- A first look tonight.
Senate Republicans in Washington have unveiled their latest
attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act
or Obamacare.
Republican U.S. Senator Ron Johnson
joined us on this topic two Fridays ago.
Joining us now from Washington
is Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin.
Thanks for your time today.
- Thank you.
- The latest bill has a number of changes from the first Senate
proposal, including keeping some of the Obamacare taxes
on the wealthy.
But I'm guessing the changes aren't enough to gain
your support at this time.
- Exactly.
I can tell you what hasn't changed.
What hasn't changed is that millions will still be losing
their insurance under this plan.
Medicaid is capped and cut in ways that will threaten people
with disabilities or parents of children with disabilities,
those with loved ones in nursing care.
And this so-called age tax, the ability to charge much higher
premiums to those who are 50 and older,
is still a persistent problem and it does very little to
stabilize the market.
So I hope that my Republican colleagues continue to hear
what I've been hearing from Wisconsinites.
They are speaking out.
They are very aware of how harmful this measure is.
And I am hoping they continue to urge a no vote
on this new piece of legislation.
- We last had you on the program in March when this same
thing was playing out in the House.
They had just pulled back their first attempt and only later
were they able to pass a bill that was immediately ignored by
the Senate.
But it seemed like it was dead until it passed.
Do you think a similar thing can happen in the Senate?
- You know, it's certainly hard to project.
At this point, two Republican senators have indicated that
they will not vote to proceed with this matter.
They can only lose one more.
But that's really, you know, a question mark
as we head into the next week.
What's so important is that Wisconsinites and others
deeply impacted by this continue to speak out.
You know, Zac, health care is so personal.
I know that from my own experience.
As a child, I had a serious illness
and then was labeled as a kid with a pre-existing condition.
And for much of my youth I didn't have health insurance.
I have heard from so many parents, individuals,
families who care deeply about a member
with a pre-existing condition.
I think about a young man I met from Denmark,
Wisconsin-born with a congenital heart defect and required
several surgeries.
He and his parents in particular fear greatly for the future if
something like this measure were to come to pass because it so
significantly weakens the protections,
the guaranteed protections people have today to be able to
get coverage and care if they have a pre-existing condition.
- Now the latest version might also include the so-called Cruz
amendment for Texas Senator Ted Cruz which would allow for
cheaper insurance options.
But why is that idea getting so much pushback from many in the
medical community?
- Well, really what they're called
is junk insurance policies.
They may be very low price, but that's because
they don't provide any significant coverage.
Imagine having insurance like in the old days and finding out in
your time of need that it won't even cover a hospitalization
or won't cover a round of cancer treatment.
We don't need a two-tiered system.
And the other thing is that people who are older or sicker,
have pre-existing conditions are likely to become concentrated in
the health insurance market, leading to even higher premiums.
So it would be a two-tiered system,
which everybody believes is heading us
in the wrong direction.
- Now there are also reports that Republican Senator Lindsey
Graham is working on a compromise version that would
essentially block grant all the federal monies to the states to
use on health care as they use.
Senator Graham says that he thinks that could eventually
gain Democratic support.
Would it gain your support?
- You know, what has to happen first and our only short-term
objective has to be defeating this repeal attempt.
This is really partisan nonsense,
making good on a pledge, a seven-year-old pledge which is
not helping people be able to afford their health care.
As soon as they renounce the efforts to repeal the Affordable
Care Act, there is so much we can do to work together,
to bring down prices, make things more affordable while
keeping the guarantees that people now have, for example,
for coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.
I think that once they dispense with the partisan nonsense of
the repeal, there is a lot of productive work we could do
together and I will actually welcome any good ideas for
discussion and debate.
And there's clearly things we can do right now that have broad
bipartisan support.
Take, for example, focusing on
the high cost of prescription medication.
I have reached across the aisle and am working with John McCain
to address issues like the EpiPen,
life-saving medication for those with severe allergies that has
spiked up to $600 a pack.
And we can do things to relieve the cost issues,
to stabilize the insurance markets.
And I think what we need to do is get to that point
and dispense with the countless efforts to repeal
the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare.
- Now, if this bill fails, Republicans say
that Obamacare is in a death spiral
and will die on its own
and Democrats are saying
Republicans are sabotaging the Obamacare markets.
But the people in Wisconsin, who are only seeing fewer health
care options in their area, perhaps only a single option in
Obamacare market, can they tell the difference between failure
and sabotage and does it matter if they only have one choice?
- Well, Wisconsin has a number of insurance participants,
but obviously there are counties where there are fewer choices.
I will note that the recent exit from the insurance market in
Wisconsin, Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield cited in its
letter explaining its actions.
Actions taken by the Trump administration leading to
greater uncertainty.
And that is something
we can absolutely confront on a bipartisan basis.
Stabilizing the market by making it clear that the-- what
are known as the cost-sharing reduction payments are made.
That's what Trump is threatening potentially not to make,
will absolutely lead to more certainty, more stabilization.
You know, insurance markets need certainty.
And I have absolute confidence
that we can work together to do so.
In fact, last week when we were all home
during the 4th of July recess,
Mitch McConnell opened the door to that.
He said that if he couldn't muster the Republican votes to
repeal Obamacare, that he could work across the party aisle to
stabilize insurance markets.
But to do what we all know we must do if we listen to our
constituents, which is to keep the guarantees that people
with pre-existing conditions can get coverage and reduce costs.
- All right.
Well, Senator Baldwin from Washington,
thanks for your time.
- Thank you.