criteria, i have the right to have that coverage under the law. when you move to a block grant, you remove the right and make it a possibility, subject to whatever funding there s going to be. do you recognize that in doing so, you risk the potential of millions of americans who presently enjoy health care coverage through medicaid no longer having that right? i think it s important to appreciate that no system that any that the president has supported or that i have supported would leave anybody without the opportunity to gain coverage. that s not my question. so let me reiterate my question. medicaid under the law, as it exists today, is a right. is that not the case, yes or no? it s an entitlement. and as an entitlement, doesn t that mean that you have the right, if you meet the criteria one is eligible. meaning you have a right. when you move to a block grant, do you still have the right? no.
care, mental health services, addiction services, and pediatric dental? what i can commit to you, senator, is that we will do all we can within the department, with the incredible knowledge and expertise that is there, to define whether or not the program is actually working as intended or not. if coverage equals care, in many instances, i would suggest that many folks right now have coverage, they ve got a card, but they don t have any care, because they can t afford the deductible that allows them to get the care. so we re committed to making certain that the program works not just for government, not just for the insurance companies, but for the patients. and as you know, we imined any co-pays on preventative care, but we can talk about the spefics going forward. i look forward to those discussions. thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, senator isakson. we re going to break away from the hearing, the senate finance committee for tom price to become the next secretary of health
will lose coverage under the executive order? i guarantee you that the individuals that lost coverage under the affordable care act, we will commit to making certain that they don t lose coverage under whatever replacement plan comes forward. that s the commitment i provide to you. dr. sanjay gupta is with us, as well. he s an expert on the affordable care act. sanjay, what s your understandingxecutive order that has now been signed by president trump, an initial step. the fear among the supporters of obamacare is it s more than just symbolic, it s going to hurt some folks. it s a little bit hard to fully understand what this executive order means, because it basically says there s authority now to remove any kind of burdens that the affordable care act may have placed in various sectors of our society. insurance wise, on patient care. but it didn t define, . i think a lot of that left is
as secretary of health and human services, we ll carry out the law you pass. i appreciate that. in your mind, though, does the repeal of the affordable care act include a repeal of the expansion of medicaid that was part of the passage of the affordable care act? any reform or improvement that i would envision for any portion of the affordable care act would be one that would include an opportunity for individuals to gain coverage, the kind of coverage, again, they want to the highest quality health care. that s not the question i ask. i apologize, mr. chairman, i realize i m at the end of my time. do you believe a repeal i mean, this is what the president ran on repeal of the affordable care act includes the repeal of the expansion of medicaid that was a fundamental part of the affordable care act? again, that s a decision you alley would make. that s true. what i believe is any reform or improvement must include a coverage option and opportunity for every single ameri
s&p, i m told just put out about a month ago an update looking at the financial health of the health insurance companies in this country. as they have tried to figure out how to price this product, and it seems like, according to s&p believe it or not, they seem to have sort of figured it out, because the financial health of insurance commies has begun to stabilize. your reaction to this please. as i mentioned either in my opening or response to question, the principles of health care that all of us hold dear, affordability and accessibility and quality and choices for patients, i think are the things that we all embrace. the next step, how we get to accomplish and meet those goals and those principles, is where it takes work together to do so. the program that you outlined has much merit, whether it s making certain that individuals with pre-existing illness and disease are able to access coverage. whether it s the pulling