hearings for the nominees like tom price secretary of hhs. republicans backed off their crusade for now but it begs the question, who were they trying to protect? last the wall street journal published just before the holidays he had reportedly traded more than $300,000 of shares of roughly 40 health care and pharmaceutical companies while simultaneously pushing and advocating for legislation on the federal level that could impact the company's stock prices. i will repeat. the president elect picked for hhs treated hundreds of thousands of dollars of health-related stocks while the senior member of congress advocated and voted for federal legislation to impact those very companies stock prices. i will we mind you his influence and access to information on these issues was second to none and as teacher the house budget committee and sat on ways and means and a member of the republican caucus and congressman price didn't simply vote on the health care bills when they came to the floor but championed them. according to the wall street journal th

our focus is on hhs dollars and expenditure of hhs funds. >> whether their money they pay for premiums, whether money or tax dollars they pay the federal government, it is their money. in terms of immediate and long-term em impact on health care costs in america by looking what is suddenly the change in cost were as indicated from our company was dra mat ek p.m. and. >> certainly, we're god to have work with subcommittee on looking at health care cost and trends in markets. certainly employers, long standing increases over all in health insurance cost even for federal employees seeing increases in health care cost in recent years. >> let me change directions. there are concerns with those receiving subsidies or payments. can you tell me how many people in year one received subsidies that are improper or determined inaccurate the first year? >> that's a very important question. we don't have the number of folks but what we did look at the risk of programs for potentially weak controls on eligibility. >> let me ask you, why, we he are subjected to audits as company. trs why would trs. >>

and social security, but he turns around nominates as his hhs secretary,

it's no exaggeration to say that hhs touches more of the u.s. economy and affects the daily lives of more americans than any other part of the u.s. governme government. i firmly believe that dr. price has the qualifications necessary to effectively lead this large and diverse set of agencies and many people share that view. he's had a tremendous experience, wealth of experience in the practice of medicine, understands these problems, and has been great member of the house of representatives. for example, past hhs secretaries, mike levin and tommy thompson, strongly support his nomination. physician organizations who know dr. price's work, including the american medical association and most surgical specialty groups enthusiastically support him. the american hospital association and other stakeholder groups do as well. perhaps the health care leadership council representing the broad swath of health care providers said it best in states that, quote, it is difficult to imagine anyone more capable of serving this nation as the secretary of hhs than

as secretary of hhs she has led more than 77,000 employees and worked to strive for every american to lead healthy and productive life. she is also let the administrations efforts to deliver a smarter more innovative and more accountable government. as the hhs secretary she is overseeing the development of the presidents second term management agenda including efforts to speed up high impact permitting projects and improve efficiencies and customer services. she has worked to ensure our regulatory system protects the health and safety of americans and promote a healthier america through programs such as the presidents council on sports fitness and attrition which celebrated its 60th anniversary last year. now that we've enjoyed a healthy mill as part of our new year's resolutions, to get fit and eat betterbetter, i asked her to get secretary burwell a warm national press club welcome. [applause] >> thank you very much, and it's an honor to be at the national press club. a little more than 100 years ago, a former president dropped by the press club. and, of course, since it was teddy r

the hearings were four nominees like off-price secretary of hhs. they backed off the crusade against ethics for now but it begs the question, would they trying to protect? at the wall street journal just before a doc holiday's representative price traded more than $300,000 of shares of roughly 40 health care pharmaceutical companies while simultaneously a pushing and advocating for legislation of the federal level to potentially impact the stock price. let me repeat that. the president-elect pick for hhs traded hundreds of thousands of dollars of health related stock while a senior member of congress that we advocated and voted for the federal legislation could it affect those stock prices. let me remind you his influence and access to a informations on the health care issue was second to none he chaired the house budget committee sat on the ways and means committee plan was a member of the republican congressional health care caucus and congressman price simply did not vote on the health care bills and they came to the floor, he would champion the

but that's how much tom will oversee at hhs. what would i look for a person to handle that much money? i look for experience and tom's got it in terms of a legislator. i look for somebody who understood where the cost is going and what he needed to do to manage it, and tom is that type of person. i look for somebody i would trust with that amount of money, even though i don't have it, but if it were mine. third, does he understand health care? let me tell you about tom and his medical practice. it's called resurgeons ort or t ped disks around the state of georgia into the largest provider in our state. tom was one of the leading persons that pulled that together and ran the practice for a while himself. they're my doctors. 26 years ago, they saved my young son kevin's right leg in a terrible automobile accident and i've never forgotten what they did for him in a terrible crisis we had in our family. they're a great medical firm. he understands medicine. he has run a comprehensive medical program. third, i want to understand if y

first pick to lead hhs and the entire health care initiative. former south dakota senator and former senate majority at the time tom daschle. he had to withdraw after reports that he failed to pay taxes on a car service. and after questions about work that some had considered to be lobbying. that was the first blow in president obama's long push to achieve health care reform. forcing him to expel political capitol he could have used elsewhere. and if this thing price could be a casualty in the long road ahead to replacing obamacare. let me bring back in the panel. this one feels like, you know, it's funny, everybody's wondering, is it tillerson, history says everybody loses one. >> right. >> and suddenly one of all the ones, if you're trump, losing hhs and tom price would be a big one. >> i think chuck schumer would like to defeat this one for the reasons you spell out, it would be a blow to obamacare. he's not the one that worries me. i think he has a lot of good relationships with republicans. he has a story. and his defense. i don't see this

it's a hear with congressman price, the pick for hhs secretary. he's been questioned by a number of senators, including bernie sanders. this is one of the stories -- big headlines involving obamacare and what the republicans say will be a replacement of it. >> the environment where there is no corruption. >> sunshine cures disease. that's exactly right. >> you've worked throughout your career in the georgia senate, united states congress and as secretary of hhs to make insure there's always transparency? >> absolutely. it's a hallmark and key in the area of health care and the services hhs provides. >> you love your country and your job and if you have opportunity to be secretary of health and human services, you'll do everything to disclose everything possible so there's never an appearance of any conflucco conflict of interest? >> the diligence they do to look at everybody's holdings and assets who are scheduled to potentially serve in the cabinet. and then they make a recommendation. a very specific recommendation. that's also available to be s

president electrons pick for hhs traded hundreds of thousands of dollars in health related stocks while a senior member of congress abdicated and voted for federal legislation that could impact those ferry companies stop prices. let me remind you that congressman price influence and access to information on these health care issues was second to none. he chairs the house budget committee, sat on the ways and means committee and was a member of the republican congressional health care caucus and congressman price didn't simply vote on health care bills when they came to the house floor. he championed them. according to "the wall street journal," just last congress, congressman price sponsored nine and cosponsored 35 health related ills in the house. right before the congress ended, we passed a massive new health care bill called the cures act. in a new letter released today by the public watchdog public citizen, the group raised a serious question about a 30 day spill, which speeds up drug approvals by the fda could benefit the stocks owned by congressman rice. since the bill passed last

they are scratching their heads over regulations coming out of hhs cms. all of the other agencies that you oversee when you were confirmed. i mentioned the use program for electronic health care records. minutesused to spend 10 or 15 minutes with patients, it is down to two minutes or three minutes. criticalur rule for access hospitals -- numerous other documentation requirements -- it seems to me there is a lack of understanding of our provider shortages in rural areas. we are hanging on by a thread. how these one size regulations from washington simply do not translate to rural areas. my question is, how will you work to ensure an effective but smarter them a less burdensome rule making policy -- process? critical, this is because as you mentioned in rural areas, georgia is the largest state east of the mississippi and we have a large ovulation. critical access hospitals are so important to communities around the state, and truly around the nation. the regulatory scheme put in place is choking the individuals actually trying to provide the care. so much

through hhs and samsa. what should be done to ensure addiction treatment for those addiction individuals currently getting insurance coverage through the exchanges or medicaid expansion? and do you commit to us today to fully implement and implement promptly the new legislation. >> without a doubt. as you know senator this is a scourge that has gone across the country and it's in communities large and small destroying lives, destroying families, harming communities. and it's growing. and so what we must do is absolutely commit to carrying out the law as it was passed. but also as i've talk about with some other challenges, making certain that we have got the right metrics in place. are we actually helping with what we are doing? there may be better things to do. there may be things we ought to do that in fact don't help. we ought to be identifying those in real time as much as possible so we can bring about a program that actually works for the patients the individuals actually being harmed. >> you are awar

what isat is a just -- hhs doing to stem the opioid crisis across america. burwell: hhs has a number of pieces that are part of that to focus on stemming the tide and reducing the number of opioid overdose deaths and those that become addicted. and so, it has three parts to it. the first part is prescribing and working on the prescriptions. in the united states in 2013, there were 250 million prescriptions for opioids. you can think about that math. that doesn't feel right. one of the most important things we did was put out new prescribing guidelines from the center for disease control and prevention to help physicians and help those trying to deal with legitimate pain that comes into their office. and so prescribing guidelines and the surgeon general has been an important part of getting us -- those to be adopted. narcanit is to make available. that is what you give people when they are overdosing so they do not die. it is sad but it's a very important part of reducing the overdose deaths is having access to that. fda has approved another. .'m sure you can

that is how much tom will oversee at hhs. what i would look for in a person to handle that much money, i look for experience, and, has it in terms of the legislator. i look for someone who understands where the cost is going. tom is the right person. i look for somebody i would trust with that amount of money even though i don't have it, but if it were mine. third, does he understand health care? let me tell you about tom and his medical practice. it is called resurgence orthopedics. resurgence orthopedics is the consolidation of a number of small orthopedic terms around the state of georgia. the largest orthopedic provider in our state. tom was one of the leading persons who pulled that together and in fact, ran the practice for a while himself. they are my doctors. 26 years ago, resurgence saved -- the surgeons saved my son's leg in a terrible automobile accident. i've never forgotten what they did for him in a terrible crisis in our family. they are a great medical firm. he understands medicine. he has run a comprehensive

for example, past hhs secretaries strongly support his nomination. physician organizations that know doctors price's work, including the american medical association, and most surgical specialty groups, enthusiastically support him. the american hospital association and other healthcare stakeholder groups do as well. perhaps the healthcare leadership council representing the broad swath of healthcare providers said it best in stating that, quote, it is difficult to imagine anyone more capable of serving this nation as the secretary of hhs than congress mosquito tom price, unquote. unfortunately in the current political environment qualification, endorsements don't seem to matter to some of our colleagues. that appears to be the case as none of those who save they appose dr. price's nomination seem to be talking about whether he is qualified. instead we have heard grossly exaggerated and distorted attacks on his views and his ethics. on top of that we have heard complaints in a series of unreasonable demands regarding the confirm make process itself.

and social security, but he turns around nominates as his hhs secretary, guy made his career on cutting medicare and medicaid. we're going to slam him on these things. he said he's going to clean the swamp. who's his cabinet? billionaires. people who own huge businesses. people who have been part of that swamp for a very long time. in other words, there was a certain populism. i worked really hard donald trump but he had a certain populism to him, a false populism but a populism. he now has sold out to the hard right. the pro-business, pro-corporate, pro-elite group. and i think we can really nail him on this. we can be very strong and unflinching and hold his feet to the fire. the theme of the speech i gave today is we're going to hold him accountable. >> you talked about this being an accountability congress. >> right. >> there was also on the other side of capitol hill a weird start to the congress and -- >> but that's who they are. you see these hard right people who are ideologues on the hard right, they don't get it. how could it dawn on him that the first thing they should do is

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senate today is that the vetting process will be if tom price is suitable to be confirmed at as the next hhs secretary has taken twice as long as the last two vetting processes for the last two hhs cretary's combined. >> i raised a of this today so that people could no i'm serious when i say that i'm worried about what my colleagues on the minority side are doing to the senate as an institution. while the overriding sense of comity and courtesy among senators has admittedly been in decline during recent years, i have never seen this level of partisan rancor. >> today is set to be the main confirmation hearing for congressman price, he is testifying before the senate finance committee and facing some difficult questions from democrats trying to protect the last president's signature law, obamacare, from a new president who wants to repeal and replace it with something else. prices confirmation not excited to be voted on by the full senate until sometime in february. the senate minority leader chuck schumer is continuing to do what he said he was going to do, delay actual confirmations of eigh

what is that balance at hhs in your opinion? >> it depends on the president and what their agenda is and what they're involved with. as secretary of an agency, hhs or the department of education which we had a hearing on the nominee last night with a flick of a pen, they can write a regulation that impacts literally purchases that impacts decisions, that impacts people's lives. and that will come under regulations and rules that are implemented. that's besides implementing it in any legislation or sending to us legislation or working with us on legislation. >> final question, i'm curious on how you weigh the following issue when it comes to confirmations. how much does it matter -- what is the line of disagreeing with somebody, but finding them qualified in the job knowing it's not your side that won, versus, you know, what, boy, i just disagree too much and i can't do it. what is that line and is it the same for every cabinet secretary or does it matter depending -- does it depend on the agency they're trying to lead? >> i've b

be a step-by-step approach and one of those that that is necessary is getting tom price confirmed as hhs secretary. not only is dr. price extremely qualified, but with so many americans struggling in obamacare, with the current collapse of obamacare, we need dr. price in place to help deliver relief and ability. it would be irresponsible or senate democrats to needlessly delay his confirmation. with this unified republican government, we have unique opportunity to deliver results to the american people. in the days and weeks, we look forward to laying out more of her agenda. today i'm inviting president trump to address a joint session of congress on february 28. this will be an opportunity for the people and representatives to hear directly from our new president about his vision in our shared agenda. this is an ambitious agenda and rightly so. for too long, washington has been too timid about addressing the big challenges facing our country. we want this to be a bold government appeared to want this to be a government of action. we want this to be a government of solution and a governm

we created a grid for substance abuse administration that hhs as well. we are working on the regulations states use. the third element, this one we have made important progress on in december in washington, d.c., providing access to medication-assisted treatment for those who suffer from substance misuse disorder, or addiction many people sometimes call it. getting them the treatment they need to help them, because they are already on that path. >> the obama administration has made progress on some major research. cancer medication, and the moonshot. are you at all concerned the projects are at risk under the new administration? sec. burwell: i would put both of those in a category. my first january, i was confirmed in june and one of the first major speeches i gave publicly was something i referred to as "the common ground agenda." because i believed even with the deep partisanship that existed around the affordable care act, that there were places of common ground. i gave a speech and talked about it. in that speech, opioid and we just got that money t

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you mentioned the hhs secretary, douglas did you want to get in on this? >> no, go ahead. >> i want to look at trump's pick. >> indicating the climate is changing -- >> but you haven't told me why you think the climate is changing. >> well, senator, the job of the administrator -- >> why is the climate changing? >> senator, in response to the co 2 issue, the administrator is constrained -- >> i'm asking you a personal opinion. >> my personal opinion is immaterial to the job -- >> you are going to be the head of the agency to protect the environment and your personal feelings about whether climate change is caused by human activity and carbon emissions is immaterial? >> so democrats want to paint him as pro-energy, anti-environment, he rejects that narrative, what do you make of it? >> i don't know why he was dodging the question. it was a pretty straightforward question. what struck me with this, this is something any of his nominees could have said. it seems to be it doesn't really matter what we think because we're just going to do what donald trump is g

it's almost as show now you got the situation where you guy, price is going to be hhs.ou achieve that what you're trying to do with the power in the secretary of hhs in the obamacare -- >> i think it's a combination of things. this will take a lot of legislating because there are a lot of things that obamacare legislated which contributed to the massive premium spike that's occurring. we got five states with only one insurer left. one out of three counties in america only have one insurer left. i really think that's because of the legislation. that legislation we're going to replace and replace it with something better, but we also believe in conjunction with this legislation, hhs, as you just mentioned, has an enormous amount of discretion that they have so far used to make it harder to get affordable health care. to make you buy what the government insists you must buy. that doesn't work. >> can you make -- >> so we think -- we think the administration can give us a lot of regulatory flexibility which will bring more insurers in the mark place which means more competi

"to the maximum extent permitted by law," and that claus will be important "secretary of hhs, heads of all other departments and agencies with authorities under the act shall exercise all authority and discretion of them for-to-waive, defer, grant exemptions from or delay any provision of the requirement of the act that would impose a fiscal burden on a state or cost, fee, regulatory burden on families, health care providers, patient recipients, etc., etc." the key thing about the paragraph is everything about to the maximum extent permitted by law is you can do whatever you want. the question is what does the law abide? >> this law had a thousand clauses that said the secretary shall, the secretary shall, the secretary shall. so some of that went through sort of more formal rule making process but some of that went through less extensive rule making process. >> here's the thing because i'm reading this, too and the goal here is to -- you have the power, tim, now, if you were an executive and now remember there's no political appointees in place so i'm not sure who for the short term -

my question is, will you commit to follow up with me in writing that you will designate someone at hhs to be the point person that my staff and i can contact to ensure, one, that reforms are being implemented and, two, that we continue to collaborate on reform in the ihs? >> absolutely, senator. this is an area of significant concern because it appears to me, as i know you shared with me, that in the indian health service there are so many areas where we're not meeting the goal of the highest quality care to be provided to individuals accessing that system. so, we're not -- we're not doing what we ought to do in that system. and i'm committed to making certain, should i be confirmed, to turning that system around. >> as i shared with you, senator ba ro bra brasso introduced a bill which we believe will bring about structural changes. many times that act, although we think it addresses a lot of problems that cropped up, and based on consultation we received from the tribes, really is merely a first step in the process that's necessary to improve that agency. if confirmed, what types of

"to the maximum extent permitted by law," and that claus will be important "secretary of hhs, heads of all other departments and agencies with authorities under the act shall exercise all authority and discretion of them for-to-waive, defer, grant exemptions from or delay any provision of the requirement of the act that would impose a fiscal burden on a state or cost, fee, regulatory burden on families, health care providers, patient recipients, etc., etc." the key thing about the paragraph is everything about to the maximum extent permitted by law is you can do whatever you want. the question is what does the law abide? >> this law had a thousand clauses that said the secretary shall, the secretary shall, the secretary shall. so some of that went through sort of more formal rule making process but some of that went through less extensive rule making process. >> here's the thing because i'm reading this, too and the goal here is to -- you have the power, tim, now, if you were an executive and now remember there's no political appointees in place so i'm not sure who for the short term -

and the other one we have is secretary tom price who will be the head of hhs. remember a lot of the worst parts of obamacare like the 10 points of the policy provisions that had be provided within that was not legislation. that was a decision by the secretary of health and human services. an awful lot of this can be undone by our new hhs secretary tom price once he's in. lou: i think i know what set of orders he will get as secretary of hhs. good luck. i know you have got a full agenda. >> we sure do. it's nice to be with you. lou: president-elect trump blasting leaks from the nation's intelligence agencies. clinton cash author, one of the finest investigative journalists finest investigative journalists in this country, peter schweizer finest investigative journalists why pause antry, peter schweizer spontaneous moment? cialis for daily use treats ed and the urinary symptoms of bph. tell your doctor about your medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas® for pulmonary hypertensi

hhs secretary is pivotal, they have the team. this is complicated.eed a team to figure this out. i don't know what they're doing. contradictory signals. no idea what it's going to look like. >> heard in dana's interview, can you give us a hint, don't want to give away the surprise. why would it be a surprise. >> what have the republicans been doing? how can they not have something it replace. >> never been able to agree with how it should be done. and hhs nominee himself had legislation but not embraced by everybody on the republican side. to your point they really have caught the car and don't know what to do with it. >> douglas did you want to get in on this? >> you go. >> exchanges between bernie sanders and scott pruitt. >> as i've indicated, climate is changing and even -- >> but haven't told me why you think it is. >> job of the administrator is carry out of the stch yuts from the body. >> why is climate changing. >> in response to the issue epa administrator is constrained by statutes. >> asking your personal opinion. >> it's immaterial to the

price, one of the central duties of the hhs secretary is to be diligent and thoughtful when considering if federal regulation is necessary in assessing whether or not the regulations impede research, development, and innovation. over the years, the regulatory infrastructure guiding dietary supplements has changed dramatically. do you recognize the importance of dietary supplements in helping americans maintain healthy lifestyles? >> absolutely. >> will you commit to me and other members of the committee to ensure appropriate regulation and implementation of the dietary supplementation act so we can assure consumers condition to have access to safe products? >> this is one of those areas where it's incredibly important to gain the information that you refer to, to gather the individuals that know the most about this area, whether it's consumers, whether it's those providing the product to market, make certain that there are protections for unadulterated products. it's vital that we get this right. >> i'll tell you this. i have to commend donald trump for picking you. >> thank you. >> you

also the head of hhs has a whole lot of tools available to him to deal with this issue, right?he bronze plans, making those more options within that. increased options to decrease costs. this executive order that president trump signed in yesterday will help have the secretary of hhs deal with that. >> congressman price, nominee for hhs, has a lot of ideas about what he will do when he gets there. congressman, we appreciate your time as always, sir. >> legal land, thanks for having me on. >> fair and balanced now to liz. >> let's continue our coverage and conversation about an executive order using federal requirements of individual mandate of affordable care act. congressman john garamendi, former california insurance commissioner. a strong supporter of the health care law. congressman, thanks for joining us. >> good to be with you. exciting day with noise in the streets. >> background noise behind us that folks at home may not be able to hear and we will talk about that march. get a response of congressman hurd, premiums going up 34, your home state of california. they were u

and the other one we have is secretary tom price who will be the head of hhs.emember a lot of the worst parts of obamacare like the 10 points of the policy provisions that had be provided within that was not legislation. that was a decision by the secretary of health and human services. an awful lot of this can be undone by our new hhs secretary tom price once he's in. lou: i think i know what set of orders he will get as secretary of hhs. good luck. i know you have got a full agenda. >> we sure do. it's nice to be with you. lou: president-ect trump blasting leaks from the nation's intelligence agencies. clinton cash author, one of the finest investigative journalists in this country, peter schweizer joins me next. hey, searching for a great used car? i don't want one that's had a big wreck just say, show me cars with no accidents reported find the cars you want, avoid the ones you don't plus you get a free carfax® report with every listing i like it start your used car search at carfax.com i'm raph. my name is anne. i'm one of the real live attorneys you can t

the secretary of hhs. to be also involved with bringing forward some of the innovative market solutions to try to help people get insurance at a cheaper cost. >> as you know, cnn has been reporting that congressman price bought stock in a medical device manufacturer just days before pushing legislation that likely would have benefitted that company. will you be asking him about that tomorrow? >> i guess the question i would ask is when did he become in favor of not having taxes on medical devices? my guess is probably he has a 20-year record of being eposed to that. i think that every republican up here was against the medical devices tax. i think it's probably an overstatement to say somehow his buying and selling had to do with a position that probably he has had his whole entire public career. >> senator schumer, the democratic leader in the senate thinks he could have some trouble getting confirmed, do you agree with him? >> no. i think the democrats have assured that all of the nominees will win becau

stock on march 23rd, 2016, he introduced a bill and 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 they'd be pci program to which you referred, i am a stronger supporter because it keeps the decision-making -- >> on the asking why you support it, i'm just asking did you buy stockton introduced the bill that would be helpful to the company you just bought stock in? >> the stock was bought by a broker who was making the decisions. i was not making those decisions. >> you are saying you'd were not making those decisions. let me make sure i understand this. these are your stocks traded, listed under your name. >> they are made under my behalf. >> is a release defined, passively managed mutual fund? >> no, it is a direct broker. it is a broker directed account. >> blind trust? so let's 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

commerce secretary, hhs, u.n. ambassador, and the epa. of course, as you can see, that room empty right now. but we're keeping a very close eye on those hearings as we approach the lunch hour. but we also have some breaking news right now. >>> chris jansing is live for us at the white house with the update on the condition of former president george h.w. bush and his wife now, as i understand it. chris, what can you tell us? >> this is concerning news. we had reported this morning that george h.w. bush, bush 41, as he is so fondly known, had en admitted to the hospital with breathing problems, but they thought he was resting comfortabland would be out in a few days. now we have just gotten word from his office that he has been admitted into intensive care, and in fact, they had to do a procedure on him that required him to be sedated. they said they had to protect and clear his airway. as you may know, he suffers from a form of parkinson's disease. he's had breathing problems before. he's been hospitalized for them in recent years. he als

trump's pick for hhs. i'll just read a random paragraph. prices record demonstrates less concern for the sick, the poor, and the health of the public, and much greater concern for the economic well-being of their physician caregivers. and i would commend this to every member of this committee before making a vote. because what your plan does, one of the things is it gives a tax credit to americans who buy health insurance, it is no different for someone who is poor, someone who makes 20,000, 30,000, and to bill gates. it is an incredibly-regressive system. do you have about, you guys want to end the expansion of medicaid. that has people in minnesota scared out of their minds. look, i've heard a lot, oh, obamacare has been a disaster. first of all, you have to admit that it has bent the cost curve. that the costs of health care in this country has grown less than it did in the previous ten years. it's also covered 20 million more people. but, forget them. you know, in 2008, i would go around the state of minnesota, in every vfw hall, in eve

price as next secretary of hhs. >> definitive statement. thank you very much, simon rosenberg, always a pleasure, ron christie, a good friend of the show. thank you very much. >>> this final president obama news conference, boy, a little of the limelight stolen by janet yellen who is right now at this moment in a q&a process over the commonwealth club in san francisco. we're monitoring it but boom, she said that by 2019, we're going to have interest rates at 3%. we're at three quarters of a single percent right now. the dollar took off, oil is lower at the moment. i need get to phil flynn, our oil guy. put on your dollar hat, too. we're looking at headwinds at the moment, interesting. >> we are, janet yellen saying the economy is big enough to put the big boy pants on, start raising rates. people view this as political. under the obama administration, they did nothing but cut rates, cut rates, and, of course, donald trump has been very critical of janet yellen. one must wonder if there's a little political element to her statements. listen,

i want that broker. >> is it career ending in terms of running hhs? >> if that is the only case, maybe he can hold on to the idea, i didn't do it. let's figure out the details. >> for most of my career, there were no rules against doing this thing. there are now. for a long time, there is a lot of double dealing. >> you are not in congress. with the power to introduce legislation to affect a particular company. it is something we should be against. >> for a long time, it was okay. people in congress could buy and sell stocks if they were introducing legislation. let's ask a little bit about the boycott and the 41 people who will not go. look, sometimes people don't go. john says it's cold. >> you have to go through security. some members who have been there a long time, they skip. >> kellyanne conway talked a bit about the boycott. she had this take. listen to this. >> we hope that these democratic members of congress reconsider. they are welcome to the inauguration. if they want to contact any of us, they are welcome. i would note it is governor penc

i support him as hhs secretary. i think having his ear, listening to him, he has a great answer for every question i have. first of all, i want to reassure the american public rear not pushing anybody off of the cliff. you if like your policy and 12,000 deductible, keep it. we think when we let free market move ahead we'll have a better policy. there's a simple thing do, transparent prices, that's going to drive the cost of the health care down. expand health care savings account. let them look like ira, i talked a little about the high risk pool, to help those who need the help. those are simple examples baa but we're not pushing anybody off the cliff. >> talk your stance. >> as a ob city trigs i have delivered 5,000 babies. i decided to be pro-life. as i was talking a mom, she was pregnant, four or five month along i could hear the baby moving, there was a sister beside the mom, when sister talked the baby moved moore. i worked hard in our clinic to help pregnant woman who did not want to have an abortion, single

as the secretary of hhs.ample, the bronze plans. these are -- he can widen the number of plans that actually are approved by bronze. what does that do? that increases competition and that's one of the problems that we're having. >> let me get back to the question, when is this plan, and you guys have been opposed to obamacare for six, seven years. you've had a lot of time to work on it. when will the specifics be ready for a vote in the house of representatives? >> well, many of those key pieces will be coming up during the reconciliation process. we went through the first step which is a budget vehicle. that directs the ways & means committee and energy and commerce committee to come back and save $1 trillion, excuse me, each, so those will be coming to us in about 60 days. that's going to have a lot of the things we will repeal. some of the new things we want to add in will be included in that piece of legislation then when tom price is confirmed as secretary of hhs, he'll be announcing a lot of -- a lot of

i think [ no audio ] when we hear that a nominee for hhs secretary has invested in specific companies and then advanced policies that could advantage those companies, and we have asked for both an office of government ethics review as well as a securities and exchange commission review because i think this raises some red flags that ought to be examined very closely. again, the american people deserve to have cabinet secretaries fighting for them, thinking about them at every turn. not thinking about how they can advance their own financial interests or those of others in the trump administration. >> his defense, senator, offered in part by fellow congressman chris collins who suppose thely gave him the inclination to want to invest in one of these companies, one, it was all legal. two, he never had legislation that directly affected that company. they are not in the u.s. market. is that about well it could have affected someone but it didn't and if it doesn't affect anything that he was legislating on, is that good enough? >> first of all, chris, there are a number of investments tha

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 by almost 25%. your healthcare repeal bill and your budget proposal to cut a trillion dollars from medicaid would disproportionately hurt women of color, for the company disparities and access to healthcare and undoing progress that was made in the affordable healthcare act. are you committed to ensure that women of color maintain access to quality, affordable medicare? >> i appreciate, i don't agree with the premise. the program i support and i believe the president supports to make certain every individual has access to the kind of coverage that they want. nobody wants individuals to not have the opportunity to see the doctors that one, to get the care they want at a price that is affordable and that is of the highest quality. that's what we believe in that help we will be able to work together to achieve that goal. >> the office of minority health was reauthorized as part of the aca. so wil what you commit