immigrants and leprosy. i think the science is pretty well dictated if that regard, too. let me ask you this, one of the most beneficial components of the affordable care act was the expansion of the medicaid program, that resulted in 11 million people nationwide and over 500,000 in new jersey gaining coverage, many for the first time. it s one of the biggest programs on the republican chopping block, with prems to not only repeal the affordable care s medicaid expansion, but going further and gutting billions in federal funding to the states. there s no doubt that this would result in catastrophic loss of coverage for tens of millions of low-income families and lead to tens of billions in losses to safety net and other health care providers. do you recognize medicaid to be a valuable program and consider the coverage it provides to 74 million americans to be comprehensive? medicaid is a vital program for health care for many individuals in this country, but one that has significant
medicaid patients, who are not taking any medicaid patients. there s a reason for that. if we re honest with ourselves, we would be asking the question why. well, if that s the case that one in three don t treat medicaid, you have to ask yourself, is that because medicaid reimbursements are so low? and since provider reimbursements are set at a state level, won t cutting federal funding and hitting states with higher costs only lead to lower provider rates? and how many doctors would actually treat former medicaid beneficiaries when they no longer have any coverage or ability to pay? so even if there s only one of three, there s still two of three that are providing the services. imagine if you don t have coverage, which goes to my next question. you have advocated to, in essence, block grant medicaid. the essence of medicaid is an entitlement, which under the law it means, if i meet these ci
in the industrialized world has to settle for. why should they pay out of pocket month after month after month to pay for something as basic as a hospitalization or maternity services or, you know, the rest of this list. there may be things on the list would he disagree with. but i m worried we re headed to a choice tto one else in the industrialized world has to accept. i accept your goal and i hope we can work together to make it so. you mentioned we should listen to the governors, which brings me to my second question and your answer to senator portman. in colorado, you may have heard this. we have something called the accountable care collaborative that is a unique approach to medicaid. it connects members with coordinated primary care providers while reducing various taxes. it also provides coordinate care for those with dual eligibility for medicare and medicaid. i could show you the cost curve
vaccines cause autism? again, i think the science in that instance is that it does not, but there are individuals across our country i m not asking about individuals, i m talking about science. because you re going to head a department in which science, not alternate universes of people s views, is going to be central to a $1 trillion budget and the health of the nation. can you commit to this committee and the american people today that should you be confirmed, you will swiftly, and unequivocally debunk false claims to protect the public health? what i ll commit to doing is doing the due diligence that the department is known for and must do to make certain that factual information is conveyed to and that factual information will be dictated by science, i would hope? without a doubt. okay. so let me ask you about medicaid, specifically. and let me just say, i m a little taken aback about your answer on the question of
the transparency of health care outcomes so that informed consumers can evaluate among different physicians, different hospitals, who really get the best outcomes? do we need to do more there? absolutely. this is an incredibly important point. it s not just in outcomes. outcomes are important and we need to be measuring what actually makes sense from a quality standpoint and allow patients and others to see what those outcomes are, but it s transparency in pricing as well. right now we don t have that. so, if you re an individual out there and you, in fact, want to know what something costs, it s virtually impossible to know what that is. there a all sorts ofeasons for that, but if year honest with ourselves as policymakers, and we to want make the system patient-friendly, not insurance-friendly or government-friendly, but patient-friendly, then we would make that a priority. if i m confirmed, i hope to do so. i think medicare and medicaid can cms can play a big role in advancing