second of all, millions and millions of people are paying deductibles and co-payments that are so high that it effectively denice thies them the opportuni go to the doctor, they can t afford to do that. those are the areas we should be focusing on. finally, mcdowell county in west virginia is a county that has the lowest life expectancy in the country, if i m not mistaken, the poorest county in west virginia. it s also a place where folks have sort of weathered a lot of storms, a lot of transformations to the economy and it s a place you and i are going to be going to on the end of this week and it s also the kind of place where these issues are going to be at the forefront of everyday folks. what is the message of the democratic party to folks in mcdowell county, west virginia? well, let s be clear. while the republicans tell us that obamacare and the aca are not perfect, here s the truth, that in states like west virginia and in states like kentucky they have had a massive
better if that s what you wanted to do? well, first of all, i am. i just met the other day with some very strong experts on health care. it is so clear, chris, it is so clear that single payer is the most cost effective way to go forward in providing health care to all because it eliminates so much of the administrative and bureaucratic waste that we currently experience. and it s important that we look at other countries around the world. what can we do where we are right now is your question. well, for a start, it is while obamacare, the aca added 20 million more people to health insurance and by the way many of those people will lose their insurance under the republican plan there are still 28 million americans who have today zero health insurance. and it is important that we join other countries in guaranteeing health care to all of our people.
do you know how many hearings are being planned in the united states senate, chris? zero. yeah, that was my sense. they want to do their work very quickly in the house and then they want to vote on the floor of the senate. i m on the health education committee and i can tell you that when we worked on the affordable care act, we spent week after week, hearing after hearing trying to figure out the best way forward. now, let me also say that while this effort on the part of the republicans, which we re going to fight tooth and nail, is an absolute disaster and will severely weaken health care in america, let us never forget for one second that we remain the only major country on earth not to guarantee health care to all people as a right and we spend far more per capita with outcomes that in many cases are not as good. let me ask you about that. obviously you re probably the most full-throated supporter of single payer in the united states senate.
american academy of actuaries. in addition, congressional budget office data shows while insurance marketplaces are smaller then it had initially expected, they are not in cbo s view anywhere near collapsing. so republicans insisting their plan will mean less coverage, higher cost and a massive tax cut for the rich. remember, just because they say obamacare is collapsing does not make it true. joining me now, republican congressman mo brooks of alabama. congressman, i want to start on the process here. it s been interesting to watch folks in your party, colleagues of yours, friends of yours object to the process house leadership is using. do you feel, as mike lee and others have contended, that they are moving too quickly and trying to jam this down your throats? well, i have some reservations about the process. i would have preferred that the drafting of this legislation be much more open than it has been. but nonetheless, there are going to be public hearings and committees. there
when it passed the senate is important and how much time the house had afterwards to then work on the senate version. and i don t remember right offhand. i wasn t in congress. it was nine months and 11 months respectively and republicans complained that it had been jammed down the throats of an unwitting public and that it had been passed too quickly. this argument was being made 14, 15 months after the president was inaugurated. you re talking three weeks here. i wasn t here in 2009 and 2010 when obamacare passed. but i am here now and in my experience three weeks is has been more than has often been given for other major pieces of legislation so it s not inconsistent with what has been done over the six years i ve been in congress. might more time be better? of course. but i m trying to put it into perspective. rand paul said something interesting in the washington post. he s been meeting with folks in the white house, he met with the president himself and he s been a vocal