Transcripts For CSPAN Washington Journal Representative Mich

This is an important topic. Beneath the surface, the concept of improving our Nations Health care continues to move forward. That is where our committee will be front and center. The secret, im a physician in my former life. I came to congress to affect improvements in the Nations Health care system. The Affordable Care act to come along in the middle of that. Systemare left with a that bill kristol bill clinton described as a crazy system where people are paying a lot more in getting a heck of a lot less. I think we can do better. That is the focus of the subcommittee. No secret that i have had my ideals on how to reform the Healthcare System throughout the years. My role as subcommittee chair does change things. It is now my obligation to bring forward those ideas at the subCommittee Level. Well have a markup later on this morning on a couple of small bills to change some things in the medicaid system which i think are good, common sense changes. Will have a variety of roles like that we will have a variety of bills like that. What im hearing from the president and speaker is we will have a reconciliation bill which will begin to set the clock on something that follows the Affordable Care act. Four bills were heard in the Committee Last week. Is your Committee Going to be the Main Committee by which this legislation to overhaul the Affordable Care act guest you are asking me . Absolutely. We are the center of the universe. We do medicaid, part b of medicare. Some of the insurance policies. We dont do taxes so ways and means will do the tax part of the formal care act. Hasation and labor responsibility for the employersponsored health plans. There is a division of labor on the outside. A little bit over on the senate side. Committee. Finance our subcommittee will be one of the main places where this debate occurs. Guest we have heard repeal and replace obamacare for so long. Now we are hearing the pairing. What is your vision . Still very much in the mode of repeal and replace. My role does change a little bit being subcommittee chair. If we had had this discussion a year ago or even a few months ago, what is the most important thing that i could see happen in our Health Care System from a federal perspective, that would be get rid of the individual mandate. That is the freedom killing part of the formal care act. Americans dont like to be told what they have to do. The mere fact that we had to be told what we had to buy, people back home were upset by that. I still think the individual mandate is at some point, whether it is by administrative action or legislative action, needs to go away. When people talk to me about becoming obamacare, that is the essential feature. Do i want to see changes in the essential benefits role . You bet i do. Am i worried about the center for medicare and Medicaid Innovation and its ability to control all of the activities related to Health Care Spending in this country . You bet i am. I also have to take a step back and recognize that my responsibility as chair is we have to deliver a product. We have to be comfortable with the product. We have to have something that will not just when the subcommittee just win the subcommittee but has to get through the senate. Host we heard the president outlined a timeline for this process. How long do you envision all that . Guest the reconciliation part the opening start of this will occur within the month. The parts in motion for whatever will happen next. Again, am i worried about the country using the individual mandate . I think that would be a good thing. There are going to be other. Arts of that bill to be sure i expect to embrace all of those other parts of the reconciliation bill. Here is the other thing, and the reason the repair has begun to creep into peoples language, when you come on the scene right now, people were complaining about it last year. Donald trump had a big rally in pennsylvania. People were upset. If it were working that well, we probably would not be having this discussion. Part of my role becomes what is the real risk to people right now as far as Health Care Coverage . The risk is the destabilization caused by the Obama Administration of the insurance market, particularly in the individual market. If i were to focus on one thing on the Committee Level where i want to provide stability for the individual market, i want to provide relief for the consumer. Yes i listen to what doctors tell me as well. It would be that place, stabilize the individual market as one of the first steps. If we dont do that, that is where people are at risk of losing their coverage. It is not because of some bill a republican might pass. It is right here and now, the problems with the Insurance Industry because of the destabilization caused by the Obama Administration when they began to fund the cost sharing reduction payments out of the general revenue without an appropriation. It caused a lawsuit. The Obama Administration said we would never get standing, we did. All of that has come to a crisis point and Insurance Companies are correctly saying, we need some kind of sign there will be stability. The administration is likely to provide that. They are places for congress to participate. That is the first order of business. When some one talks to me about repair, that is what i am thinking about. Host we want to hear from you. The phone lines are open. Will start on the line for independents. Good morning. Caller i think the reality is when we are looking at the Insurance Companies, they are adding between 20 and 50 according to my research to the price we are paying. In all due respect, we need a National Health care program. My partner went to the doctor to have an injury taking care of in 65,000. Der, the American People can no longer afford this kind of thing. We need National Healthcare along the lines of the veterans administration. The already have that in place. Any other discussion it seems to me is really supporting the economics of the industry, the pharmaceutical industry and the insurance agencies. We need to take care of the people. They need to be the primarily reality test the primary reality and they cannot afford care in this nation. Telemann, thank you. Gentlemen, thank you. Guest and observation here i you have had a situation the past eight years where a significant amount of federal dollars have flowed into the Health Care System and where has become less expensive . The economics just him work. Economics just dont work. Honestly, when i think of medical care, whether it be as a patient or a member of my family , it really is a very individualized process. The bigger you make the government in this equation, i think it is to the detriment of the individual. Host pennsylvania is next. Caller thank you for cspan. Good morning. I wanted to ask the representative, i wanted to mention i agree with the last caller. If the Affordable Care act requires people to participate in some way, and he is against that, woody be against this would he be against the requirement vote the public to participate in Public School systems . But it have any children am required to pay school tax for my entire life. Do you think that i should be up to opt out of that . Your school taxes paid at a local level. I dont know about pennsylvania. Texas doesnt have a state school tax. Is a local tax. It is levied at the local level. There are many parts of the health care that i would argue for, let us move from a centralized federal control and lets engage our state partners. One of the most impressive days in Health Care Policies that yearseen in the last 14 was the day before inauguration day. We had around tables on the senate side and how side with and house side with governors could have never seen so much energy surrounding Health Care Policies. State. N the we have been suppressing those. One of the governors said when you started the Affordable Care , why didneral terms you not include governors . Governors have a big footprint as far as providing health care to their citizens. Why were the governors left out . That another governor suggests, we get all these rules out of the department of health and Human Services, maybe you should have a panel of governors to tells you to tell you whether or not a rule is reasonable before you promulgated promulgate it. Host what are your thoughts on senators cassidy and collins bill that they put forward to keep all the parts of the Affordable Care act. Guest the difficulty is most of that has come at the national level. I wont say that should not be a part of the discussion. I have a lot of respect for senator cassidy. He and i serve on the committee together when he was in the house. He is a physician as i am. I think senator cassidy is ideas. Has good i am willing to talk to senator cassidy about his ideas, but am concerned about if you dont get rid of the individual mandate or do something to the essential health benefits, were modeling around the edges and i am not sure were going to get to where we want to go. The cost of health care is a concern of mine. I dont think we are moving in the right direction by pumping federal dollars into the system. The system works what does it come down to . Who controls access. I want patients to control access. I want the patients to participate with their physicians. I dont want the hospital controlling access. I dont want the Insurance Company controlling access. Host a call from dallas, texas. Good morning. Caller good morning. Yes, mr. Burgess, i have a question. I believe to begin with, have a statement. I think that all of the people are you there . Guest yes i am. Caller i think everyone should be covered and they could all go to the doctor. We should have one insurance for all the people. Gentleman. First moneyed to know, how much you and the Republican Party have in the Insurance Companies and medical facilities . That is my main question. Thank you. Disclosureinancial is available locally for anyone to see. I like to report that my holdings are vast but unfortunately they are not. Someown some stocks in medical oriented things . Of course i do. You buy what you know. If i were in the telecommunications business, i suspect that is how my stock purchases would have gone through my career. I had an ira and they tend to be medical oriented. The holdings are not vast host . Vast. Host pennsylvania, good morning. Caller ive had a lot of insurers throughout my life. The last time i remember nixon trying to help us with insurance, winded up with hmos. Hello. Guest wasnt that a great thing you go great thing . Caller we ended up with the hmos and you could not get a flu shot under that protection. That is a lattice a. That is all i have to say. Got to be careful what you wish for. Host newark, delaware. Go ahead. Caller congressman, i am curious about all of the rules that have come up under obamacare. An addition there is, we are restricted from prescribing jugs because wetain drugs are winning patients off of other drugs. Guess we are weaning patients off of other drugs. Democrats put on different insurances, what do you say about when you make these new laws or improve it about taking bureaucrats out of it and letting doctors do their jobs . Guest i am in favor of what you want. There were some 1400 rules that have come out of health and Human Services related to the Affordable Care act. Honestly, a new administration, yes we are working on things in the energy and commerce committee. Simultaneously to that, once the two once the head of health and Human Services is heated, there will be a great deal of scrutiny of the number of roles that have come forward and rules that affect this individuals practice with addiction specialties. It is orthopedics, ob gyn. Rules of come down through the federal agency that sometimes dont seem to make good sense. They dont seem to be based on realworld experience is. Governory one suggested yet to put a panel of governors together. It sounded like a pretty good idea. Host under repealed and replace efforts, jody wants to know how do you plan to play for those debts paid for those who will lose their doctor . Paid for those who will lose their doctor . Guest the idea is no one will lose their doctor. The informal came online in 2013 in somebody we all had to do something. I had a Health Savings account which i lost because the president told me ahead junk insurance and it wasnt acceptable. I cannot take a special deal that was special to congress. I buy on price, the cheapest. Let me get in for the lowest dollar cost possible. I didnt look to see whether any doctors i knew were covered on the plan, because honestly, with a 6,000 deductible, i would probablys and all the money i was spend i was spent on the premium. If i couldnt fix it myself, i would just died. A lot of people have that mindset. We talked about people who have coverage, but they may have an insurance card that they dont feel like to have access to care. The question that you asked, held are you going to cover the cost . The idea would be you keep people seeing their doctor and a clinic setting where it is far less expensive and you dont drive them to the emergency room. That you wanton care to be livered in the to be delivered in the least costly setting. Host has that increased since the Affordable Care act . Guest ive seen some studies that it has. Not sure i can cite you chapter and verse. Do bear in mind since 1988 in this country, there have been a set of federal laws called the emergency medical treatment and labor act, where if you go to the emergency room, yet be seen and stabilized within 30 minutes. When i was in practice, if i got a call from my physician about someone in labor or pregnant who had a problem, there was no argument or discussion. I had 30 minutes to get there and render an opinion. I knew that. Most physicians do behave that way. It is an inefficient way of delivering care. There are plenty of those cases where had the ability to say so if i had the ability to say so, i would have the patient so up at 8 00 and see her first. You dont have the option. Host 10 minutes left with congressman burgess. Mclean, virginia. Caller good morning. Question. Women in rural areas are dying faster than they did in the 1900s. Rate women by 48 higher than women of color. If you say we leave this to the governors to provide health care for their people, they are not doing it now. If their Political Party is against health care at the detriment of their own people, what makes you think that the governors will protect their people when they are not doing t now second of all guest because the governors are you think it is difficult to interact with the governor, i promise it is difficult to interact with your federal government. Concern about increasing mortality rates very real and i dont know that we here in washington have a good handle on that. I have talked to several state leaders who have offered some observations. I disagree with the notion that your governor is not going to care about your health care at a local level. I think your governor are more likely to care because they are closer to the problem. That is how this country was set up. Correct . Caller i respectfully disagree because the party is not on with that program, they are going to be against it. My second question is if we can afford to educate, train and provide housing for known terrorists and enemies, we can afford to help americans in need. Guest i dont disagree. The president probably agrees as well. Host tempe, arizona, go ahead. Caller good morning. I thank you for taking the call. Something that people should be made aware of is all these discussions about insurance, that 99 of the people have no idea what their insurance actually covers. What they see in their brochures, what they see in their contracts that they sign at home do not explain that the law requires Insurance Companies to cover. In order to know which are Insurance Companies cover, you have to mail and write them and document. Ur plan your Plan Document is required by law, if you write and request it. If they dont provide your Plan Document within 30 days, they are find. They are fined. It explains what is covered by law for your Insurance Company. I used to sell 25 a month Health Insurance which covered nothing. T was phony people who claimed they cant stand the current costs are that these government established which anyone would ask for. That is the expenses of the art. It is not the Obama Administration or the aca that is caused the prices to go up or Insurance Companies believe, it is the profit motive that is caused Insurance Companies to abandon some of their exchanges. They dont like the profits that they normally would be making. The largest insurance my state is a nonprofit. Respect this individual has sold insurance and has knowledge. Bout the policies are written certainly a state Nations Health<\/a> care continues to move forward. That is where our committee will be front and center. The secret, im a physician in my former life. I came to congress to affect improvements in the Nations Health<\/a> care system. The Affordable Care<\/a> act to come along in the middle of that. Systemare left with a that bill kristol bill clinton described as a crazy system where people are paying a lot more in getting a heck of a lot less. I think we can do better. That is the focus of the subcommittee. No secret that i have had my ideals on how to reform the Healthcare System<\/a> throughout the years. My role as subcommittee chair does change things. It is now my obligation to bring forward those ideas at the subCommittee Level<\/a>. Well have a markup later on this morning on a couple of small bills to change some things in the medicaid system which i think are good, common sense changes. Will have a variety of roles like that we will have a variety of bills like that. What im hearing from the president and speaker is we will have a reconciliation bill which will begin to set the clock on something that follows the Affordable Care<\/a> act. Four bills were heard in the Committee Last<\/a> week. Is your Committee Going<\/a> to be the Main Committee<\/a> by which this legislation to overhaul the Affordable Care<\/a> act guest you are asking me . Absolutely. We are the center of the universe. We do medicaid, part b of medicare. Some of the insurance policies. We dont do taxes so ways and means will do the tax part of the formal care act. Hasation and labor responsibility for the employersponsored health plans. There is a division of labor on the outside. A little bit over on the senate side. Committee. Finance our subcommittee will be one of the main places where this debate occurs. Guest we have heard repeal and replace obamacare for so long. Now we are hearing the pairing. What is your vision . Still very much in the mode of repeal and replace. My role does change a little bit being subcommittee chair. If we had had this discussion a year ago or even a few months ago, what is the most important thing that i could see happen in our Health Care System<\/a> from a federal perspective, that would be get rid of the individual mandate. That is the freedom killing part of the formal care act. Americans dont like to be told what they have to do. The mere fact that we had to be told what we had to buy, people back home were upset by that. I still think the individual mandate is at some point, whether it is by administrative action or legislative action, needs to go away. When people talk to me about becoming obamacare, that is the essential feature. Do i want to see changes in the essential benefits role . You bet i do. Am i worried about the center for medicare and Medicaid Innovation<\/a> and its ability to control all of the activities related to Health Care Spending<\/a> in this country . You bet i am. I also have to take a step back and recognize that my responsibility as chair is we have to deliver a product. We have to be comfortable with the product. We have to have something that will not just when the subcommittee just win the subcommittee but has to get through the senate. Host we heard the president outlined a timeline for this process. How long do you envision all that . Guest the reconciliation part the opening start of this will occur within the month. The parts in motion for whatever will happen next. Again, am i worried about the country using the individual mandate . I think that would be a good thing. There are going to be other. Arts of that bill to be sure i expect to embrace all of those other parts of the reconciliation bill. Here is the other thing, and the reason the repair has begun to creep into peoples language, when you come on the scene right now, people were complaining about it last year. Donald trump had a big rally in pennsylvania. People were upset. If it were working that well, we probably would not be having this discussion. Part of my role becomes what is the real risk to people right now as far as Health Care Coverage<\/a> . The risk is the destabilization caused by the Obama Administration<\/a> of the insurance market, particularly in the individual market. If i were to focus on one thing on the Committee Level<\/a> where i want to provide stability for the individual market, i want to provide relief for the consumer. Yes i listen to what doctors tell me as well. It would be that place, stabilize the individual market as one of the first steps. If we dont do that, that is where people are at risk of losing their coverage. It is not because of some bill a republican might pass. It is right here and now, the problems with the Insurance Industry<\/a> because of the destabilization caused by the Obama Administration<\/a> when they began to fund the cost sharing reduction payments out of the general revenue without an appropriation. It caused a lawsuit. The Obama Administration<\/a> said we would never get standing, we did. All of that has come to a crisis point and Insurance Companies<\/a> are correctly saying, we need some kind of sign there will be stability. The administration is likely to provide that. They are places for congress to participate. That is the first order of business. When some one talks to me about repair, that is what i am thinking about. Host we want to hear from you. The phone lines are open. Will start on the line for independents. Good morning. Caller i think the reality is when we are looking at the Insurance Companies<\/a>, they are adding between 20 and 50 according to my research to the price we are paying. In all due respect, we need a National Health<\/a> care program. My partner went to the doctor to have an injury taking care of in 65,000. Der, the American People<\/a> can no longer afford this kind of thing. We need National Health<\/a>care along the lines of the veterans administration. The already have that in place. Any other discussion it seems to me is really supporting the economics of the industry, the pharmaceutical industry and the insurance agencies. We need to take care of the people. They need to be the primarily reality test the primary reality and they cannot afford care in this nation. Telemann, thank you. Gentlemen, thank you. Guest and observation here i you have had a situation the past eight years where a significant amount of federal dollars have flowed into the Health Care System<\/a> and where has become less expensive . The economics just him work. Economics just dont work. Honestly, when i think of medical care, whether it be as a patient or a member of my family , it really is a very individualized process. The bigger you make the government in this equation, i think it is to the detriment of the individual. Host pennsylvania is next. Caller thank you for cspan. Good morning. I wanted to ask the representative, i wanted to mention i agree with the last caller. If the Affordable Care<\/a> act requires people to participate in some way, and he is against that, woody be against this would he be against the requirement vote the public to participate in Public School<\/a> systems . But it have any children am required to pay school tax for my entire life. Do you think that i should be up to opt out of that . Your school taxes paid at a local level. I dont know about pennsylvania. Texas doesnt have a state school tax. Is a local tax. It is levied at the local level. There are many parts of the health care that i would argue for, let us move from a centralized federal control and lets engage our state partners. One of the most impressive days in Health Care Policies<\/a> that yearseen in the last 14 was the day before inauguration day. We had around tables on the senate side and how side with and house side with governors could have never seen so much energy surrounding Health Care Policies<\/a>. State. N the we have been suppressing those. One of the governors said when you started the Affordable Care<\/a> , why didneral terms you not include governors . Governors have a big footprint as far as providing health care to their citizens. Why were the governors left out . That another governor suggests, we get all these rules out of the department of health and Human Services<\/a>, maybe you should have a panel of governors to tells you to tell you whether or not a rule is reasonable before you promulgated promulgate it. Host what are your thoughts on senators cassidy and collins bill that they put forward to keep all the parts of the Affordable Care<\/a> act. Guest the difficulty is most of that has come at the national level. I wont say that should not be a part of the discussion. I have a lot of respect for senator cassidy. He and i serve on the committee together when he was in the house. He is a physician as i am. I think senator cassidy is ideas. Has good i am willing to talk to senator cassidy about his ideas, but am concerned about if you dont get rid of the individual mandate or do something to the essential health benefits, were modeling around the edges and i am not sure were going to get to where we want to go. The cost of health care is a concern of mine. I dont think we are moving in the right direction by pumping federal dollars into the system. The system works what does it come down to . Who controls access. I want patients to control access. I want the patients to participate with their physicians. I dont want the hospital controlling access. I dont want the Insurance Company<\/a> controlling access. Host a call from dallas, texas. Good morning. Caller good morning. Yes, mr. Burgess, i have a question. I believe to begin with, have a statement. I think that all of the people are you there . Guest yes i am. Caller i think everyone should be covered and they could all go to the doctor. We should have one insurance for all the people. Gentleman. First moneyed to know, how much you and the Republican Party<\/a> have in the Insurance Companies<\/a> and medical facilities . That is my main question. Thank you. Disclosureinancial is available locally for anyone to see. I like to report that my holdings are vast but unfortunately they are not. Someown some stocks in medical oriented things . Of course i do. You buy what you know. If i were in the telecommunications business, i suspect that is how my stock purchases would have gone through my career. I had an ira and they tend to be medical oriented. The holdings are not vast host . Vast. Host pennsylvania, good morning. Caller ive had a lot of insurers throughout my life. The last time i remember nixon trying to help us with insurance, winded up with hmos. Hello. Guest wasnt that a great thing you go great thing . Caller we ended up with the hmos and you could not get a flu shot under that protection. That is a lattice a. That is all i have to say. Got to be careful what you wish for. Host newark, delaware. Go ahead. Caller congressman, i am curious about all of the rules that have come up under obamacare. An addition there is, we are restricted from prescribing jugs because wetain drugs are winning patients off of other drugs. Guess we are weaning patients off of other drugs. Democrats put on different insurances, what do you say about when you make these new laws or improve it about taking bureaucrats out of it and letting doctors do their jobs . Guest i am in favor of what you want. There were some 1400 rules that have come out of health and Human Services<\/a> related to the Affordable Care<\/a> act. Honestly, a new administration, yes we are working on things in the energy and commerce committee. Simultaneously to that, once the two once the head of health and Human Services<\/a> is heated, there will be a great deal of scrutiny of the number of roles that have come forward and rules that affect this individuals practice with addiction specialties. It is orthopedics, ob gyn. Rules of come down through the federal agency that sometimes dont seem to make good sense. They dont seem to be based on realworld experience is. Governory one suggested yet to put a panel of governors together. It sounded like a pretty good idea. Host under repealed and replace efforts, jody wants to know how do you plan to play for those debts paid for those who will lose their doctor . Paid for those who will lose their doctor . Guest the idea is no one will lose their doctor. The informal came online in 2013 in somebody we all had to do something. I had a Health Savings<\/a> account which i lost because the president told me ahead junk insurance and it wasnt acceptable. I cannot take a special deal that was special to congress. I buy on price, the cheapest. Let me get in for the lowest dollar cost possible. I didnt look to see whether any doctors i knew were covered on the plan, because honestly, with a 6,000 deductible, i would probablys and all the money i was spend i was spent on the premium. If i couldnt fix it myself, i would just died. A lot of people have that mindset. We talked about people who have coverage, but they may have an insurance card that they dont feel like to have access to care. The question that you asked, held are you going to cover the cost . The idea would be you keep people seeing their doctor and a clinic setting where it is far less expensive and you dont drive them to the emergency room. That you wanton care to be livered in the to be delivered in the least costly setting. Host has that increased since the Affordable Care<\/a> act . Guest ive seen some studies that it has. Not sure i can cite you chapter and verse. Do bear in mind since 1988 in this country, there have been a set of federal laws called the emergency medical treatment and labor act, where if you go to the emergency room, yet be seen and stabilized within 30 minutes. When i was in practice, if i got a call from my physician about someone in labor or pregnant who had a problem, there was no argument or discussion. I had 30 minutes to get there and render an opinion. I knew that. Most physicians do behave that way. It is an inefficient way of delivering care. There are plenty of those cases where had the ability to say so if i had the ability to say so, i would have the patient so up at 8 00 and see her first. You dont have the option. Host 10 minutes left with congressman burgess. Mclean, virginia. Caller good morning. Question. Women in rural areas are dying faster than they did in the 1900s. Rate women by 48 higher than women of color. If you say we leave this to the governors to provide health care for their people, they are not doing it now. If their Political Party<\/a> is against health care at the detriment of their own people, what makes you think that the governors will protect their people when they are not doing t now second of all guest because the governors are you think it is difficult to interact with the governor, i promise it is difficult to interact with your federal government. Concern about increasing mortality rates very real and i dont know that we here in washington have a good handle on that. I have talked to several state leaders who have offered some observations. I disagree with the notion that your governor is not going to care about your health care at a local level. I think your governor are more likely to care because they are closer to the problem. That is how this country was set up. Correct . Caller i respectfully disagree because the party is not on with that program, they are going to be against it. My second question is if we can afford to educate, train and provide housing for known terrorists and enemies, we can afford to help americans in need. Guest i dont disagree. The president probably agrees as well. Host tempe, arizona, go ahead. Caller good morning. I thank you for taking the call. Something that people should be made aware of is all these discussions about insurance, that 99 of the people have no idea what their insurance actually covers. What they see in their brochures, what they see in their contracts that they sign at home do not explain that the law requires Insurance Companies<\/a> to cover. In order to know which are Insurance Companies<\/a> cover, you have to mail and write them and document. Ur plan your Plan Document<\/a> is required by law, if you write and request it. If they dont provide your Plan Document<\/a> within 30 days, they are find. They are fined. It explains what is covered by law for your Insurance Company<\/a>. I used to sell 25 a month Health Insurance<\/a> which covered nothing. T was phony people who claimed they cant stand the current costs are that these government established which anyone would ask for. That is the expenses of the art. It is not the Obama Administration<\/a> or the aca that is caused the prices to go up or Insurance Companies<\/a> believe, it is the profit motive that is caused Insurance Companies<\/a> to abandon some of their exchanges. They dont like the profits that they normally would be making. The largest insurance my state is a nonprofit. Respect this individual has sold insurance and has knowledge. Bout the policies are written certainly a state Insurance Commissioners<\/a> should never allow a product that the german first reference, should be allowed to be sold in the state. They are regulations that prohibit that. My understanding, no one can sell an insurance policy in the state unless the state commissioner of insurance grants them a license to do that. I do want our state commissioners of insurance to be the guardians at the gate, because they are the ones who are closest to the people, allowing insurance policies that the gentleman described, i dont know. I never bought and a policy like that bought a policy like that. If i am stipulating that he is accurate in what he is saying, it should never be permitted by the state. Host tim is in myrtle beach. Go ahead. Caller good morning cspan. I have a question for the is it true that obama took 700 billion out of medicare, and i am retired, i am on a fixed income and it was my understanding what i got to medicare that i have already paid for it. If you could answer that for me, i would appreciate it. Guest you pay for a lot of it, but not all of it. , itway the law was written covers your physician business visits, Medicare Part<\/a> b was supposed to be supported 50 by premium dollars. Somewhere that got changed because the premiums were going up so rapidly. 25 if you are part b, that you pay every year. Themium goes to cover other 75 comes at a general revenue. That is with the statement comes from that for every dollar of care that you get in medicare, as someone else supplies is applying three of those dollars. Required to pay a payroll tax as we all are, as you start working, and that payroll tax, unlike seas social security, there is no a burning limit. It is paid throughout your working life, so he is correct and that he has paid for part of the coverage, and he has not paid for all of it. We have discussions around how to keep medicare solvent. Discussions, and we need to have a clear understanding of how the system actually works. The other part of his question, did the Affordable Care<\/a> act take money out of medicare and the answer is yes. It was a concern and it will be difficult to restore those dollars. Host we are running out of time, but we wanted to ask, you mentioned your constituents back home. One of them is the new secretary of state, rex tillerson. Guest yes, congratulations, congratulations, rex. He is part of the same he is from the same part of texas i am from. Host what do you think his biggest challenge is going to be . Guest the world is a very unsettled place right now. All of the new cabinet secretaries, i know he is the best and he is taking over a large bureaucracy. The total state Department Employment<\/a> is 40,000. ,hen you look at exxon mobil the total employment was 80,000. I think he is up to the task. He has managed a large, farflung organization that has locations all over the world. That mr. Optimistic tillerson is the right man for the job who will do a great job for the united states. Host michael burgess, chairman of the subcommittee on health. Always great to have you on. Up next, we continue our discussion about the confirmation vote for education secretary nominee betsy devos. A question for our viewers, should the Senate Confirm<\/a> her . Republicans, democrats, independents and teachers. We will send our viewers back to the floor where Richard Blumenthal<\/a> of the of connecticut is holding the chamber. Impervious to the emotional force of the tragedies arising from gun violence. I want to share a passage from a column written by my friend, the daughter of don lafferty. They were the her rug principle of the sandy hook Elementary School<\/a>, murdered at the massacre as she desperately attempted to save her students and staff. Life, my mom spent her preparing to take care of students. Education a degree in , she spent years in a classroom teaching special education for kindergartners and middle schoolers. By the time she became a principle of sandy hook, she knew exactly what Elementary School<\/a> should be, a happy place for kids, where they could learn and grow in a safe environment. The claim that she should have done more to take care of her kids is an insult to all that she did. To the links to which so many teachers go to ensure a good and Safe Learning<\/a> environment, that thinks proves just how little she thinks of the importance of the role of the education secretary in keeping students and faculty safe. Teachersulting to tell that they should add sharpshooting to their job description. It is absurd to teach students to duck and cover in active shooter drills, rather than demanding our legislators do the responsible thing and make it more difficult for dangerous","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia802909.us.archive.org\/20\/items\/CSPAN_20170207_123300_Washington_Journal_Representative_Michael_Burgess_R-TX\/CSPAN_20170207_123300_Washington_Journal_Representative_Michael_Burgess_R-TX.thumbs\/CSPAN_20170207_123300_Washington_Journal_Representative_Michael_Burgess_R-TX_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240627T12:35:10+00:00"}