system and i think more people are better off that way. i want to get you on the record here. so you think the health care system before the affordable care act with no changes, back to that, is superior to the one we have now? absolutely i believe that. let me ask you this and left us a foundation where we can start to improve our health care and delivery system. let me ask you this. the bet that steve scalise and paul ryan and others in leadership are making is that everyone will roll over. that they re going to basically make you walk the plank on this. they won t listen to anything you say. they won t take changes and mccarthy was clear about that today. they re going to make you vote for this bill whether you like it or not. are you going to vote for it? well, i have a lean no today and i owe my constituents and everybody in this country my best everyday and my best judgment and i think that we ought to have an opportunity to bring amendments to this legislation. the
rewrite this thing from a fresh start without being encumbered by some of the base work in obamacare. and if there are good pieces of that, we can put them back in by consensus rather than try to save something. how many people in your district are on the exchanges, congressman? i don t know that number. you may have that in front of you, chris, but i don t know that number. it s about 11,000 or so. do you know what s going to happen to them under this replace bill? have you talked to constituents? particularly in rural areas who are going to be paying more on out of pocket under this plan? of course we don t have that data because we just got a look at this bill that s been offered. i have a whole series of proposals that i think we should do but i will say on balance if the american people had to decide between continuing with obamacare the way it is and trying to supplement it so it doesn t go under or going back the way we were i d be for going back the way we were and then
the regular match, not at the enhanced match. i would prefer the enhanced match but what is the affect going to be for the hospitals and the poor folks in your district who depend on medicaid? i think they will be able to continue to have medicaid because i believe new jersey will continue the program. new jersey is one of those states, of course, that expanded medicaid and i hope and expect that that will continue to be the case and privately within my caucus i have indicated i think this should be a continuation of medicaid expansion and that was contained in our bill today. congressman lance, appreciate it as always, thank you, sir. thank you very much. still to come, we learned the president s former national security adviser worked as a foreign agent during the trump campaign and i do not mean that metaphorically. i mean he was literally registering he registered as a foreign agent. the stunning details on what it means for the ongoing cloud of suspicion around the
i m curious, how many hearings has your committee had on this bill? we had a 27-hour marathon session and all of the issues were vetted and i was proud of the committee the in our bipartisan capacity. the one that went through the night. but how many hearings with witnesses called to offer their expert testimony, whether doctors, people from the insurance industry, other folks, how many hearings has your committee had on this bill? we ve had a series of hearings over the last several years on the issue and we campaigned, chris, on this matter over the course of the election cycle. but in this congress i m sorry, i don t want to belabor this, but it s my understanding in this congress on this legislation there have been zero hearings but for the 27-hour marathon markup that went through the night. is that correct? and also the marathon in the ways and means committee and also the fact that we have explained our position and it was completely transparent over the course of th
continue to have medicaid because i believe new jersey will continue the program. new jersey is one of those states, of course, that expanded medicaid and i hope and expect that that will continue to be the case and privately within my caucus i have indicated i think this should be a continuation of medicaid expansion and that was contained in our bill today. congressman lance, appreciate it as always, thank you, sir. thank you very much. still to come, we learned the president s former national security adviser worked as a foreign agent during the trump campaign and i do not mean that metaphorically. i mean he was literally registering he registered as a foreign agent. the stunning details on what it means for the ongoing cloud of suspicion around the president ahead. plus, the death of the death spiral talking point. debunking the republicans favorite fear-mongering over the imminent demise of obamacare in two minutes.