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Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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Congressman Price, more than a
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100 million Americans now receive
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their health care through Medicare and
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Medicaid programs. These are seniors, people
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with disabilities, middle-class families
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who have parents in nursing homes,
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countless numbers of young children and
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they all benefit from these programs.
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So I want to understand the changes to
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Medicare and Medicaid that you have
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already proposed. The budget that you
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recently authored as chair of the House
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Budget Committee would have cut spending
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on Medicare by $449 billion over
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the next decade, is that right?
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Price: I don't have the numbers right in front of me --
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Warren: I have the numbers.
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Price: Well then I assume you're correct.
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Warren: Alright, so you said you'd cut it by 400 --
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Medicare, cut Medicare by $449 billion.
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Your FY 17 budget proposal also
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would have cut Medicaid funding that
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goes to the state governments by more
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than $1 trillion, is that correct?
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Price: I think, Senator, the metrics that
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we use for the success of these programs
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Warren: I'm just asking, it's an easy yes or no.
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Did you propose to cut $1 trillion from Medicaid?
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Price: What we believe is appropriate is --
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Warren: Do you want me to read you the number out of this?
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Price: No, I'm sure you're correct.
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What we believe is appropriate
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is to make certain that the individuals
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receiving the care are actually receiving care.
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Warren: I understand why you think you're right to
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cut it. I'm just asking the question:
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Did you propose to cut more than $1 trillion
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out of Medicaid over the next ten years?
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Price: You have the numbers before you.
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Warren: Is that a yes?
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Price: You have the numbers before you.
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Warren: I'll take it is yes.
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So, as I'm sure you're aware, during his
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campaign for president, President-elect Trump
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was very clear about his views on
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Medicare and Medicaid. As Senator Sanders
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has quoted extensively, President-elect
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Trump said "I am NOT going to cut
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Medicare or Medicaid." Now, when President-elect Trump
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said "I am NOT going to cut
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Medicare or Medicaid," do you believe he was
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telling the truth?
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Price: I believe so, yes.
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Warren: Yeah, okay. Given your record of
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proposing massive cuts to these programs
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along with several other members of this committee,
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I sent the President-elect a letter in
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December, asking him to clarify his
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position. And hasn't responded yet, so I
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was hoping you could clear this up:
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Can you guarantee to this committee that
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you will safeguard President-elect Trump's
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promise and while you are HHS Secretary
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you will not use your administrative
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authority to carry out a single dollar
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of cuts to Medicare or Medicaid
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eligibility or benefits?
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Warren: But what the question presumes is that that money is
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the metric. In my belief, from a
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scientific standpoint, if patients aren't
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receiving care -- even though we're
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providing the resources -- then it doesn't
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work for patients.
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Warren: I'm sorry to interrupt but
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we're very limited on time. The metric is money.
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And the quote from the
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President-elect of the United States was
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not a long discourse on this. He said he
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would not cut dollars from this program.
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So that's the question I'm asking you.
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Can you assure this committee that you
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will not cut one dollar from either
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Medicare or Medicaid should you be
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confirmed to this position?
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Price: Senator, I believe that the metric ought to be the
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care that the patients are receiving.
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Warren: I'll take that as a no?
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Price: It's, it's -- that's the wrong
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metric. We ought to be putting forth resources --
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Warren: I'm not asking you whether or not you
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think you have a better metric.
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I'm asking you a question about dollars. Yes or no?
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Price: What we ought to do is put
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forward the resources to start --
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Warren: Thank you, Congressman. You know, these are really simple questions.
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And frankly, the millions of Americans who
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rely on Medicare and Medicaid today are not
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going to be very reassured by your
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notion that you have some metric other
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than the dollars that they need to
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provide these services. You know, you might
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want to print out President-elect
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Trump's statement "I am not going to cut
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Medicare or Medicaid" and post that above
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your desk in your new office, because
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Americans will be watching to see if you
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follow through on that promise.
