For millions of americans. Bending if not breaking promises mr. Trump has made. I want to keep preexisting conditions. I think we need it. But the house bill would allow states to opt out of rules which prohibit Insurance Companies from raising rates on people with preexisting conditions. Candidate trump promised there will be no cuts to social security, medicare and medicaid, but congress to the Congressional Budget Office analysis of the first version of the bill, federal funding for medicaid would drop by 880 billion over the next ten years. In january, president elect trump promised insurance for everybody, repeating a vow he made on the campaign trail. Im going to take care of everybody. I dont care if it costs me votes or not. But the Congressional Budget Office estimated 24 million would lose health care. The house bill eliminates the essential Health Benefits requirement. Meaning Insurance Companies could choose not to Cover Services like pediatric care. Mental health and prescription drugs. Even under employer based plans. Republicans say it will lower premiums overall. Youll have Better Health care at a lower cost. The bill also ends federal funding for planned parenthood. Republicans still have to wrestle a bill through the senate that house conservatives will accept. Some republican senators already say the house bill falls short. Dont supporter the bill as currently constructed and have more questions than answers. Now with 13 Member Senate working group will write a new bill. In the senate bill if you have a preexisting condition, youll be able to get insurance. In fact, that law cant be changed. And after this emotional plea no parent should ever have to decide if they can afford to save their childs life. With a child born with a congenital Heart Disease get everything he or she would need in the first year of life i wa pass. The democrats were taunting the republicans on the floor for other persons after the vote, the nonpartisan report changed the ratings of 20 seats to show new opportunities for democrats in the midterms and within an hour of the house vote, a democrat running for governor of virginia released this ad. Blaming republicans for crushing Affordable Care act. Well make sure that this happens in virginia. And joining me is the secretary of the health and Human Services, tom price. Thank you very much for being with us, mr. Secretary. Thank you for joining us. Thanks, andrea. Thank you so much. Good to be with you today. Well, good to be with you. Lets talk about the Health Care Bill as it was passed by the house. The president promised that he would take care of people with preexisting conditions. Critics say that this bill as passed by the house does not. No, i think its absolutely true that the president is fulfilling his promise to the American People and that is to make certain that american has access to the kind of coverage that they want for themselves and for their family. Not that the Government Forces them to buy. And makes certain that we insure that individuals with preexisting illnesses and injuries are covered but covered in a way that they want. Not that washington forces them. But youre talking about access. Access at what price . Are you pricing people out of the market . 84 of people 55 years and older according to your own departments studies have preexisting conditions. Are they going to be afford the price that is set because states can opt out and there will no longer be any requirement that this be affordable. Absolutely, we think it will be more affordable, andrea. But look at the people that were talking about. If you have medicare, if you have medicaid, if you have insurance through the v. A. Or tricare or othrough your employ or through your employer, none of this affects you in the preexisting illness or condition discussion that were having. If you have a preexisti Exchange Market right now, remember that many, many people have increasing premiums, increasing deductibles. Theyre in an area in this country where there are its either one insurer offering coverage or in some places some. Those are individuals who cant get any care at all. They may have an insurance card, but they cant get care. This is a system thats not working for patients and thats what were trying to fix. I didnt mean to interrupt you, but let me stipulate, there are areas we know that in iowa, now in virginia that there are Insurance Market issues. That could be fixed, but lets stipulate that that still needs to be fixed. But what about this issue of preexisting conditions . You have 22 Major Health Care groups. Were going to scroll the names, let our viewers see, 22 groups including the ama, the doctors, the American Lung association, the american osteopathic association, the academy of pediatrics, the Childrens Hospital association, the aarp, them are against the way that the house passed this bill. Are they wrong . Well, what i believe theyre not recognizing is that this is a different and we believe a better way to cover individuals with preexisting illnesses and injuries because it allows for every Single Person to get access to the coverage that they want. Look, nobody wants folks who have a preexisting illness or injury not to be covered. We want to do it at a lower price and broader choices for patients so that again theyre able to see the doctor that they want to see. Theyre able to go to the hospital that they want to go to. To the clinic that they want to go to. Not that washington forces them to participate in. So this is yes, its a different way, but its a way that we believe to be better and more comprehensive and ability to have those patients have the kind of coverage and care that they want. And just because we stipulate that there are places where theres only one insurer or no insurers, thats a major problem and those are the kinds of things were trying to fix. But you say that people are not going to getting now. Well, lets take a look at what you said on fox business on friday. Under obamacare, the older folks and sicker folks could pay three times more than the younger folks. Whereas under this plan they might pay five times more. Thats going in the wrong direction. Well, its pricing for what individuals Health Status is. Thats important to appreciate. So youre raises the costs on the sickest people, the sicker people to pay for the pay who are healthier. Well, what were trying to do is to make sure that every Single Person has health coverage. Remember, there are 20 Million People right now in this country who have said to the federal government, said to the previous administration, nonsense, ill either pay a fine through the irs or ill get a waiver. Thats 20 million individuals who dont have coverage and we ought to say, why dont they have coverage and try to fix that. The fact of the matter is if those individuals who are sicker, who are older, who are subsidies so that theyre able to gain the kind of coverage they need and want for themselves and for their family. We are our desire is to make certain that we have a system that works for patients. Not for government. Not for Insurance Companies but for patients thats the goal. We looked at the map and we looked at the states with those under 65 who have preexisting conditions. The highest rates of those under 65 are in states that voted for president trump. What do you say to your own voters . I say to them and the president has an absolute commitment to make certain that they have the kind of coverage that they want. Look, this is a different way to do things. Theres no doubt about it. We believe its a better way because it puts patients and families and doctors in charge of health care. Not washington, d. C. This is this is a change in how we would manage to allow for individuals to gain the kind of coverage that they want. We understand that. And sometimes change can be disconcerting to folks. And thats why i would suggest that that list of groups that you had up earlier say they now oppose it. The fact of the matter is, theyre not focusing on the kinds of thing that are going to improve the system. Improve the system for patients and families and docs. Not make it so that government or Insurance Companies are in charge. Well, lets talk about women. When we looked at the rose garden and the celebration of this on thursday, they were all mostly all men and white men at that. There was no diversity there. Womens Health Issues arguably are going to be disproportionately affected. Obamacare includes maternity and newborn care, preventative care. Mammograms, Cervical Cancer screenings, birth control. All of this under the essential package no longer required under this house bill. Andrea, come on. Look at that picture. Congresswoman diane black, i was standing next to her. The administrator of cms i was standing next to her. Out of a group of two or three two or three women . These are prominent individuals who are leading who are leading in this area of health care. But the goal as i mentioned is to make certain every american, men, women, rich, poor, old, young, have the kind of coverage that they want for themselves and for their families. Not that Government Forces them to bieuy. Thats the change. Lets talk about what the president promised. I wanted to play for you what the president promised about medicaid during the campaign. Theres a percentage, a fairly large percentage that cant afford it. Then those people dont get taken care of. Thats a wrong. Well take care of that through the medicaid system. Well take care of those people. We have no choice. Were not going to let people die on the streets. Medicaid expansion is going to be cut in the first version of this bill and theres no cbo score because they rushed it through be accounting from the nonpartisan congressional office, but the first version had 880 billion cult from medicaid. That goes right against the president s promise not to cut medicaid. No, what it does is say theres a better way to do things. Imagine a system if you will where if you have insurance through your employer, but you fall on tough times and you fall into the medicaid market, that that transition is seamless. Imagine if you go the other way, from medicaid to employer sponsored insurance thats seamless. Imagine you go from medicaid to the Exchange Market that that transition is seams will. Right now there are huge holes in the things. We dont want to pull out the rug from anybody. But you found with all due respect, you found 880 billion. Isnt this another way to come up with the close to a trillion dollars the president said as much to on fox business. Youre finding almost 1 trillion in savings in order to be able to pay a tax cut that is that is andrea, andrea, in the medicaid system right now, one out of every three physicians in this nation who ought to be seeing patients in medicaid are not. We ought to as a society ask ourselves why is that the case and fix that. The medicaid population is basically four different demographics. Seniors, its disabled, its healthy moms and kids. And what the federal government now stipulates is that those healthy moms and kids need to be cared for in exactly the same manner as the seniors and the disabled. That doesnt make any sense to anybody. So what were trying to do is to improve the medicaid system. Make it more responsive to patients so that there are more resources to be able to be utilized for the disabled and the aged that makes a whole lot of sense. I think a lot of people will wonder how taking more than 800 billion out of something is going to put more resources in it. But let me ask you one final question about health care. The office of drug policy drug control, the white house offi i 90 cut. Why eliminate the White House Office of drug control at the very time when we have an Opioid Epidemic in this country . Well, this is a budget that hasnt been completed yet, but what i will tell you is that the president has a commitment to making sure we fight the Opioid Crisis. One of the top three priorities i have identified for the department of health and Human Services. We were able to put out 485 million in grants to states two weeks ago. Im moving around the country this coming week to go to states where wez want to make sure where we want to make sure theyre allowed and have the resources to address this Opioid Crisis. 33,000 deaths last year due to opioid overdose. We cannot tolerate that and the department of health and Human Services this is a whether its through the government i dont think the American People care. They care that were addressing this Opioid Crisis in the most aggressive and effective manner possible. Mr. Secretary, thank you very much. Well have to leave it there. Thanks for being with us today on meet the press. Thanks, andrea. And the house Health Care Bill does face an uncertain future in the senate. Republicans can afford to lose only two votes and theres an enormous gap between what conservative hard liners want and what more moderate republicans will accept me. Joining me is roy blunt of missouri. Welcome. Good to be here. Lets start with something that secretary price said. Hes going to improve medicaid by cutting at least in the first version of this bill and we dont have a score yet from the Congressional Budget Office as to how much would be cut from this bill. But youre cutting 880 billion but making it better . The president doesnt propose something he looks like the military will be made better the military. He wants to spend more. Well, i think part of the point here, were on the path to spend 1 trillion and all really the only addition thats significant to Health Care Coverage under obamacare are people who got expanded medicaid as part of that. You know, this system is just not working. Its the the individual market is collapsing and has been. So why not fix those market issues . Well why not do the fixes rather than taking medicaid expansion, slashing it and addressing preexisting conditions by basically saying its not a requirement. Insurers can up the price and price it out of the market for people. I think the goal should be to include people in this system who arent in it yet, to give people more choices, to create more competition. I dont talk to anybody who doesnt believe there has to be a way thats better than the Current System to be sure that people who have preexisting conditions continue to be covered. And for thete options in medicaid is a good thing. Not a bad thing. Every state is different. This is a huge budget issue in every state. People need a medical home if thats what the state thinks they can put together so you have a place to go. You know, coverage is different than access. And both in the Insurance Market where a lot of people have coverage, but nobody has a place to go because their deductible is so high and in medicaid doctors dont want to take the medicaid patients, those ought to be the problems were solving. Some of your republican senators have spoken out against it. Rob portman says that the house bill does not do enough to protect the Ohio Medicaid expansion population. Lindsey graham says it needs to be viewed with suspension. Is this dead on arrival, taking the house bill and starting to improve on it . What is happening is not dead on arrival, not taking the house bill and bringing it immediately to the floor, but takingh looking at that carefully. And coming up with what the senate thinks the senate can do. This is the way that legislation used to be pass. There would be a house bill, a senate bill. Then youd get together. The conferees who understand by that time the intricacies of what theyre doing and come up with a bill that can go to the president s desk. I hope thats what we do here. Presumably you will read what youre working on and actually get a Congressional Budget Office score . The house didnt wait. Well, we will. From the houses perspective, you know, they added a few things late. But this is not a new issue. The senates going to have to have the kind of score to move this forward and the senate has to be looking at this to see if we can take the house work, look at what the house did. Look at what we can do to improve that in our view. And then see if thats a bill that in all likelihood you have to go back to the house and say heres what you think, heres what we think. Lets be sure we solve t you know, a third of the counties in america only have one Insurance Company willing to offer insurance on the individual market. Five states only have one company willing to offer insurance. Theres something dramatically wrong with the Current System. I saw one of my democrat colleagues this week who said that this system isnt working. And he said, im maybe willing to be part of the repeal and replace strategy and we need to hear and see more of that. Will you be able to do something that satisfies Susan Collins on the planned parenthood issue and also can satisfy the Freedom Caucus if you produce something that goes back to the Conference Committee in the hou