RSC Health Care Report

Hello everyone and welcome to the Republican study Committee's elephants in the room. I'm Rachel Judas with The Daily Signal, and I was a great pleasure of moderating. a discussion today with Congressman Mike Johnson of Louisiana who is the chairman of the Republican Study Committee and Congressman Margaret Roger Marshall of Kansas. Thank you both so much for being with us today. Thanks for having us of course so you all had a very busy week this past week you just enrolled your health care plan and let's talk about that. What's in it and why did you all see the need to do this? Yeah, it has been a very busy week. We rolled out this this product. I brought a handy copy to show you this is the the actual publication 60 -. It's entitled a framework for personalized affordable care. This is part one of what will be at least a two -part two phase effort back in March of this year. The President famously said The Republican Party is gonna be the party of health care and we took that challenge very seriously. we began a task force within the Republican Study Committee in January. Looking at these issues it's it's probably the number one number two issue for everyone back home health care is very personal to people. people have With the cost and accessibility and even the quality of care and we believe those are challenges that can be met so this group work together Roger thankfully he's a physician and chaired the task force. We worked very hard for over 10 months pulling together ideas pulling in stakeholders from across the spectrum and coming up with what we believe is a framework that can solve this this crisis. We had two primary objectives. One is that we believe we can bring down the cost the cost of of health care overall, the cost of premiums and deductibles so people can afford their health care again but even more important or. Important as that is making sure that people are protected, we can protect even those with pre-existing conditions, people with chronic illnesses in Syria's health concerns. those two goals are not mutually exclusive and we have shown a path on how to do that. So I for 20 - five years, I got to deliver a baby most everyday and I learned there's nothing more personal than health care. So so our plan it protects it empowers and it personalizes health care. It protects people with pre-existing conditions and empowers people by giving them more choices. And then finally, it personalizes health care by putting decisions for health care back in the hands of those who know best. And that's the patient and the physician, not the So Democrats don't seem to closing much when it comes to health care. They're either talking about business as usual, we're just gonna keep the status quo or move to something more like single payer healthcare. How is what you are proposing different from what we're hearing from Democrats. These are literally the only ideas since the last effort to repeal and replace Obamacare that everyone remembers very well in 2017. There really hasn't been anything done in this space and that's a problem because as we mentioned, it's one of the greatest challenges facing virtually every American and every demographic we have a moral. In Congress to fix this problem and so in spite of that moral responsibility there really hasn't been any work done. I was so thankful we told the President we're so grateful that he challenged everyone in the spring to do this and we have now the only idea is literally Rachel that are on the table now and that's why it's been so well-received. We've we've been really blessed by the the just raving reviews favorable responses across the spectrum to this and we really feel like as we said it's an important thing it is, Roger said. We have got to get. The power to empower people we have to get the power back into the hands of patients and doctors instead of bureaucrats and insurance companies and that's where it's been right now and if we go with the Democrats proposals as you said hey, we're either gonna double down on the field status quo or we're gonna just turn it all over to a single-payer. One -size fits all Government-run health care plan. Those two scenarios will be a disaster so we have to peer propose real solutions. Rachel. The issue of 2020 is gonna be health care and really what we're A personalized plan for health care is a hundred and 80 degrees opposite of what the Democrats are proposing. They're proposing complete takeover of your health care by the federal government. so what they're proposing scares me to death. Personally, we talked last week Congressman Johnson when you were rolling out when you had mentioned to me that the number one concern you hear at town Hall meetings you go back from Juliana is about health care. People are concerned about what's happening with it and given a look at our new health care plan. Specific ways where the peer plan increases options rather than increasing costs Well we have a number of different approaches to this one of the ways that we fix health care is we reintroduce free market principles and so there's some things that have worked really well that are not theoretical. We know they actually can work in people really appreciate them health savings accounts for example they're very popular option. We wanna expand the use of health savings accounts so that you can even pay premiums and in all of your health care. Out of those savings tax-free savings that you've done, we wanna talk about portability. you know, one of the reasons that people develop preexisting conditions and have a problem being insured is because sometimes they have gaps in coverage if if you're an employer sponsored plan that that's portable hippos, the federal law that allows you to to follow that from employer to employer, that same rule does not apply currently in the individual health insurance market. And so we feel like if you can transfer that portability. Into the individual market, you allow people to keep their coverage and it it sort of removes the impediment to people who wanna be an entrepreneur Risk-taker job creator somebody who wants to start their own business right now there's a huge fear factor. They don't wanna leave their current employer cuz they leave their insurance behind so it solves a lot of problems in one if you increase portability that's just two of the many ideas that are that are outlined here you know I might have to size two other issues is that we're gonna level the playing field for buying premiums in that. Employed market so you can use pretax dollars and then another issue we're gonna bring forward as Direct primary care a concierge doctor If you will where you and your family could have your own personal physician use pre tax dollars pay maybe 50 to a hundred dollars a month for access to health care. Could you imagine getting up and going to work this morning and it's raining outside and your four year olds got a sore throat and you're trying to figure out. Do I need to go to the doctor this afternoon at noon or do I go to work? What do I do with my childcare? You take a snapshot of your child's throat. You send it to the doctor who knows you who knows your child's allergies? And then you can make a determination right there over the phone. But it's about the personal relationship between patients and the doctor. Again, that we want to empower parents commercial that you mentioned. Tiger Nutrition used to be looking babies every day, giving your really intimate involvement in the medical field. What are some of the biggest issues you see as a doctor of things that need to be fixed well. Talk about the preexisting condition for a for a second. you know every day I saw people with pre-existing conditions. We all are a person waiting to have a pre-existing condition. My own wife has a pre-existing condition so every day the last four years I went to bed. I woke up in the morning how do we fix this pre-existing condition issue and I'm so proud of how we've done it. You know number one is Chairman Johnson mentioned the portability of health care so you can go in the Self-employed market and not worry about keeping your portability a number. This is some type of a reinsurance pool, so I saw reinsurance pools working across the country. They continue to work federally funded, but state ran what I noticed as a doctor. Whenever the federal government got involved for every mandate, the federal government gave us. It probably drove the cost of healthcare up two or three percent. so mandates don't work and they don't improve quality either. So there was there was nothing more frustrating and my professional life than trying to implement the ACA. it was it was just turn me into a daddy. Person I found myself looking at a computer rather than looking at my patient. I would walk in the room close the computer and say tell me Rachel, what's going on today you mentioned the frustrations of Obamacare order, some other ways where your plan sort of lemonis the issues that both doctors and patients have care. I know Obama famously said if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. We've all found out that hasn't been the case with Obamacare. So what are some ways where you're playing specifically fixed? Yes, so the ACA get gay patients, less choices and less choices. It caused consolidation of the industry overregulation in every business causes consolidation, so there were less hospitals, less insurance companies, less doctors participating, less pharmacies, less pharmacy benefit managers, only four pharmacy benefit managers in the country now thanks to all the rules of the ACA. So so they're Nicki and everybody for about 30 percent of the health care it costs for prescriptions. so we're gonna try to expand. We want increased competition as well, so it is absolutely the opposite of what the ACA plan was and at the same time we've got to refine how Medicaid is being treated right now. you know, the expansion of Medicaid to Able-bodied persons ultimately has drained the resources that were originally intended for people who are truly in need of truly vulnerable populations. And and if we can read retool that if we can put in block grants to the States and allow them some flexibility, I think we. Increase the efficiency and the and the intended use of Medicaid so that really helps the people who intended to help Rachel Thank you had one more thing to separate us from what the ACA ended up being. We still have 28 million people in this country without health care. Our plan is gonna impact those people. I think they will have half that number when we're done if they if the Congress has the guts to implement all of our issues including phase two beyond that where's nine million people in the ACA pools right now we've seen their premiums double and they're out of pockets. Go up exponentially. So the number one problem with access to health care now is the cost of health care. so if we can drive the cost of health care down, I think it's very intuitive. That means more people have access to health care. What went into developing this plan. I love to you know, go behind the scenes a little bit and talk about different conversations that you all had and what you saw is like you know you know primary reasons like this is what we need to address. What was kind of like the thought process behind the way into you know put pen to pad and we're talking about these things. Well, a lot of work went into this. We started back in January of this year. This task force met regularly we had. Focus groups we had experts from across the spectrum come in. There are people as you know who are experts in in each areas in the health care space. we want to hear all those ideas all free market-based ideas that were good. You know there's a lot of people who specialize in the use of Association health plans. For example we took their ideas we brought in the direct primary care physician folks who that that model is really worked. well we wanted to incorporate that the people who are innovated. Telemedicine and things like that those are ideas that need to be expanded so we included all that in the plan but we had to go to the sources of all that information and gather it distill it and put it all here together in one place and we we spend a lot of time with our with our sort of allied groups on the conservative side prior to rolling the South and that's why we've had some so much air cover ground support as we rolled out this plan because people have been comfortable with the process. They've known all the thought the research the deliberation that's gone into this. We're really thankful that it's paid off you mentioned when we were talking last week about the enrolling that there are a lot of personal stories that you highlighted of his constituents and others across this country who have faced a lot of problems with their health care. Is there anyone story that stands out to you that maybe you included in the book or even in conversations with constituents that really stands out that you'd like to share. There's so many because as we're saying when we go home and we're with constituents who are in town halls, this is always top of mind. People come up after town halls and say let me tell you about my family some very compelling. We did include many of them in here to illustrate this is so it's personal we keep using that word but that's what health care is but you know what's interesting too Rachel is we. we did a kind of a promo roll-out video of members of the Republican Study Committee itself and you know we have a hundred and 40 - six members conservatives in Congress. we had dozens of members who came forward to tell their own family stories. I was one of the writers one of them. you know I have a nephew that has a very rare disease by Condition from the time of his birth that deeply affects my sister and her family. My my wife has a very serious health issue that we're concerned about. My mom does so it it. It really does affect almost every American and probably everyone watching us has their own story. We need to be talking about that because those are the things we have to solve and I think our plan fixes it better than the ACA does I think when we think when we talk about those three populations which we have not positively impacted 20 - eight million people Nine million people in the ACA pools and 14 million people on the Medicaid expansion pools and and I would argue that having Medicaid is not access to health care right now less than half a specialist except Medicaid. So when I had that OB patient that had a seizure disorder with diabetes, I couldn't get her in to see a specialist. I had to become a specialist in OB and seizure disorders and diabetes whatever their problem was and we wanna fix it and I think I think what what Mike's special he does. The Medicaid that those types of issues, maybe my specialty is implementing transport parents and innovation helping patients become consumers again and we were reject the notion that that people with these chronic illnesses, preexisting conditions or somehow thriving under Obamacare under the ACA. It's just not. it's not and if you talk to people out in the country they they will openly acknowledge that and they're crying out for help. They need solutions and we're really glad to be offering so so even though Republicans are the majority party in the House right now. How do you see your plan picking up steam gaining ground? maybe months years down the road depending on we are in the majority again health care is such a complex complicated area of the law by some estimates it it it touches one fourth of the US economy so it's not something you go flip with switch and just turn it on or off or fix something overnight. It takes a lot of effort. It takes a lot of time there's a long take off ramp for these things so this is a really critical and important. We have begun this dialogue initiated the debate. We're proud and happy to have it with our colleagues on the other side of the House when we get to a governing moment which we believe will happen in the next election cycle. We are going to have our plan ready to go and this is it's not just in the health care space we're working on is I talked about all the time Indiana. The Republican Study Committee. We're kind of the policy group within the Republican Party. the intellectual arsenal of conservatism is it famously said he was the first executive director back in the early seventies. we are. We're putting together a report like this and and so many different areas so that we have a playbook ready to go on day one and we have a lot of important work to do. One of my greatest frustrations of this Congress is I thought that we were gonna do some bipartisan work on healthcare. I thought we were gonna do prior authorization issues and surprise billing and fix pharmacy costs and then suddenly about in March the Democrats stopped talking to us and all the sudden you could just see from up on high came the order don't work with Johnson and Marshall. they actually wanna. Health care I mean I'm not kidding down at the staff level. It just become became crickets out there and and what this is all about. Is that impeachment process getting Cranked up? We're not able to pass you. MC A. We can't work on health care. This is gotta be the most disappointing Congress in recent memory. Yeah, speaking of supporting Congress. let's switch gears a little bit and talk about the picture for a few minutes. You just met with the President to talk about what's been happening on Democrats are pushing impeaching him. What was that meeting like what did? Talk about yeah, we had a a better dozen members of the Republican Study Committee. two days ago we were at the White House for over an hour talked about a number of subjects we talked about the health care plan. He's very grateful for that. I showed him the some of the headlines one from Fox News that said there are pumpkin parties. the Republican Study committee's health care plan is the fulfillment of President Trump's challenge in his promise to make the Republican Party the party of health care. he was grateful for that and encouraged by it but we talked about a lot of other things too and of course impeachment he's very frustrated by it. He's being denied basic due process in an unprecedented way and and I think rightfully he is frustrated by that he he wants us to to argue this thing on the merits. you know John Adams famously said. Facts are stubborn things. The facts are on our side. Everybody seen the transcript of the infamous call with the Iranian President and the American people need to be able to judge this for themselves but the the problem right now is they're doing this all in secret. They're having these secret depositions and these top secret hearings in a basement somewhere I'm on a House Judiciary Committee. Example. I'm the Committee of Jurisdiction over impeachment I am not allowed to review any of the documents and the testimony that's been presented thus far so basically you should be allowed to be in that room. Of course yes we are not allowed. I am not allowed. I sent a letter to the chairman of the chairmanship and the chairman of the other two committees Democrat chairman who are in in you know in engaging this and I said here's the House rule that says I have a right to review this. I wanna know a date and time when I come to that nothing that's critical today we're gonna vote on a resolution and. The lawyer in the room but yesterday morning you talked about behind the scenes at Seven AM every Wednesday. The doctors in Congress get together. we have breakfast and Doctor Mike Burgess is on the rules Committee and he kinda broke down this resolution for us. Mike and I we haven't got to talk this morning. We walk back to the back to the Capitol. We'll chat about it but how do you feel? Do you feel there? Is there a better due process or or not doesn't look like it to me? It doesn't help at all. It doesn't solve any of these concerns. It allows Adam Schiff to be basically the the count. The judge and the jury over this I mean they get ultimate veto authority over anything that minority party would would would do and then and then it kicks over to to Jerry Nadler ultimately in the Judiciary Committee and he has ultimate authority almost cart blush unilateral authority over what evidence is presented and how it goes. I mean this is not due process. This is not what the American people want and deserve and I think that we are right to be pointed out. These errors look at the end of the day. This is what I've said in interviews the last couple of days I'm concerned about. People's faith in our institution you know if if people can't the reason impeachment is only been used. A few times in American history is because it's such a serious thing right and if the people lose faith in the process in in the credibility of that process, they ultimately lose faith in the institution of Congress itself and thus the Republic. This is really serious. Yeah, we're gonna undo the results of the 2016 election. If we're gonna go against the votes of 60 - four million Americans, it should be a higher bar. Yeah, not a lower bar exactly do You might run into problems because they're not following proper procedure at all. what you would think. I mean we've we've been beating the drums and shouting as loudly as we can to know avail. look elections have consequences and Pelosi and her team are in charge of this thing and they've decided a long time ago. This is predetermined political outcome. We all know they started working on impeachment of the President. The day took his oath of office. I mean they change the narrative several times along the way but they've always been trying to get to this desired in. This is very Machiavelli and the means just by the end. If they have to steam roll over all the Republicans in Congress over the will of the American people over due process over the rules, that's what we've gotten. So at the end of the day, the people will make up their minds about the legitimacy of that process. So because Democrats control the House, it won't be a surprise when he was approached in the House because they have majority. What do you anticipate will happen in the Senate? I don't think it goes anywhere in the Senate. I I think I think Mitch McConnell and the Republican majority will look at this with a fair mind. They'd they follow the truth where it leads. They take an oath to the Constitution and nothing else but but at the end of the day on the merits of this case, I'm Tom Brokaw of all people yesterday came out and said there's no there there. What are the Democrats doing? They haven't stated the case. This is not like the Clinton impeachment. It was very clear cut everyone knew what was being argued about and and and decided upon. They just don't have that here and so you know I I think that it will meet a a quick fate in the Senate and then the the American people will get to decide how they feel. How all this went? We're going into an election cycle. I think it's gonna backfire on the Democrats. My personal view. it's gonna help the President is gonna help the Republicans and I think it's probably helps us retain the majority so you all have been busy with health care. Now everything has been kind of focused on impeachment if there's something else other legislative priorities that you would like to elevate in the midst of all of this. What is that is that US Mexico Canada Agreement order some other legislative priorities that you're well. Certainly the USMC A is top of mind for all of us cuz it affects everyone. In districts all across the country and I know there's at least probably at least 4050 of our Democrat colleagues who want to vote need to vote on the S M C A so we hope that comes to the floor by the end of the year but there's so many priorities of things that we've not been able to tackle it all because all the time and energy has been put into this impeachment nonsense and that's been our great frustration. You know certainly we go back home both of us do a lot of town halls. I don't get through any town Hall without talking about balancing the budget. Matter of fact people kinda chew on me like why don't the Republicans talk about this? But the Republican Study Committee is where we do talk about it. probably the first 15 meetings. That's what we talked about this Congress is how do what is a balanced budget look like I think the RNC is the only caucus effort that really turned out a balanced budget very proud of that and the only budget period we we came out with our budget publication. Just like like the helmet it's painful. It's painful for people to look at the budget because we're used to being on the seafood diet. You know a seafood diet you see food and you eat it and that's kinda what are our National federal budget as has become so I really appreciate Mike. Leadership and R S E leadership but it brings up a great point. We have test that that was the R S C budget and spending task Force that produced that report. The healthcare Test force led by Roger produced this report and we have five or six other task forces working groups that are coming out with their own report. So in January February March April next year you're gonna see a different publication come out in each one of these policy areas. We're we're continuing to do the work the Democrats can toil in this and you know Impeachment Garden as long as they want but we are trying to do the work. American people and again when when we get the the majority back we are gonna present really true sound thoughtful ideas on how to solve these problems. Well thank you both so much for joining us today. Congressman Marshall Congressman Johnson. Thank you all for joining us. Be sure to follow the Republican Study Committee on Facebook and Twitter if you haven't already and we'll see you all next time.