i think the reason is because he places such a high value on that and i think to call into question his rhetoric to be anything other than somebody who has condemned hate and violence in all of its forms is simply just a complete misrepresentation not only who the president is, but of what he s also what he said. matthew? thanks, sarah. back to health care, we talked about how there will be changes in the senate. you said the white house is open to that as long as the principles remain the same. i was wondering if we could get more specificity on what principles and how they are represented in the current house bill. for example, is a state s ability to waive essential health benefits and the pre-existing conditions protections that the freedom caucus negotiated so hard for, does that have to stay in the bill for the president to support it? look, again, i think that the biggest piece of that is to allow states that flexibility
him. i think the reason is because he places such a high value on that, and i think to call into question his rhetoric to be anything other than somebody who has condemned hate and violence and all of its forms is simply just a complete mess to do a back misrepresentation not only of who the president is but alsf what he said. reporter: back to healthcare, we talked about other changes in the senate, in use at the white house is open to that as long as the principles remain the same. i was wondering if we can get more specificity on specifically what principles and how they are represented in the current house bill? for example, the state s ability to waive essential health benefits and that productions, the freedom caucus negotiated so hard, does it have to stay in the bill for the president to support it? again, i think the biggest piece of that is to allow states to have flexibility, that the
yes, because it happens to be one of the strongest assets. reporter: but the republican bill allows states to opt out so insurance companies could charge some people with pre-existing conditions more. it would give states $8 billion over 5 years to help cover those people. but hundreds of leading patient and health groups call that a drop in the bucket. the bill would also allow states to opt out of requiring insurance companies to cover some so-called essential health benefits, like maternity care and even ambulances. experts say less coverage could mean lower premiums for many people. is this now trumpcare? this isn t trumpcare. this is an ability to give people the choice to pick their own care. i think that s what s most important. reporter: but with the midterm elections fast pretty approaching, democrats are eager to make sure republicans own this, and that americans know who is in this picture. but you had every provision of this bill tattooed on your forehead. you
the list is long in pre-existing conditions and could vary by states for the reasons that you spoke of. a last word on that and then we ll move on. a lot we don t know in this in the house bill because of the fact that some states would decide to live by the federal mandates that will continue to ban any discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions. but there s state waivers. if states can justified to the federal government, they can drop out of a lot of these things, pre-existing conditions, essential health benefits. there s this insurance mandate under obamacare that everything from mental health to maternity care, all have to be covered in every insurance policy. if states decide to take the waiver, they can say we ll take this part of the essential benefits and drop them. and an insurance company in oklahoma can say we re not going to live by the essential benefits in oklahoma. we re going to take the
scraps obamacare s individual mandate. that means you are no longer required to buy health insurance, and it allows states to opt out of providing essential health benefits, like maternity care and mental health services. also changes the way that people with pre-existing conditions are covered, providing $8 billion, which i ll tell you, it ain t much, in federal funds to lower the cost if states choose to allow insurers to charge more for those conditions. we ll have to dig into that to tell you what it really means. i want to take you first to nbc s mike on capitol hill. when do we expect the senate to focus on this health care bill? we know what an uphill battle is. thanks, stephanie. you know, it is an age old frustration between the house and the senate, particularly coming from this side of the capitol where i m standing. the house of representatives. when things get to the senate, they slow down. reporter: considerably.