a bit of a boost. This tends to favor people who have that extra money that they can save. Tends to not be so good for poor people but they will double the allowed contribution starting in 2018. So an individual will be putting 6,500 bucks in, a family can put 13,100. This is what replaces the mandate, a 30 penalty or
premium on top of your Health Insurance premium if you let coverage lapse. If you dont buy new coverage because irnot feeling very flush or dont think youre going to get sick and try to buy it again, 30 more expensive. Thats meant to have people stay in insurance and make that pool bigger. Whats not in there . The employer mandate and individual mandate. No one is forced to buy insurance for themselves or their employees. Government subsidies to pay for insurance were getting refundable tax credits to everyone and selling insurance across state lines was supposed to be in here donald trump tweeted thats going to come in a later phase. Here are the losers as we look at it, the elderly, because theyre not getting enough of a tax credit, the poor because of those changes to medicaid, and the sick who always get the short end of the stick. Winners right now are the young, because they get this great subsidy and generally healthy, wealthy people who are seeing their taxes go down as it relates to health care, and Health Insurers who are benefiting from this. So its complicated, its meaty but thats what it looks like. One of the Big Questions continues to be can aealth care system remainsustainable, remain solvent perhaps even if there is no penalty . If theres not a requirement to carry insurance . President obama didnt want the penalty or the mandate, mitt romney didnt want the penalty or mandate. This is not philosophical. Its mathematical. Its actuarial. You cannot insure people who are high risk without forcing people who are low risk to be in that insurance. Anyone who lives in Coastal America and has to buy a wind or a flood policy knows how this works. Think about this as a wind or flood policy. This is very hard to sustain it without forcing people to be in it. Ali velshi our numbers guy, always good to have you. My pleasure. Republicans divided. Now that we know the details of their plan to replace obamacare will gop leaders get the party united behind it . And can they sell it to the American People . We are still waiting for sean
spicer to take that podium. Were told its going to happen any moment. It will be his first formal Press Briefing in more than a week. Look closely. Hidden in every swing, every chip, and every putt, is data that can make the difference between winning and losing. Golfers like me have played these holes thousands of times, generating countless data points. The microsoft cloud helps me turn that data into insight that used to be invisible. Here, intuition would tell me to lay up with a 3iron, but the analysis from the cloud tells me to go for it, and use a driver for a 12 percent higher chance of birdie. There are countless points of data in the pga tour. The microsoft cloud makes sense of it, helping them transform their business, so players, and fans, will experience the game in a whole new way. The microsoft cloud gives you thwer to turn infoation to insight. Additional wave of threats to Jewish Community centers and Antidefamation League offices. According to some reports over 100 bombing threats phoned in to jewish institutions since the start of this year alone lp. As the president said at the beginning were a country that stands you nighted in condemning hate and ooefl in all its forms. We denounce this. It is saddening i have to continue to share these disturbing reports with you and i share the president s thoughts he hopes we dont have to continue to share these reports with you but as long as they do condemn the and look at ways we can stop them. On to the news of the day you saw President Trump continue to deliver on two of his most significant campaign promises, protecting the country against radical islamic terrorism and repealing and replacing obamacare with a patientcentric
alternative. We talked about the Executive Order protecting the nation from foreign Terrorist Entry into the you state yesterday and on to, i introduce tom price to talk about the plan to repeal and replace obamacare. Dr. Price. Good afternoon. First let me just share what an honor it is to share with the secretary of human and health services. Im the third of 23 who had the privilege of serving and the mission at our department is to improve the health and safety and wellbeing of the American People and we take that mission very, very seriously. For Many Americans right now, their ability to Gain Health Care or Health Coverage is a real challenge. For most americans they receive their Health Coverage through their employer, its about 175 million folks, those individuals will see no significant change
other than there wont be a penalty for not purchasing coverage. For the folks in the medicare system there will be no changes at all in the current law. But were talking about those people in the individual and Small Group Market, the moms and pops, the folks who run the Corner Grocery store, the corner cleaners, those individuals out there are having huge challenges gaining care and gaining coverage, and medicaid is a program that by and large has decreased the ability for folks to gain access to care and we want to make certain we address that. This is about patience. This is n aboutmoney. This is not about something this is about patience, and sadly, the costs are going up for those folks and the individual in Small Group Market, the access is going down and only getting worse. You know the stories. Premiums increased 25 over the last year on average. Arizona had an increase of 116 . Deductibles are going up for many, many folks, if youre a mom or a dad out there, and you
make 40,000, 50,000, 60,000 your deductible oftentimes is 8,000, 10,000, 12,000 a year. What that means is that youve got an Insurance Card but you dont get care, because you cant afford the deductible, and we know this is happening by talking to the folks out there trying to provide the care. Third of the counties in the United States, onethird of the counties in the United States have only one Insurer Offering Coverage on the exchange. Five states only have one Insurer Offering Coverage on the exchange. One insurer is not a choice. So we need to make certain we correct that. In tennessee this morning, it was announced that there are a number of counties that have no Insurer Offering Coverage on the exchange. Insurers are leaving the market on the exchange. Last year there were 232 insurers that were providing coverage, Offering Coverage on the exchange. Now there are 167. Thats a loss of about 30 in one year alone. And all of this means that patients are not getting the care that they need. Now the principles we have as our guiding star are affordability. We want a system thats affordable for everybody, accessibility, a system of the highest quality, a system that incentivizes innovation in a Health Care System and a system that empowers patients through transparency and accountability. The president spoke last tuesday to a Joint Session Of Congress and laid out h principles. First wanted to make certain those with preexisting illness and injury were not priced out of the market. Nobody ought to lose their coverage because they get a bad diagnosis. In terms of affordability, Health Savings accounts growing choices for patients is incredibly important. Tax credits that allow individuals to be able to purchase the kind of coverage that they want, not that the Government Forces them to buy, weve always talked about in terms of what kinds of reforms need to be put in place that they need to equalize the Tax Treatment for the purchase of coverage. Those again in the employer sponsored market they get a tax
benefit for buying Health Coverage. Those folks that are out there in the individual Small Group Market know tax benefit and thats what this plan would do. State flexibility its incredibly important that we allow the states to be the ones that are defining what Health Coverage, have the flexibility in the Medicaid Program to be able to respond to their vulnerable population. Lawsuit abuse, the president mentioned and its incredibly important the practice of defensive medicine wastes billions of dollars every single year and we need to address that as well. President talked about a glide path and appropriate transition to this new phase for health care for our country, and thats important as well. So that nobody falls through the cracks. Buying insurance across state lines. The. The talked about this on the campaign over and over. American people understand the common sense nature of purchasing across state lines, and it increases competition and we need to make certain that that happens and then addressing the incredible increase in drug
prices. There are three phases of this plan. One is the bill that was introduced last evening in the House Of Representatives, thats the start of all of this. Second are all the regulatory modifications and changes that can be put into place, as you all well know the Previous Administration used regulations to fairly well. There were 192 specific rules that were put out as they relate to obamacare. Over 5,000 letters of guidance and the like, and we are going to go through every single one of those and make certain that if they help patients, then we need to continue them. If they harm patients or increase costs, then obviously they need to be addressed. And then theres other legislation that will need to be addressed that cant be done through the reconciliation process. So the goal of all of this is patientcentered health care for patient and families and doctors making medical decisions and not the federal government. We commend the house for the introduction of the bill yesterday and we look forward to working with all individuals in this process and look forward to a few questions. Youre familiar with the conservative groups like the Club For Growth and Heritage Action have with Rank And File members. What does it say about this legislation that these groups are already out with opposition to it . Well, i think that this is the beginning of the process, and we look forward to working with them and others to make certain that again we come up with that process that aligns with the principles that weve defined, that they actually adhere to or agree with as well and that is that we need a system thats affordable for folks, a system thats accessible for individuals, thats of the highest quality, that incentivizes innovation, and that empowers patients and so we look forward to working with them through this process. Reporter secretary, americans had to foregoe a new iphone to pay for health care and have to make these choices. Does the administration agree with that . Will americans under this plan, will they need to make sacrifice other goods to pay for their health care . This is an important
question. Whats happening right now is that the American People are having to sacrifice in order to purchase coverage, and as i mentioned many individuals cant afford the kind of coverage that they have right now. So theyveot that Insurance Card, but they dont have care. What our desire is to drive down the Health Care Costs for everybody and the way that you do that is to increase choices for folks, increase competition, return the regulation of health care, where it ought to be, which is at the state level, not at the federal level. All of these things that take it in their aggregate will decrease the cost of health care, and Health Coverage and that will allow folks to be able to purchase the coverage that they want. Yes, sir . Reporter thank you, dr. Price. Two questions for you. First has to do with guarantees that you can make as the administrations point person on this legislation. Can you guarantee that whatever legislation emerges it makes it to the president s desk will allow individuals if they like their doctor they can keep their doctor and the second guarantee is can you also guarantee that Health Care Premiums for
individuals will come down with this new legislation . Again, a remarkably important question, because as youll recall the promise from if the last administration was if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your plan, you can keep your plan. Both of those promises turned out to be not true. We think its incredibly important for the American People to be able to select the physician and the place where theyre treated in themselves, that the government ought not be involved in that process, and so our goal is to absolutely make certain that individuals have the opportunity to select their physician. In terms of premiums, we believe strongly that through this whole process and as it takes effect, that well see a decrease in not only the premiums individuals will see but decrease in the cost of health care for folks. Remember there was another promise that the Previous Administration made that youd see a decrease in 2500 on average for families across this land. In fact theyve seen an increase of 2500 or 3,000. Were going to go in the other
direction, in a direction that empowers patients and holds down costs. Mr. Secretary, you are quite a distance away from conservatives with this plan and the central part of it, which is tax credits. They see as yet another entitlement, very similar to the entitlement of obamacare but different in form. How do you convince them, since its going to take tax credits to make this work, that they need to swallow this and move forward with the bill . An awful lot of opposition in the Central Tenet of this whole thing. This is all about patience, and in order to provide that transition and in order to make it so that nobody falls through the cracks weve got to have a system that allows for individuals to gain the kind of coverage that they want. And we conservatives and others have said for a long time that we believe its important to equalize the Tax Treatment for those purchasing coverage, gaining coverage through their employer and those not, and the tax credit is the opportunity to be able to equalize that tax
treatment. Folks who talked about this for many years actually, so theres not a distortion in the tax code for who is able to gain a benefit from being able to purchase coverage and not. Yes, maam . Mr. Secretary, you were talking about making sure people dont fall through the cracks. Last Administration Obamacare focused in on making sure the underserved were part of the equation. What is the safety net or the safe harbors you have to make sure to ensure people dont fall through the cracks beyond the Tax Incentives but also for the underserved, who are now part of many are part of the program that werent before prior to. This is extremely important as well, and the Current System as you likely know for those vulnerable in our Population Pecially in Theedicaid Population is a system thats broken. Youve got a third of the physicians in this country, onethird of the doctors in this country that would be eligible to see medicaid patients, who arent seeing medicaid patients
right now. Not because theyve forgotten how to take care of patients. Its because of the rules in place that make it too difficult for them to see medicaid patients. We believe its important to allow states to fashion the program for their vulnerable population that actually responds to that population in a way that gives them the authority, them the choices, them the opportunity to gain coverage and the care that they believe most appropriate. What did you find out that that is not happening when you goive to the sat . Is there some type of punishment or some type of piece that youre going to put in place to make sure that that happens, that they follow through on your intent . Absolutely. Theres accountability throughout the plan that we have, that would allow for the secretary and the department to be certain that the individuals that we believe need to be cared for are being cared for in the state at the appropriate level. But we believe this is a partnership. This is about patience and partnership. The Previous Administration tended to make it about government. We believe its about patience and partnership and we want to partner with every single person
in this land who wants to make certain we allow the kind of choices and quality to exist. Yes, maam . The president tweeted earlier today he described this bill as our wonderful new Health Care Bill. Theres been a little bit of confusion. Does this wonderful new Health Care Bill. There has been confusion. Does this represent the administrations bill . And is there anything this bill that the administration cannot support. This has been a Work In Progress. As you know, this has been going on for over a year. The work that i had the privilege of participating in when i served in the House Of Representatives in the last congress was open and transparent. And we invited folks in to give their ideas. And tens if not hundreds of people had input into that process. This grew out of tt, and over the past number of weeks we have been having conversations with folks on the hill, in the house, and in the senate and other stakeholders. This is a work product that is a result of that, all of that process. The president and the Administration Support this step
in the right in what we believe is in the right direction, a step that reveals obamacare and gets us moving in the direction of those principles that i outlined. Do you support everything thats in the bill sitting on the table, sir . This is a Work In Progress. We will work with the house and the senate in this process. As you know it is a legislative process that occurs. Im glad you pointed out the bills on the table there. As you will see this bill right here was the bill that was introduced in 2009 and 10 by the Previous Administration. Notice how thick that is. Some of you recall i actually turned the pages and went through that piece of legislation in a you tube. The bill the pile on the right is the current bill. What it means is we are making certain that the process, that the decisions that are going to be made are not going to be made by the federal government. They are going to be made by patients and families and doctors. Given the opposition that has been brought up today, does this plan already need to be salvaged
in your view . How do you do it . E no. You know what happens with these things. You start you start at a Starting Point. People engage, and they get involved in the process, sometimes to a greater degree. Nothing focuses the mind like a bill thats currently on the table and is a Work In Progress or in process. And well work through it. This is the Starting Point here . This is an important process to be had. The American People have said to their elected leaders, the obamacare process for them Gaing Coverage Andare is not working. Thats what they have said. So we believe its important to respond to the American People and provide a Health Care System that allows for them to purchase the kind of coverage and care that they desire. You said in your letter to the house chairman that necessary and appropriate and technical changes might need to be made for this bill to reach the president s desk. What specific changes is the white house and the administration looking for in this bill . As i mentioned their three phases to this process. One is this bill, this legislation thats working through under the rules of reconciliation, which is a fancy term to mean that there are only certain things that you can do from a budgetary standpoint, has to affect either spending or revenue. There are things that you cant do in this bill. And those we plan on doing across the horizon in phase two, which is the regulatory portion and then in phase three, which is another piece of legislation that would be going through the house and the senate with a majority super majority in the senate. That process will incorporate all of the kinds of things that we believe are absolutely in to reconstitute that individual and Small Group Market and to get us in a position again where patients and families and doctors are making these decisions. Cvs score isnt out yet, can you guarantee that this plan will not have a marginally negative impact on the deficit
or result in millions of americans losing insurance . What i can say the goal and the desire i know of the individuals on the hill is to make sure that this does not increase the cost to the government. Two elements of the bill, i have questions about how they control costs and how they help with access. The medicaid per capita block grant to the states, how is that sort of fundally different from the Obamacare Regime On Medicaid in terms of expanding access. The second point, Why Doesnt Thisill do away with the cost sharing Community Ratings version that obamacare has. To the per capita cap, the medicaid is a system that doesnt work for patients. You have got folks out there who need care, who need to see particular physician who is arent able to see them. All americans should be saddened by the situation that we have when there are patients out there that cant get the care that they need. We believe one of the keys to
providing appropriate care in the medicaid population is allowing the states to have the flexibility to address that medicaid population. Remember, medicaid population is four different demographic groups. Its those who are disabled. Its those who are srd. Its healthy moms and kids by and large. Those are the four main demographic groups. And we the federal Government Force states mostly to take care of those individuals in exactly the same way. If you describe that to the folks back home on main street they say that doesnt make sense at all. You need a program thats different for the healthy moms and kids to respond to their needs to thats different from the folks who are disabled and seniors. What we believe is appropriate is to say to the states you know your population best, know best how to care for your vulnerable population. We are going to watch you and make certain that you do so, but know how you do that. That will decrease costs markedly in the Medicaid Program. We are wasting significant amounts of money. Not that folks are getting too much care. Were wasting out because its significant abuse in the system and its insignificant. Cost sharing measures are being addressed. Its important we run through that process. Thises The Process Wheree felt the Previous Administration was spending money they didnhave the authority to spend. And congress is working through that to make certain that the rightful holders of the authority to spend money in this nation, which is the congress of the United States, exercises that authority. Mr. Secretary how does the white house and you feel about the label, trump care . Ill let others provide a description for it. I prefer the call it patient care. This is about patients at the end of the day. This isnt about politicians. This isnt about Insurance Companies. This is about patients. And patients in this nation, especially those in the individual and Small Group Market. These are the folks. I had the privilege of going to cincinnati last week with the Vice President to a Small Business round table. And one of the business owners, one of the Small Business owners there said he had 18 employees
last year at this time. This year he has 15 employees because of the cost of Health Coverage for those individuals forced him, forced him to let three people go. Now, they are being forced to let three people go because the federal government has put in place rules and regulations that make it virtually impossible for folks in the individual and Small Group Market to provide coverage for their employees. This is a system thats not working for people. So if you if we focus on the patients ill call it patient care. If you focus on the patients, well get to the right answer. A major complaint of concern sorry. A major complaint of conservatives with phase one of the Obamacare Repeal and replace is that it is missing a measure that would allow health care to be sold across state lines. Now, the president said this morning that that would be in either phase two or phase three. Is that something that you believe the president could do through Executive Action or you
yourself to do or is that something that needs to be addressed legislatively. There are different aspects across state lines that will allow patients the care they want. Some of it might be done from a regulatory or rules standpoint. Some of it might require legislation. Thats where we are going to need assistance from our Friends On The Other Side of the aisle. American people have demanded that they be able to to purchase across state lines. Whether its through Association Health plans who allows individuals in Small Business groups to pool together nationally to be able to purchase coverage or whether its mom and dad who dont gain coverage through their employer that allows folks to pool together solely for the purpose of purchasing Coverage Even though they are not economically align. There are 18 million folks in
that individual and Small Business government. That would give them the Purchasing Power of millions. Thats huge four and authority that we want to put into the hands of people, of patients. Some of that may in fact require legislation. Yes, sir. Mr. Secretary, thank you. Two questions. First, congressman john faso of new york has said that the issue of denying federal funds to Planned Parenthood should be separate from whatever Health Care Bill finally emerges from congress and is signed into law by the president. Is that the administrations position as well . And my second question is this, you mentioned earlier the people who had their Health Care Plans canceled when they thought they could keep it. I believe in your State Of Georgia more unanimous a Million People had that experience. Will some of the plans that were canceled be able to come back under the new Health Care Plan . Yeah, in terms of Planned Parenthood, we think its important that t legislature
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