Transcripts For CNNW Wolf 20170118

Your desk in your new office because americans will be watching to see if you follow through on that it promise. I also would like to follow up on senator frankens question. I think there was something there that didnt quite get answered. As you know, congressman, the one goal of the Affordable Care act was to push the Health Care Industry to provide Higher Quality care at lower costs. And under the aca, medicare was recently allowed to change the way that it pays hospitals for hip and Knee Replacements to a bundle. That means medicare pays a set price for the care associated with hip and Knee Replacement and then the hospitals, not congress, will decides the most effective implants, how to spend their money to deliver Better Service at higher cost. I supported this change because the Research Shows it really means you get better care at lower prices. But i know the policy is controversial because it affects how hospitals are paid, which in turn, affects how much money the manufacturers of the hip and Knee Replacements can make. One of the companies is a Company Raised by mr. Franker and that is zimmer. They are one of the leading manufacturers of hip and knees and they make more money if they can charge higher prices and sell more of their products. The Company Knows this and so do stock analysts. On march 17th, you purchased stock in zimmer. Exactly six days after you bought the stock on march 23rd, 2016, you introduced a bill in the house called the hip act that would require hhs secretary to suspend regulations affecting the payment for hip and Knee Replacements. Is that correct . I think the program to which i think you referred im a strong supportive of. Im not asking about why you support. Did you buy the stock and introduce a bill that would be help tofl the company you just bought stock in . The stock was bought by a broker who was making those decisions. I wasnt making those decisions. You said you werent making those decisions. Let me just make sure that i understand. These are your stock trades. They are listed under your name. They are made on by behalf. Was it purchased through an index fund . I dont believe so. A mutual fund . Its a brokered directed account. Through a blind trust . Lets just be clear. This is not just a stockbroker. Someone you pay to handle the paperwork. This is someone who buys stock at your direction. This is someone who buys and sells the stock you want them to buy and sell. Not true. So when you found out thats not true, senator. You decide not to tell, wink, wink, nod, nod, and were supposed to believe that. Its what members of this committee im not will the me just thats the case. Then i want to understand when you found out your broker had made this trade without your knowledge, did you reprimand her . What i did was comply did you sell the stock . What i did was comply with the rules of the house in an ethical and legal in a transparent way. Time is expired. I believe senator mccow ski went over by two minutes. I did read the clock here . I think thats what it was and i just burned another 15 seconds. Keep burning them and youll be up to two minutes. Your periodic transaction notes you were notified of this trade on april 4th, 2016. Did you take an additional actions after that date to advance your plan to help the company that you now own stock in . Im offended by the insinuati insinuation, senator. You may be offended, but heres what you did. Congressional records show that after you were personally notified of this trade, which you said you didnt know about in advance, that you added 23 out of your bills 24 cosponsors that also after you were notified of the Stock Transaction you sent a letter to cms calling to decease planned initiatives under the center for medicare and Medicaid Innovation and so there was no misunderstanding about who you were trying to help, you mentioned the replacement. Time is up. Senator warren, who is next. Snarlt isaacson has three minutes. I respect everybody on this committee tremendously. I respect the nominee. But its very important for us to all understand the disclosure rules. Any of us could make mistakes that are being alleged. Im sure senator franken didnt know he owned phillip morris. He has a Fund Investment that was in his disclosure that owns phillip morris. Its entirely possible to have somebody make an investment and us not know because the way it works. I dont say that to embarrass mr. Franken, but to make a a point that any one of us that have mutual funds, its possible for us not to know and to imply that somebody is denying something thats a fact is just not the fair thing to do. I just wanted to make that point. This is different than mutual funds. Its an investment. Senator warren, your time is generously. Senator hassen . Im happy to lead. He did, but i was going back and forth. Ill be glad thank you. Congressman price, thank you for being here this morning. Mr. Chairman and ranking member, thank you for the opportunity to participate. As you and i discussed, congressman, we share a concern for patients. My husband and i have two kids and our adult son at times has had up to ten doctors and a couple dozen medications. So the hassan family knows the strengths and weaknesses of the Health Care System very well. As governor, i was pleased to work with members of both parties to build on the example that senator young talked about in indiana to have a bipartisan New Hampshire Medicaid Expansion plan thats providing coverage now to over 50,000 hard working granite staters. I have seen the advantages of the Affordable Care act and the flexibility that the Affordable Care act gives states right up close and worked with the Republican Legislature to pass it. So its that context for my series of questions. First o of all, as we talked about, opioid Overdose Deaths have been on the rise and have hit New Hampshire particularly hard. We have about the second highest rate of drug Overdose Deaths in the country. Under the Medicaid Expansion program that i just talked about made possible only by the Affordable Care act, thousands of New Hampshire citizens are getting the opportunity to get treatment for Substance Use disorder. I talked to one of them last week who had an addiction for almost a decade. Medicaid expansion gets passed under the Affordable Care act. She got treatment. And she is now in recovery. And after a year on medicaid, which by the way we have done it in a particular way so its strengthened our Insurance Market in New Hampshire because more insurers came in as a result of the way we did Medicaid Expansion, shes now working and shes just switched over to private insurance because shes got employer provided insurance. So you have proposed repealing Medicaid Expansion in the budget that you proposed. So yes or no, can you guarantee that you will make sure that americans with Substance Use disorders who have gotten insurance through Medicaid Expansion just like ashley did will not lose their Health Insurance . I think that i enjoyed our conversation as well and the subjects we delved into. Its imperative we make sure every single individual have access to the kind of Mental Health and Substance Abuse challenges that they have. Is that a guarantee that you will find funds to provide the treatment . Its a guarantee that im committed to making certain we address that need, which is so vital and important across this land. So im concerned youre not going to be able to back up that guarantee if the Affordable Care act is repealed. Im concern ed about the impact on the states and people like ashley who need the coverage. I also just want to talk about whether you agree that people with Health Insurance should have some very basic essential coverages like checkups at the doctors offices. Do you think Health Insurance coverage should provide for that . I think as we mentioned with choices for patients to be a able to select the kind of coverage that they want instead of somebody else decides for them, its important we remember that the center of these discussions is a patient. And the patient knows best what he or she needs. Thats the imperative that i would bring to you that im committed to making certain that patients have the choices available. If they choose to select that kind of coverage. But if Insurance Companies dont offer it at all, an essential benefit under the Affordable Care act now, it requires private insurers to cover the treatment. They didnt used to do that. They it also have stopped covering a lot of things until the law requires them to. So yes or no, the empowering patients first act would repeal the requirements that Insurance Companies cover Substance Abuse disorders. Is that a good thing . Whats a good thing is to keep the patient at the center of all of us and that were providing the kind of choices so they can address their clinical and medical needs. Heres the thing. If if Insurance Companies never offer it, they dont have the option. They can pay good premium dollars, but its just not offered. The Affordable Care act said to the insurance industry, heres some basic things you have to offer. So that when a patient needs care, the coverage is there and they can e get the care. And your answer and the empowering patient act would take that assurance away. Its not an option if insurance doesnt cover it. The good news for you is that as an administrator that i follow the policies adopted by the congress of the United States and signed by the president. So we look forward to working with you to make certain that those kinds of things are covered and those patients receive the care they need. With respected, theres been lots of opportunity to make certain that those things happen. Until the Affordable Care act was passed, it never happened. People didnt get the care they needed. And because of that, a lot of people like the ashleys of the world werent getting better, werent getting treatment. Providers dont exist to treat people if they cant figure out how they are going to get reimbursed. The most important thing that our Treatment Community said in New Hampshire was Medicaid Expansion in the Affordable Care act made it possible for them to stand up a hue ehigher volume o treatment. Im concerned about your unwillingness to commit to making sure that Insurance Companies cover these essential benefits. I am almost out of time and we havent even touched on the issue of Womens Health, which is obviously, of great concern. So will the the me just ask a couple questions. Yes or no, do you think an employer should be able to fire a woman because she uses Birth Control . I dont believe so. You voted in support of a resolution to disapprove the district of columbias nonchris nati discrimination law from being fired because of their Reproductive Health decisions. So your vote would have had the effect of allowing employers to fire a woman for using Birth Control or for other decisions she makes about her own body and Reproductive Health. How is that vote consistent with the answer you just gave me . Again, i think that its about who is paying for that product. The question is whether an employer lets say in a selfinsured provided Health Insurance plan finds out that a female employee who earn ed the benefit from her hard work is using the benefit to provide Birth Control to buy Birth Control. Which the benefit provides. And fire hearss her. I dont think thats the case. Would you like us to provide examples for you . I would be happy to. You would be willing to say that employers may not, you would support a law, a rule that employers may not discriminate against women for their Reproductive Health decisions. I dont think that employers have the opportunity right now to be able to let somebody go based upon their Health Status or so why did you vote against the d. C. Provision . I doeblt think thats what it did. You dont think that was your vote . I dont think thats what the bill did. Thank you. Well follow up on that. Again i wish i had more time because i have about eight more questions. Ill submit them in writing. Thank you. Senator kad dcassidy . I have been gallivanting with High School Students so i am energized. I wanted to ask a succeed round and you wouldnt let me. So ive been wanting to say that for two days now. I got another set of questions. And you said shut up. Next, nothing personal. How would hipa laws work . I love what youre saying about the patient position and relationship. You and i both worked in hospitals. I was a liver doctor. And weve been talking a lot about obamacare and the wonderful things its done. But i keep on thinking of my patients at the hospital for the uninsured with the 6,000 deductible. The patients who were working, they it dont have 400 in their account. And they have a 6,000 deductible before they can be cared for. Just for the record, people dont believe me, i put it on my Facebook Page. A friend of mine from home riz renewal for his individual policy for he and his wife, no kids, was 39,000 for a year. 6,000 deductible. I put it on my Facebook Page because no one believes this is what a family pays for a mortgage and then some and that was their yearly premium. So i u applaud you for looking for some affordable. God bless you. But for states like mine and yours and arizona, people cant afford 39,000 premiums. Did the empowering patient act repeal the Mental Health parody laws . I dont believe so. I dont think so either, but it does cover Substance Abuse. So there is those provisions. Does it have to be a covered benefit. Youre a big believer in Health Savings lkts. I gather it can be used to pay for doctors visits and for medical services and even colonoscopies if necessary. So just to point that out. When you speak about giving the Patient Power over her health care to allow her to choose, when we choose for her, we have a 39,000 premium. Were going to allow her to choose, she has something thats affordable. Theres a lot of literature to look at that. Aplay applaud nor that. Franken, different issue. I am skeptical about he calls me many things. Im skeptical about Electronic Health records and their negative impact upon productivity. He thinks im some guy that calls a mouse a furry thing when most people i see that anderson laid off 5 of their staff. They are blaming it upon financial losses related to decreased productivity directly attributable to the impleme implementation. Your department is involved with meaningful use and such like that. Its not really a good use of the orthopedic surgeons time. Not that it isnt important, but hes not the person to implement the program. It shall be their internist. What can we do about this time and productivity issue thats become the Electronic Medical record and meaningful use keeping that which is positive, but hopefully doing Something Better for the patient in that position. The Electronic Medical record and Electronic Health records are so important because they allow the patient the opportunity to have their Health History with them at all times and be able to allow whatever physician or provider access to that. We at the federal government have a role in that, but that ought to be inner op prablt that different systems can can talk to each other. Ive had more than one physician say the final regulations and rules related to meaningful use were the final straw for them. And they quit. They have no more gray hair than you or i have. And when that happens, we lose incredible intellectual capital in our society that can care for people. Is what can we do about that . I think the thing thats imperative is to find out what things ought to be determined and checked and the metrics that are used that they actually correlate with the quality of care thats being provided opposed to so many things required now of the physician or provider that make it they are wasting their time documenting these things, but it doesnt result in Higher Quality of care or outcomes for that patient. If we worked with those providing the care to say what is it we could ask you to measure to correlate with the quality of care. Its interesting because if youre emphasize iing the patie lsh sfgs relationship. Theres hope. And i only imagine if she were now in practice typing up there is hope. It detracts from their productivity, but detracts from their ability to provide quality care. Let me ask as well. How do we come up with expensive medicine only used by very few. How do we socialize that cost . Think of antibiotics. How do we care for them . I talked earlier about Rare Diseases and about the orphan drug act and the like that revolutionize the ability or incentives for bringing to market drugs that address Rare Diseases. Incentivizing to make certain that if individuals and companies are able to come up with things that cure diseases that they are appropriately compensated. In the era of personalized medicine where it might be in of a thousand still very small, but the cure could be a million. Anything specific about that . We are entering a brave new world that is so exciting from a scientific standpoint to provide this kind of Personalized Health Care Services to folks that well be able to cure things weve never dreamed about curing. The challenge is how we afford to make that available to our society are real. We need to get the best minds together to figure out how to make that happen. Ill close by saying this. I have a perspective, surgeons are called at 3 00 in the morning with a car wreck theres no one else to fix them. If it they dont fix them, they die. They kiss their wife goodbye, climb out of bed, drive to the hospital, they are up all night and see their clinic schedule the next day and make rounds in the evening and get home at midnight. Youre the exact kind of person to have this job. Thank you. Senator . Thank you to the Committee Leadership and thank you, congressman price, for your visit the other day in the office. An observation and then a few questions. Forgive me. I was at another hearing, so i might be repetitive. By worry as a virginian is your position about a whole range of programs that are basically about access and coverage. Sort of the safety net that provides coverage to millions of people. You propose turning into a block grant program. A lot of controversy for democrats and republicans and you have repeatedly voted against the chip program for kids. Calling it socialized medicine. Thats a combined medicaid chip of 800,000 virginians. You have proposed a restructuring that cvo found would increase for seniors. You support repeal of the Affordable Care act. Theres half a million virginians on the exchanges and hundreds of thousands of others that are benefitted. You want to e defund planned parenthood. These are the the basic programs that provide Health Care Coverage for millions of virginians. Theres some overlap, but it would be millions and tens of millions of americans. And many of them have very limited means. So theres kind of a kinlt consistency to your position across all these programs that i view as critical to the Health Safety net. Senators franken and murray used the first do no harm before i came. And i think, and i would hope you would agree, as we approach the system of the access coverage the president and congress should strive to do no harm. Absolutely. E we shouldnt harm by reducing the number of people who have Health Coverage or reducing the quality of the coverage. Thats why we should strive for. I think its important to appreciate there are challenges in these programs currently. One out of every three physicians who ought to be able to e see medicaid patients doesnt see medicaid patients. If were honest about addressing these problems, we ought to say why is that. What are we doing wrong . 1 of every 8 physicians to e see seniors no longer sees medicaid patients. Its almost impossible. Im all with you on fixing challenges and going forward. More coverage. More affordable. Thats what were trying to do. We shouldnt harm people to increase their cost. I think we need to drive down the cost for everybody. We shouldnt harm people by creating an anxiety about the most important thing in their laifs, health care and health care of their families. We shouldnt be doing that in congress. One of my goals in this entire debate, i appreciate you bringing this up, is to lower the temperature about what were talking about. This is real stuff for folks. These are their lives. Can we lower the temperature in russia at the same time . I think we can move a pace, but lower the temperature. And provide stability to folks out there. People need to know no rug is going to be pulled out. Ill join in in stability and lower temperature. I dont think lowering the temperature is consistent with rushing. My experience in going around virginia is huge amounts of fear. And we shouldnt harm the american economy. Health care is the bigst sector. By e ejecting uncertainty. We should try to fix the problems that you have identified and do them in a way that provide some stability and certainty. Shouldnt that be our goal . Certainty is incredibly important. Im reminded of the fact that the Congressional Budget Office has told us that the aca is decreased the workforce by 2 million ftes. There are challenges that we have throughout. Id hope that what were able to do is Work Together to solve those challenges. Do you agree with the president elect that the replacement for the Affordable Care act must ensure theres insurance for e everybody. I have stated here and always that its incredibly important that we have a system to allow for every american to have access for the coverage they need and desire. He state d do you support tht position of the president elect . I think that the cost of drugs is in many instances a real challenge for folks. We need to do all we can to make sure we bring those costs down. Heres an off beat question thats a coincidence. I was at a hearing with governor hailey had, nominated to be u. N. Ambassador before i came in. She played a cig call role in moving her state away from the use of the battle flag in any official capacity. When you remember the georgia legislature, you fought hard to keep the battle flag as part of the Georgia State flag. Id u like to introduce that resolution for the record. I read the resolution with interest because of the phrase kmcommemorating the time and u pulled it up and i note that the resolution that commemorated the time of southern independence mentions nothing about slavery. Why did you support that resolution and do you still support it today . I havent thought about that in a long time. Im happy to look at that and go back and try u to refresh my memory. Whats laudatory about the time of southern independence . Every heritage has things that are good about it. Every heritage has things that are harmful about it. And so im happy to answer a specific question. You think a history resolution about confederate History Month completely any reference to slavery . I dont know it presumed to be dpre hencive. President work i did as the majority leader tofs make certain we came forward with a flag that did not have the confederate battle flag on it. We did so in a bipartisan way. I was privileged to work with the atlanta mayor. Youre aware theres an office of Minority Health that was created. And unless it separately reauthorized that office would also expire. Thats a legislative question. If im privileged to be confirmed ux i look forward it making certain that we use the Resources Available to us and the agencies available to us within the department to make certain that every american has the highest Quality Health care available. Thank you, senator. Senator scott . Thank you, mr. Chairman. Good to see you here today. Hoping for much success for you. I hear that you were at emery university. I did my residency. My nephew is in his first year of medical school. I hope that he dpets a quality education. I did have the privilege of serving with you in the house and enjoyed our friendship and look forward to e seeing your success as the secretary of hhs. I have a couple questions that are state specific to South Carolina. We have over 20 Health Centers with 165 Service Sites serving over 350,000 patients in almost every county in the state. Every county in South Carolina is either partially or completely designated as medically underserved. As rural hospitals continue to close, these centers have addressed a need for many communities in my state. They Work Together with partners in the community to Impact Health like food deserts and lack of transportation to Preventive Health services, which can save cost in the longterm. A diabetic who does not take marry medication because they cannot afford it, what will be a longterm to the emergency room. What role do you think community Health Centers can play particularly in rural and medically underserved areas . Community Health Centers are a vital part of our system right now. They fill a void in so many areas as you mentioned across your state and mine and across the country. There were 13,000 that are the entry point and often times the area of health care for so many vinls and we need to do to strengthen them to make certain the providers that are within community Health Centers that they are providing the highest quality care and able to access resources and Clinical Resources that allow them to broaden that care. Emergency rooms were full of people waiting for psychiatric exams so they could be admitted or discharged. After implementation of a network, wait times have been cut from four days down to about ten hours. The costs have been cut by almost twothirds. What do you see as the future of tell medicine to address access issues . What barriers can we anticipate as well . Te le medicine is an violentiviolent i exciting innovation. It will allow access to that capital and resources from a clinical substantiate stand pount to make decisions on patients that are before them without being able to save resources and save patients. We have a Stroke Program where theres a neurologist that works with telemedicine and has a network of clinics and hospitals around the state where somebody comes in with symptoms of a stroke and that physician is able to literally see that patient in realtime and determine whether or not they nied e medication or they can be treated in the community or whether they have to be transferred to the academic center. In the past, it was a call on the ground. No ability to talk with someone who might have grater resources or knowledge and all of those patients tried to get to the academic center. Huge wastes of money and not having patients a at the center of that decision. So its vital. I think we need to accentuate u the ability to use telemedicine. Its not paid for. Its not compensate d. So people eat those costs. They assume those costs that help the patient, yes, but make it so its more difficult for them to provide the quality care necessary. Thank you. Another sbrsting topic that you should be fairly familiar with. A High Percentage of americans. Breast kacancer deaths are approximately one and a halftimes higher in africanamerican women. Prostate cancer deaths are two and a halftimes higher in africanamerican it men. New diagnosis of twice as high. I would love to hear your perspective on addressing the Health Disparities in communities of color specifically. This is really an important area. I appreciate you bringing it up. What we do so often in this and other areas is to say, okay, were going to set up this facility here or this agency here and we have taken care of the problem. What i dont think we do is look at whats happening on the ground. The metrics as well as we could or should. We ought to be defining specifically whether or not were improving the lives and health for individuals in challenged communities. And if were not, we need to step back and say what can we do to make certain it works. I learned a couple months ago i had the privilege of being at a clinic in atlanta and learned theres a zip code in atlanta within this metro area of atlanta that has incredible disparities in terms of their Health Outcomes and Health Status. Higher mortality, higher rates of diabetes, higher rate of stroke, and they are surrounded by Incredible Health care facilities. When we see those kinds of things, we need to drill down into those areas and say whats going on. Why is that happening and address it the real challenge on the ground opposed to saying, okay, we have taken care of it because now we have an agency thats addressed. We need better metrics and better accountability for whats going on. Im sure you talked at some length about Rare Diseases. I would love to perhaps submit some questions for the record to get your insight and perspective on how e we tack it l so many of those diseases moving forward. Look forward to that it, senator. Thank you. Thank you, senator scott. Senator murray . Thank you, mr. Chairman. Congressman price, i did want to clarify your response to one of my previous questions. You admitted to me in our meeting that you in your own words, talked with congressman collins about innate. This inspired you to, in your own words, study the company and purchase its stock. You did so without a broker. Yes or no . No. Without a broker . I did not. You told me that you did this it oun your own without the broker. No, i did it through a broker. I directed the broker to purchase the stock, but i did it through a broker. You directed the broker to purchase that stock . Thats correct. Mr. Chairman, those answers really commit me to underscore the need for a full independent investigation. I would like to ask consent to enter the record an article from keizer health news that it notes that congressman price was of r offered a lower stock price for sfis caughted investors. Thats an important part of the record. Will be included. Representative price, if you are confirmed as secretary of health and Human Services, you will be in charge of our nations Family Planning programs and policies. You have said that you dont think cost is an issue for women in buying Birth Control and stated, and i quote, bring me one woman who has been left behind. Bring me one. There is not one. You did say that. Correct . I think what i said, and what i minute, was that when i had patients in my office who were unable to afford medication, e we did everything we could to make certain that they got that medication. What i meant to capture in that conversation was that if there are individuals who are unable to afford that medication or any medication, there are avenues within the Health Care System that physicians and others take to make certain that it individuals receive the medication they need. Let me tell you about my constituent shannon. Shannon has a Common Health condition impacting women. She said, and i quote, no copay Birth Control is an essential tool helping women like me with endo meet owe sis. So no copay Birth Control was extremely important to her. Shes just one. Women are deeply concerned about the impact this election could have on their access to health care. I have heard from many of them. And according to planned parenthood, demand for iuds, which is a form of longterm contraception, is up 900 since the election. I want to ask you will you commit to ensuring all 18fda approved methods of contraception continue to be covered so women do not have to go back to paying extra costs for Birth Control . What i will commit to and assure that it women and all americans need to know that we believe strong thily that every single american ought to have access to the care they want. Thats our commitment. That run as across the board. Birth control is an essential part of Womens Health care. If you are confirmed, i will be holding you accountable for that. I also wanted to ask you. Im deeply concerned about the impact of your policies would have on women, and in particular women who often face barriers to access in the health care they need. According to hhs data since the aca became law, the percentage of black women who report not having a regular doctor dropped by nearly 30 . While that measure for latinas fell 25 . Your Health Care Repeal bill and your Budget Proposal to cut a trillion dollars from medicaid would disproportionately hurt women of color further compounding disparities and access to health care and undoing progress made in the Affordable Care act. Are you committed to ensuring that women of color maintain access to quality affordable medicare . I dont agree with the premise. The program that i support and the president supports is to make certain that every individual has access to the coverage that they want. Nobody want. S individuals to not have the opportunity to see the doctors that they want, to get the care they want, at a price thats affordable. Thats what we believe in. I hope that it well be able to Work Together to achieve that it goal. The office of Minority Health was reauthorized as part of the aca. So will you commit to maintaining and supporting this office and its work . I will commit to be certain that minorities in this country are treated in a way that makes absolutely certain they have access to the highest quality care. You will not commit to the health maintained . I think its important that e we think about the patient at the center of all this. My commitment to you is to make certain that minority patients and all patients have access but in particular, you wont commit . Look, there are different ways to handle things. I cant commit to you to do something in a department that, one, im not in. But you will be. Let me put forward a possible position that i might find myself in. The individuals within the Department Come to me and say we have a great idea for being able to greater efficiencies within the department itself and it results in merging this agency and that agency and well call it something else. Well address the issues of Minority Health. I just have a minute left. Youre not committed. One final question. As youre aware that black, lati latina, alaskan natives almost twice as likely as white people to be covered under medicaid . Do you think its responsible to propose cutting trillions of funding without a credible alternative to replace it for those . I disagree with the premise. The solution that we have would ensure that every single american, regardless of their Health Status and economic status, have the ability financially feasibility to purchase the kind of coverage they want. I have a few seconds left. As you can see, we have members here who also have additional questions. I am deeply troubled by a a number of responses. We have a lot of families who are very, very, very concerned since this election what will happen to them personally. We have outloined some of those and i hope that congressman price, as we will have a significant number of questions from our colleagues that you submit them for the record. Thank you. Thank you, senator murray. Dr. Price, i want to thank you for being here. I only have a few comments. I dont have additional questions. I was reflecting back on sylvias appearance before this committee and how impressed i was with her appearance. I think you have done wz well. Also her performance in the job because while i disagree with the number of policies shes taken, shes gone out of her way to adopt the same tone that ive heard from you today. Which is to try to accept and work with people with different points of view and see if we can come to a consensus. So i thank you for that and im impressed with your beginning and i appreciate your being here today. Based upon the figures i have, you have just endoured the most extensive questioning of any secretary of health and Human Services since 1993. Because of the round of questioning, in the hearing for two hours and ten minutes. Daschle for two skmours ten minutes. I dont have it for two others. You have been here nearly four. Next tuesday youll go before the finance committee, which will vote on whether you go forward to the president. Im very hopeful that your e tone will help us come to a conclusion and a consensus in this it very important area of providing concrete Practical Alternatives to give americans access to health care they can afford. I was reflecting last night on the hearing and today. They have been pretty testy. We often have strong opinions here because we have differences of opinions. I think thats a reflection of, one, the election over the past year, which became very uncivil. More so than i liked. And republicans can take our share of the blame for that. But also this issue, which for six years we have been going at it like the hatfields and mccoys until almost we forgotten who killed who in the first place and we dont know were not clear what were fighting about. So it would take a bedside manner such as you have to lower the temperature, as senator kane suggested. He and 12 democrats wrote a letter suggesting they were willing to work with republicans as we go forward. I think it will take a little while to lower that temperature just because we have spent six years as hatfields and mccoys, but im committed to trying. Thats the way e we usually work in the committee. And id like to get away from the testiness of last night and. Today and back toward the way we have learned to work. A couple other things. I hope those watchesing are reassured. What i heard from you, i believe im correct about this, is while we intend to repair the damage of obamacare and that would mean repealing parts of it, major parts of it, that that wont become effective until there are concrete alternatives in place to give americans access to health care. In other words, you said we dont want to pull the rug out from anybody. Im sure thats a shared view. You have talked to some about s. One thing we have to Work Together on is the individual market and for the kounties theres already just one insurer for people with obamacare subsidies and we dont want to get in a situation this year or 2018 as i said its like having a bus ticket in a town with no buses. So we may have to do things on both sides of the aisles to assure to build into the market to hopefully by insurance for more than one person. I think its also clear that the timing has yet to be resolved and the consequencecy is part of it. How do we get to where we want to go . We get to work pleadimmediately what i call a collapsing bridge, work to build new bridges and close the old bridge only when we have new bridges up. I think we can make decisions on the new ridges in a relatively short period of time. Weve been working on this for years, we have our opinions and ought to be able to sit in a room and come to a conclusion, it will take years to implement because in many cases it will be transferring responsibilities to states and consumers will want to do that after talking to governors and commissioners have states can except their legislatures sometimes they only meet every two years so making decisions promptly, making them together if we possibly can and then implementing it step by step and carefully so that people are able to have access to lower cost insurance is what i hope i heard today. And one other thing, senator cassidy, senator whitehouse, maybe all of us worked very hard i know senator murray did as wul on trying to deal with the Electronic Health care records and meaningful use. And vander belt was an early adopter of it. They said stage one was very helpful. Stage two they could deal with and stage three was terrifying. And i hoped we could delay stage three and thought it could be as simple as saying to the physicians and providers of the world look, if youre a doc and spending 50 of your time filling out forms then were doing something wrong or youre doing something wrong and lets Work Together to get that down to a manageable level where physicians and providers can spend their time talking instead of typing so you have a bipartisan consensus here to work on that. We had six hearings last year on the subject and invite you to work with us if confirmed to complete that. Senators wish to ask additional questions of our nominee. Questions for the record are due by friday, january 20th, the hearing may open for ten days and submit questions at that time. Next session is january 24th. Thank you for being here. This hearing will be adjourned. Almost four hours of testimony from tom price the next secretary of health and Human Services. Tough questioning especially from several of the democrats including the rank democrats, murray, sanders, and whether he violated ethics rules by purchasing stock and getting involved in legislation that could have potentially helped that stock. Thats right. There was a book several years ago called extortion who went on to write clinton cash, how often members would learn things through their job and make money off that knowledge. There was a bill subsequently called the stock act but it had to prove insider trading, it didnt actually ban members of congress dealing in stocks that they have oversight over. Manu raju talked about this medical device that was roughly about 2,000 which is how much much money tom price might have made. It was some oversight his committee had, theres a difference between whats legal and whats ethical and tom price said he did nothing illegal. As they continue to try to drain the swamp this will be an issue to voters not to just congressman price but possibly the secretary of health and Human Services should they will allowed to traffic in and make money on trade stocks if they have oversight over those stocks and getting information that maybe the rest of the public wouldnt know. All seemed very representative to price for the republicans and others unexceptive but looks like hes well on his way to getting confirmed. A lot are party line votes but make no mistake senators warren, made a of illegal practices, i dont think it will stick but they really did try to ma making wounds. Breaking news on the health of former president w. H. Bush. Well take a quick break and well be right back. Good afternoon Everyone Welcome to our special coverage of president ba obamas last vie in washington. Were breaking away from our coverage of Donald Trumps nominees on capitol hill because in just a few minutes we will see president barack obama emerge to take questions from reporters as final time as president of the United States, before this transition at noon on friday. The president will be leaving the white house with an Approval Rating only a few selec