{"id":18653,"date":"2017-03-14T16:52:25","date_gmt":"2017-03-14T21:52:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/?p=18653"},"modified":"2017-03-14T16:52:25","modified_gmt":"2017-03-14T21:52:25","slug":"video-president-trump-leads-a-listening-session-on-healthcare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/2017\/03\/14\/video-president-trump-leads-a-listening-session-on-healthcare\/","title":{"rendered":"Video: President Trump Leads a Listening Session on Healthcare"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ts_C_WivWGI\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h4>Remarks by President Trump in a Listening Session on Healthcare<\/h4>\n<p>Roosevelt Room<\/p>\n<p>11:27 A.M. EDT &#8211; March 13, 2017<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Thank you all for being here today. \u00a0It\u2019s a great honor for you to share your personal stories of struggle under the enormous strain imposed on you by the very, very failed and failing Obamacare law. \u00a0Secretary Price and I, along with my entire administration, and a lot of people in the Senate and a lot of people in the House are committed to repealing and replacing this disastrous law with a healthcare plan that lowers cost, expands choice, and ensures access for everyone.<\/p>\n<p>You represent the millions of Americans who have seen their Obamacare premiums increase by double digits and even triple digits. \u00a0In Arizona, the rates were over 116 percent last year &#8212; 116 percent increase. \u00a0And the deductibles are so high you don\u2019t even get to use it.<\/p>\n<p>Many Americans lost their plans and doctors altogether, and one-third of the counties &#8212; think of it, one-third only have one insurer left. \u00a0The insurance companies are fleeing. \u00a0They\u2019re gone; so many gone. \u00a0The House bill to repeal and replace Obamacare will provide you and your fellow citizens with more choices &#8212; far more choices at lower cost. \u00a0Americans should pick the plan they want. \u00a0Now they\u2019ll be able to pick the plan they want, they\u2019ll be able to pick the doctor they want. \u00a0They\u2019ll be able to do a lot of things that the other plan was supposed to give and it never gave. \u00a0You don\u2019t pick your doctor, you don\u2019t pick your plan &#8212; you remember that one.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re not going to have one-size-fits-all. \u00a0Instead, we\u2019re going to be working to unleash the power of the private marketplace to let insurers come in and compete for your business. \u00a0And you\u2019ll see rates go down, down, down, and you\u2019ll see plans go up, up, up. \u00a0You\u2019ll have a lot of choices. \u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-17871\" src=\"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/President-Trump-254x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"254\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/President-Trump-254x300.jpg 254w, https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/President-Trump.jpg 384w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 254px) 100vw, 254px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll have plans that nobody is even thinking of today. \u00a0They will have plans that today nobody has even thought about, because the market is going to enforce that, with millions and millions of people wanting healthcare. \u00a0More competition and less regulation will finally bring down the cost of care, and I think it will bring it down very significantly. \u00a0Unfortunately, it takes a while to get there, because you have to let that marketplace kick in, and it\u2019s going to take a little while to get there. \u00a0Once it does, it\u2019s going to be a thing of beauty. \u00a0I wish it didn\u2019t take a year or two years, but that\u2019s what\u2019s going to happen, and that\u2019s the way it works. \u00a0But we\u2019re willing to go through that process.<\/p>\n<p>Working together, we\u2019ll get the job done. \u00a0And I have to say this just in closing, and then I want to hear some of your stories, and we\u2019ll let the press stay for your stories if you like. \u00a0But the press is making Obamacare look so good all of a sudden. \u00a0I\u2019m watching the news &#8212; looks so good. \u00a0They\u2019re showing these reports about &#8220;this one gets so much and this one gets so much.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>First of all, it covers very few people. \u00a0And it\u2019s imploding. \u00a0And \u201917 will be the worst year. \u00a0And I said it once, I\u2019ll say it again &#8212; because Obama is gone &#8212; things are going to be very bad this year for the people with Obamacare. \u00a0They\u2019re going to have tremendous increases.<br \/>\nAnd the Republicans, frankly, are putting themselves in a very bad position &#8212; and I tell this to Tom Price all the time &#8212; by repealing Obamacare &#8212; because people aren\u2019t going to see the truly devastating effects of Obamacare. \u00a0They\u2019re not going to see the devastation in \u201917 and \u201918 and \u201919. \u00a0It&#8217;ll be gone by then, whether we do it or not. \u00a0It\u2019ll be imploded off the map.<\/p>\n<p>So the press is making it look so wonderful so that if we end it, everyone is going to say, &#8220;Oh, remember how great Obamacare used to be, remember how wonderful it used to be, it was so great.&#8221; \u00a0It\u2019s a little bit like President Obama. \u00a0When he left, people liked him. \u00a0When he was here, people didn\u2019t like him so much. \u00a0That\u2019s the way life goes. \u00a0That\u2019s human nature.<\/p>\n<p>The fact is, Obamacare is a disaster. \u00a0And I say this to the Republicans all the time: \u00a0By repealing it, by getting rid of it, by ending it, everyone is going to say, &#8220;Oh, it used to be so great.&#8221; \u00a0But it wasn\u2019t great. \u00a0And I tell Tom Price and I tell Paul Ryan, I tell everyone of them &#8212; I say, the best thing you can do politically is wait a year, because it\u2019s going to blow itself off the map. \u00a0But that\u2019s the wrong thing to do for the country, it\u2019s the wrong thing to do for our citizens.<\/p>\n<p>So with that, I\u2019d like to introduce some of the folks and you could say a few words about your experience with Obamacare. \u00a0And perhaps the press will even report it. \u00a0(Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>Would you like to start?<\/p>\n<p>MS. COUEY: \u00a0Yeah, thank you for this opportunity, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Thank you. \u00a0Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>MS. COUEY: \u00a0Our rates are three times what they were before Obamacare started. \u00a0We have one provider in our county. \u00a0We have very little options for what we can and cannot do. \u00a0We\u2019re a small-business owner; we\u2019re actually not a brick-and-mortar, we are cattle ranchers. \u00a0We can\u2019t afford our equipment if we\u2019re paying these rates year after year after year.<\/p>\n<p>Our food source is in jeopardy because of this healthcare law. \u00a0It\u2019s my basic &#8212;<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0I know. \u00a0Sorry. \u00a0Don&#8217;t worry. \u00a0Don&#8217;t worry. \u00a0This is what\u2019s happening. \u00a0It\u2019s gone up three times, and then you have to pay &#8212; if you don\u2019t want to use it, you have to pay. \u00a0That\u2019s the all-time beauty. \u00a0If you don\u2019t want to use it, you have to pay. \u00a0And, Tom, you have to pay big league, right? \u00a0Some people say, well, if I use it, I use it, I\u2019m paying too much. \u00a0If I don\u2019t use it, I have to pay a penalty. \u00a0And do you have to pay penalties? \u00a0Do you ever do that, or you have to &#8212;<\/p>\n<p>MS. COUEY: \u00a0We haven\u2019t as of yet, but we were uninsured in December. \u00a0They dropped us for the fourth time, after we paid over $50,000 last year for healthcare expenses.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0And it\u2019s gone up triple.<\/p>\n<p>MS. COUEY: \u00a0Yes.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0And before Obamacare, you actually had good healthcare.<\/p>\n<p>MS. COUEY: \u00a0We did. \u00a0We had a fantastic plan.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0A lot of people &#8212; nobody ever takes that into account. \u00a0I\u2019m not saying the system before was good, because it wasn\u2019t, but millions of people had great healthcare that they loved.<\/p>\n<p>Now, when you start deducting those millions of people from the so-called people that are happy, you have a very small number of people that are happy. \u00a0That, I can tell you.<\/p>\n<p>How about you?<\/p>\n<p>PARTICIPANT: \u00a0Well, we\u2019re kind of the same story as Carrie. \u00a0In 2009, I left a full-time job to be a stay-at-home mom to two kids. \u00a0For our family, it was never an option to get government assistance; we just don\u2019t believe our neighbors should work harder so that we don\u2019t have to. \u00a0So my husband said, if you can pay for our insurance &#8212; which at the time was $650 a month for private health insurance for a family of four &#8212; then that was fine.<\/p>\n<p>From 2009 to 2015, that private insurance went up by 102 percent. \u00a0Finally, his employer told us in 2015, when it went up the final time an additional 34 percent, that they couldn\u2019t carry our family anymore, so I had to enter back into the workforce but I couldn\u2019t find a job that offered health insurance. \u00a0So we entered under Obamacare, and we believed the sales pitch that, &#8220;If you like your doctor you can keep your doctor.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>So even though we were going to have to pay $1,300 a month for Obamacare, we thought we\u2019d still be okay with our doctors. \u00a0We were on it for five months. \u00a0Our pediatrician for our children wouldn\u2019t take it, my doctor wouldn\u2019t take it, so we paid them $8,000 in five months and were never able to use it.<\/p>\n<p>And I think what makes our family story unique is, we\u2019re by no means wealthy. \u00a0In 2014, when we entered the exchange, we made $53,000 as a family, my husband and I together &#8212; that was our gross income. \u00a0And then in 2015, we made together &#8212; since I had gone back to work &#8212; $74,000. \u00a0But when you look at paying $10,000 in health premiums and insurance &#8212; and health costs &#8212;<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0So it\u2019s been a rough go.<\/p>\n<p>PARTICIPANT: \u00a0It has, it\u2019s been hard.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0How have you found Obamacare?<\/p>\n<p>PARTICIPANT: \u00a0We\u2019ll be so happy to see it gone. \u00a0I mean, it\u2019s almost put our family in financial ruin, and I think that\u2019s the story for a lot of people.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0It\u2019s put businesses in financial ruin.<\/p>\n<p>PARTICIPANT: \u00a0That\u2019s right.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0It\u2019s one of the biggest costs &#8212; it has been disastrous for businesses.<\/p>\n<p>Go ahead, sir.<\/p>\n<p>MR. SEIFE: \u00a0Yes, first of all, Mr. President, thank you for having us here.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>MR. SEIFE: \u00a0I think it\u2019s a great opportunity to talk to the American people, people like ourselves that have struggled with the healthcare law.<\/p>\n<p>I myself am from Miami. \u00a0I haven\u2019t had very much time to prepare, but the President of the United States calls and I\u2019m here. \u00a0(Laughter.) \u00a0So it just so happened I had &#8212; every single year for the past couple of years I\u2019ve had a different insurance every single year. \u00a0Before, I had an individual plan, my wife and I &#8212; my wife is an attorney, I\u2019m a computer programmer; I\u2019m a small business, my wife is a small business. \u00a0And I just don\u2019t understand what happened. \u00a0I have a daughter with a disability. \u00a0We\u2019ve changed our plan every year.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0So your insurance was good before Obamacare.<\/p>\n<p>MR. SEIFE: \u00a0Oh, absolutely. \u00a0I never had &#8212;<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Many people are like that. \u00a0Many, many plans were great before Obamacare. \u00a0They were so happy. \u00a0And that doesn\u2019t justify the system before Obamacare, but people are miserable now, and it\u2019s putting people out of business and it\u2019s putting them in the poorhouse.<\/p>\n<p>Go ahead.<\/p>\n<p>MR. SEIFE: \u00a0It\u2019s just that we had to &#8212; they cancelled our plans, and I couldn\u2019t understand why they cancelled our plans. \u00a0So we had no other choice. \u00a0I remember the President of the United States say that individual plans will not be covered, you need to have an employer-based plan. \u00a0I do not work for the government, I do not work for a large employer.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Very unfair.<\/p>\n<p>MR. SEIFE: \u00a0We are ground zero. \u00a0My case is ground zero for the healthcare law.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0And you represent a lot of people in the same situation.<\/p>\n<p>MR. SEIFE: \u00a0Absolutely.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0It\u2019s very unfair.<\/p>\n<p>MR. SEIFE: \u00a0Like my friend here, she\u2019s in the same situation. \u00a0And I think it\u2019s very, very unfair. \u00a0And I think that the real scenario was that this law was supposed to implode, like you were saying. \u00a0And my parents are from &#8212; came from communist Cuba, they know what socialism is all about. \u00a0So I know what socialism is, and that\u2019s pretty much what &#8212; this whole system was meant to have one single provider.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Well, it turns out it&#8217;s so expensive it\u2019s almost not socialism when you think about it. \u00a0(Laughter.) \u00a0You have to pay so much.<\/p>\n<p>What do you think? \u00a0Go ahead.<\/p>\n<p>MS. SERTICH: \u00a0I\u2019m from Arizona, and I can tell you that the 116-percent increase is real, it\u2019s not a myth. \u00a0I lost my plan three times during the Obamacare era. \u00a0After losing it this year I decided to opt out. \u00a0So right now I do not have traditional healthcare.<\/p>\n<p>And I went from a $365-a-month premium last year to a $809-premium this year.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0And a higher deductible.<\/p>\n<p>MS. SERTICH: \u00a0The deductible was going to be $6,800, no copays. \u00a0So if I went to the doctor, I would be paying out of my pocket, and it just didn\u2019t seem like a good use of my money. \u00a0I thought I would be a better steward of that $17,000 at the end of the year should I have reached my deductible, and just decided to opt out. \u00a0I went into a faith-based share program, and I\u2019m doing that.<\/p>\n<p>One of the reasons I felt like I can do this &#8212; totally taking a leap of faith &#8212; is because I think &#8212; I know you\u2019re going to get this taken care of. \u00a0So I thought it\u2019s only going to be for a year. \u00a0I will be on this program, I will opt out of traditional healthcare, or health insurance. \u00a0And I think you\u2019re going to get it done.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0You have a lot of people in Arizona paying a big penalty?<\/p>\n<p>MS. SERTICH: \u00a0Yes.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0You\u2019re paying the penalty?<\/p>\n<p>MS. SERTICH: \u00a0Well, and my husband also owns his own business and can\u2019t afford to offer insurance to employees. \u00a0And his employees who are also in the independent market, it\u2019s just getting too much. \u00a0And I\u2019ve had individual insurance for 25 years, since I started my business. \u00a0So I\u2019ve always been in that individual market, I\u2019ve always done what was right. \u00a0I took responsibility for myself, made sure I was covered for healthcare because I\u2019m a businessperson, I don\u2019t want any huge healthcare expenses to affect the money that could be going to my business now having to go to a health expense.<\/p>\n<p>So I was in my mid-20s when I said, you know what, I\u2019ve got to get &#8212; we\u2019ve got to get square with this, I have to have independent insurance. \u00a0So, I have.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Well, thank you very much. \u00a0The people of Arizona have been hit very, very hard. \u00a0At least 116 percent. \u00a0Here\u2019s the bad news: \u00a0It\u2019s going to go up more this year. \u00a0Now, if we repeal it, nobody is going to know that, and the press is going to say how wonderful it was, and, gee, we miss Obamacare. \u00a0That\u2019s the problem. \u00a0It\u2019s the biggest problem I have, Tom. \u00a0We\u2019re going to do them a big favor, but it\u2019s not the right way.<\/p>\n<p>Go ahead.<\/p>\n<p>MR. BROWN: \u00a0Mr. President, thank you.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Thank you very much, Louis.<\/p>\n<p>MR. BROWN: \u00a0My name is Louis Brown. \u00a0I work for the Christ Medicus Foundation. \u00a0I&#8217;m an attorney by trade. \u00a0In 2009, when the Affordable Care Act was going through Congress &#8212; what became the Affordable Care Act &#8212; I was working for the Democratic National Committee at the time. \u00a0I resigned my position because I could tell that the Democratic bill that was going through Congress wanted to publicly fund abortion, and that\u2019s not something that I could go along with. \u00a0So I resigned my position, later worked for Congressman Dan Lungren in Congress, and went on to eventually work for the Christ Medicus Foundation. \u00a0And we\u2019re focused on building a culture of life, protecting religious liberty in healthcare, protecting the right of conscience, prohibiting the public funding of abortion, and also prohibiting non-discrimination against pro-life medical providers.<\/p>\n<p>Especially as an African American, I&#8217;m a graduate of Howard University School of Law.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Good school.<\/p>\n<p>MR. BROWN: \u00a0Yeah. \u00a0Thank you, Mr. President. \u00a0And I know from Saint John Paul II &#8212; he said that all of our human and civil rights that we believe in as Americans, that we share as Americans &#8212; the right to healthcare, the right to medical care, to housing, to all of these different things &#8212; are illusory if the right to life isn\u2019t defended with maximum determination.<\/p>\n<p>Seventeen million African Americans, it\u2019s shown, that probably have been aborted since Roe v. Wade. \u00a0And I supported you in the presidential election, gave several speeches in Michigan telling folks to vote pro-life in the general election, and I\u2019m really happy that you\u2019re here to continue the bipartisan belief that there should be no taxpayer-funding of abortion, and also really to support your effort to show that the patient, the human person, should be at the center of our American healthcare system, not the government. \u00a0The government has its place, but the patient should be the center. \u00a0So I\u2019m happy to support you, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Thank you. \u00a0That\u2019s so nice. \u00a0Thank you, I appreciate it. \u00a0Great job.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, go ahead.<\/p>\n<p>DR. SETHI: \u00a0Mr. President, thank you so much for inviting me. \u00a0My name is Dr. Manny, and I run a nonprofit called Healthy Tennessee, and across Tennessee I\u2019m a trauma surgeon. \u00a0But what we do is &#8212;<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0I\u2019ll be in Tennessee on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>DR. MANNY: \u00a0We look forward to hosting you, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0I\u2019ll see you there.<\/p>\n<p>DR. MANNY: \u00a0Yes, sir. \u00a0We do these large community events in rural Appalachia, across Tennessee, where we host these health fairs taking care of patients. \u00a0So it\u2019s really a grassroots effort &#8212; something that you understand better than anybody &#8212; where people come out just to help people. \u00a0Doctors, nurses on the ground, helping folks with preventative medicine, educating folks. \u00a0That\u2019s what we do.<\/p>\n<p>But the one thing I\u2019ve been seeing across Tennessee is that folks really can\u2019t afford these rising premiums. \u00a0So what they\u2019re doing is, effectively, they\u2019re paying the tax penalty because it\u2019s cheaper and it works out better than paying for the insurance. \u00a0And so that\u2019s been a big problem that we\u2019re seeing across the state. \u00a0So thank you so much for what you\u2019re doing to tackle this problem.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0So you\u2019ve seen a big problem, and the way out of the problem is to do a plan much more like the plan we\u2019re going to get done.<\/p>\n<p>DR. MANNY: \u00a0Yes, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0We\u2019ll get that out &#8212; without penalties too, by the way. \u00a0People don\u2019t mention all of the facts.<\/p>\n<p>You know, the other thing about what we\u2019re talking about &#8212; we really have a three-phase plan. \u00a0They only want to talk about the first phase. \u00a0The first phase is just the most basic of phases, and then you have phase two, which is largely done by our Secretary, and then you have phase three, which is a lot of the bells and whistles. \u00a0But they don\u2019t want to talk about the bells and whistles. \u00a0So they\u2019re really comparing things to something that won\u2019t be there for long.<\/p>\n<p>And the reason we have to do it that way is because of Congress. \u00a0I\u2019d love to do it all in one package, but if you did it that way, it can\u2019t get done. \u00a0So we\u2019re going to get something done that\u2019s going to be terrific.<\/p>\n<p>I appreciate it. \u00a0Thank you, doctor, very much.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, sir. \u00a0Go ahead.<\/p>\n<p>MR. BROWN: \u00a0Thank you, Mr. President. \u00a0I\u2019d like to thank you for the opportunity to be here today. \u00a0I, too, am from Tennessee, and I, too, am in the farming industry.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Good.<\/p>\n<p>MR. BROWN: \u00a0And the effect that I\u2019ve had through Obamacare is my wife&#8217;s and my daughter&#8217;s insurance is supplied through her work, I buy my own. \u00a0And I\u2019ve seen the increases, since Obamacare, to the tune of about $5,000 a year, just for me. \u00a0And I have considered taking the option of the penalty because &#8212; my problem with the penalty is, though, if I opt out of the program, and buy a private plan &#8212; just a catastrophic plan because I\u2019m a very healthy man &#8212; if I take that option, not only is my income penalized, but my wife\u2019s income as well, because she makes a considerable more amount of money than I do, but she has insurance. \u00a0So I don\u2019t think that\u2019s fair.<\/p>\n<p>And I don\u2019t think &#8212; the rate increase is just astronomical, and I\u2019m in the county that only has one option &#8212; BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee &#8211;and I\u2019ve got about $540-a-month premium for the $7,000 out-of-pocket deductible before I see any help at all. \u00a0And I even got to pay a high premium for a plan that I don\u2019t need or don\u2019t want &#8212;<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Will you be able to continue, in the years to come, if you have to keep going like this?<\/p>\n<p>MR. BROWN: \u00a0They\u2019re dropping out every day &#8212; the suppliers in other counties. \u00a0There\u2019s 35 counties in Tennessee that has no options at all right now. \u00a0I don\u2019t know what those folks do.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0You know what that means? \u00a0That means somebody is going to make a lot of money. \u00a0You know that. \u00a0They\u2019re going to make a lot of money. \u00a0(Laughter.) \u00a0 Somebody is going to &#8212; well, a few. \u00a0You\u2019re not going to make it. \u00a0They\u2019re going to make it. \u00a0There are people very happy about this situation.<\/p>\n<p>MR. BROWN: \u00a0Thank you for the opportunity to be here.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Well, I appreciate. \u00a0Thank you, Joel.<\/p>\n<p>Doctor?<\/p>\n<p>DR. ARMSTRONG: \u00a0Yes, sir. \u00a0Well, I\u2019m a physician in Texas, and thank you for allowing me to be here today. \u00a0And I\u2019ll tell you, what I\u2019ve seen is that a lot of patients really are not adequately covered by Obamacare. \u00a0It was supposed to cover people who had &#8212; like everyone has said here &#8212; with the rising premiums and the rising deductibles. \u00a0I take care of patients in the hospital, and the patients are shocked to get a $20,000 bill, and to find that they\u2019re responsible for $6,000 of that because their deductible is so high. \u00a0And that\u2019s just the situation that cannot continue.<\/p>\n<p>Medicaid expansion under Obamacare really doesn\u2019t cover folks either, because many physicians are not even taking Medicare. \u00a0They\u2019re not accepting it any longer in the outpatient setting. \u00a0And so folks who have chronic medical illnesses, like cancer &#8212; I mean, my wife is a breast cancer survivor, and most of her treatment was actually as an outpatient. \u00a0It was very expensive outpatient care. \u00a0Most physicians don\u2019t even accept Medicaid, so those patients are still uncovered.<\/p>\n<p>And so the Medicaid expansion really hasn\u2019t covered them. \u00a0The folks who have Obamacare insurance really are inadequately covered as well because they\u2019re still paying extremely high premiums and then having to pay extremely high deductibles. \u00a0And so it\u2019s really &#8212;<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0And do they even reach it with the high deductibles? \u00a0They don\u2019t even reach it for the most part.<\/p>\n<p>DR. ARMSTRONG: \u00a0You know, oftentimes they do not, unless they have some sort of serious medical problem, and they\u2019re in the hospital, and it\u2019s very expensive &#8212; they don\u2019t even reach their deductible oftentimes. \u00a0And so it\u2019s unfortunate. \u00a0So I really appreciate it.<\/p>\n<p>I actually read the bill that\u2019s been produced that\u2019s coming out of the House now, and I really like a lot of the changes in it. \u00a0I think that this is going to correct a lot of the issues that Obamacare has had. \u00a0So I really appreciate what you all are doing.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Well, I appreciate it, doctor. \u00a0Thank you. \u00a0Say hello to your wife.<\/p>\n<p>DR. ARMSTRONG: \u00a0Yes, sir. \u00a0I will. \u00a0Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Very nice. \u00a0Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>Gina.<\/p>\n<p>MS. SELL: \u00a0Hi, Mr. President, I\u2019m Gina. \u00a0I\u2019m from Wisconsin. \u00a0I\u2019m a nurse, I\u2019m a mom, and I am part of that huge group of middle-class families that were impacted by the ACA.<\/p>\n<p>Before ACA, we had insurance that was eventually cancelled, and I had written a letter to our senator just asking him, what do I do? \u00a0Do I quit my job completely so that we can obtain a subsidy &#8212; a job that I love, as a nurse in a hospital that I love? \u00a0Or do I uproot my family and try to find a job with benefits that doesn\u2019t even cover the medical &#8212;<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0So the healthcare is &#8212; the Obamacare forced you to actually &#8212; in a sense, forces you, economically and almost potentially, to get another job.<\/p>\n<p>MS. SELL: \u00a0Right.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Even though you like your job.<\/p>\n<p>MS. SELL: \u00a0Right. \u00a0So I did end up getting a full-time position at the hospital that I worked at. \u00a0But that came with a price because I was working three days a week, and spending time with my small children, who are my number-one priority. \u00a0And after the ACA, I was forced &#8212; because we could not afford a premium of $1,200 per month and a deductible that didn\u2019t cover anything &#8212; to find a job with benefits.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Meaning the deductible was so high that, essentially, unless you had a really big problem, you wouldn\u2019t even be able to use it.<br \/>\nThe deductible was so high that essentially unless you had a really big problem, you wouldn\u2019t even be able to use it.<\/p>\n<p>MS. SELL: \u00a0Correct, yes. \u00a0And we&#8217;re still in that boat. \u00a0I mean, right now our deductible is $6,500. \u00a0And so if I have a child who&#8217;s extremely sick, it&#8217;s going to cost me hundreds of dollars. \u00a0Just last week, my daughter had a fever, and I sent her to school for three days straight because I had to work to afford our assurance, and I couldn\u2019t afford to bring her to the doctor. \u00a0So it has been devastating for our family.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0It&#8217;s really not having insurance at all. \u00a0A lot of Obamacare, you don\u2019t really have insurance because the deductibles are so high that you really don\u2019t have insurance, if you think about it.<\/p>\n<p>All right. \u00a0Thank you very much. \u00a0Good luck.<\/p>\n<p>MS. SELL: \u00a0Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Yes, sir.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KNOX: \u00a0Mr. President, thank you very much for hosting us. \u00a0This is great. \u00a0I have to start with something. \u00a0As I was leaving the house, my 11-year-old ran up to me and said, &#8220;Dad, I&#8217;d like to have you give this to Mr. President for me.&#8221; \u00a0(Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0What do you have there? \u00a0I wished I looked that good. \u00a0(Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>MR. KNOX: \u00a0&#8220;Dear President Trump, it is a great honor to be able to write to the President of the USA. \u00a0I think you are a great President and a great man. \u00a0Also, don&#8217;t worry, the picture of you on the front of this looks nothing like you.&#8221; \u00a0(Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0(Laughter.) \u00a0That&#8217;s very nice. \u00a0Thank you. \u00a0Thank you. \u00a0I wish I looked that good.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KNOX: \u00a0So I had the privilege of meeting with Secretary Price and Vice President Pence in Cincinnati about a week and a half ago at a roundtable, and I&#8217;ll share with you what I shared with them. \u00a0I started with a quote from the great President, Ronald Reagan, who said, &#8220;The most terrifying words in the English language are we&#8217;re from the government and we&#8217;re here to help.'&#8221; \u00a0(Laughter.) \u00a0Kind of my feeling on healthcare.<\/p>\n<p>Frankly, I think that the system was broken before the last administration got their hands on it. \u00a0I started my company 21 years ago, and I had a vision of wanting to provide 100 percent full family healthcare for as long as I had a company, because I really felt in my heart that it was the right thing to do. \u00a0I was one of the last holdouts. \u00a0But, sadly, after about 15 years, I really had a choice of either having a company or being able to provide my employees that level of healthcare. \u00a0And that&#8217;s sad. \u00a0I tell my wife all the time &#8212; you can have anything you want, we just can&#8217;t everything we want. \u00a0We have the best healthcare system in the world &#8212; we do &#8212; but it needs to be fixed &#8212; whether it&#8217;s small business owners, like myself &#8212; I&#8217;m a manufacturer, I&#8217;m on several boards in the Midwest in manufacturing.<\/p>\n<p>What we&#8217;d like to see is not a government-operated market, but a free market. \u00a0I sell (inaudible) equipment for a living. \u00a0We have a trade show every year, and there&#8217;s hundreds and hundreds of people selling competitive products. \u00a0If we had a healthcare show in my town, there would be three or four people under that roof. \u00a0And as a businessman yourself, you know what that does to driving down costs or the lack thereof. \u00a0So we would like to see more of a free-market solution, going back to what made this country great &#8212; entrepreneurialism instead of empowerments; work ethics instead of welfare. \u00a0And that&#8217;s what we&#8217;d like to ask you for. \u00a0And I&#8217;d like to say thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0As you know, that&#8217;s what we&#8217;re doing largely, but we also have to take care of people that can&#8217;t afford to be in a position like you are. \u00a0So we&#8217;re going to do that. \u00a0Largely, I think beyond everything, if you look at what&#8217;s going to happen &#8212; the competitive bidding &#8212; every element of what we&#8217;re doing is competitive bidding, but we have to take care of people who need the help. \u00a0And there are a lot of people like that.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KNOX: \u00a0There&#8217;s always been a safety net in the United States, and there should be. \u00a0And, unfortunately, when I see 50,000 &#8212; or 50 million Americans taking assistance in &#8212; you know, they&#8217;re market food stamps. \u00a0That&#8217;s like &#8212; for the people who really can&#8217;t provide for themselves, you know, we&#8217;re all charitable people who are Americans, we&#8217;re the most generous nation on the face of the Earth. \u00a0So I totally believe in safety nets for those who need them, not free handouts for (inaudible).<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0We\u2019re going to help a lot of people, but we are going to be very much free market people. \u00a0They can afford &#8212; and they&#8217;ll be off the cost.<\/p>\n<p>Go ahead, Stan.<\/p>\n<p>MR. SUMMERS: \u00a0I&#8217;m Mr. Stan Summers from Box Elder County, northern Utah. \u00a0I think I&#8217;m probably the only other elected official here besides you guys. \u00a0It&#8217;s been an interesting ride to watch the healthcare system in the last 26 years. \u00a0When my son was born, he was three and a half months premature, 26 years ago. \u00a0And we had really good insurance. \u00a0We basically didn\u2019t have to pay anything out of pocket besides what we were doing from where I worked. \u00a0As time went on, you could kind of tell the healthcare system has been a little bit broke, and then all of a sudden the ACA &#8212; and I&#8217;m not going to call it the other word &#8212; I call it the last President&#8217;s healthcare program. \u00a0I don\u2019t want to say that name.<\/p>\n<p>So anyway &#8212;<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Other than that, you like him a lot, right? \u00a0(Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>MR. SUMMERS: \u00a0Yeah, exactly. \u00a0(Laughter.) \u00a0It&#8217;s gotten to the point where I own a couple of businesses too and do the things that I have to do. \u00a0I actually ran for government so I could have insurance &#8212; and won. \u00a0But now I&#8217;m looking at these people, saying, how can I provide insurance for them without raising taxes and doing these things that are happening &#8212; because everything has gone up. \u00a0Utah didn\u2019t expand Medicaid &#8212; we weren\u2019t a part of that &#8212; and we can see why now, because of the things that are happening throughout the nation with states and companies and everybody else going bankrupt.<\/p>\n<p>So it got to the point where I ended up &#8212; not only with my businesses &#8212; I have to drive a school bus to keep my wife at home with my kid that was ill. \u00a0So now I own three businesses, I drive a school bus, and I&#8217;m an elected official, to be able to continue to do the things that I need to do with healthcare. \u00a0The last three &#8212; well, the last three years &#8212;<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0So it&#8217;s gone through the roof.<\/p>\n<p>MR. SUMMERS: \u00a0Oh, I got a $6,000 deductible &#8212; HSA &#8212; but I will meet that again in three months. \u00a0So I&#8217;m at &#8212; I think my wife said morning, at 4,800 or 4,900 bucks already this year in March to be able to meet my out-of-pocket. \u00a0And so by the time April comes, I would have met that to be able to continue to do. \u00a0And if there was one thing I probably could ask you about &#8212; and my boy has got a rare disease, and I appreciate you talking about the rare [disease] community in your speeches &#8212; is that if somebody has cancer or somebody has a rare disease or continues to have problems, why do we have to do a deductible every year?<\/p>\n<p>So I\u2019m sitting there at Christmas going, okay, my deductible has been met for six or eight months, and I\u2019m going to turn around and have to do it again for the same disease, for the same symptoms, for the same everything.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0That&#8217;s interesting. \u00a0Tom, could you answer that? \u00a0That would be interesting.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY PRICE: \u00a0It\u2019s all about the risk and spreading the risk with insurance over a period of time. \u00a0But it is a challenge for individuals with chronic disease, there\u2019s no doubt about it.<\/p>\n<p>MR. SUMMERS: \u00a0And I appreciate you even thinking about it and talking about grassroots, and when you&#8217;re talking about all the people that we support with the farmers and ranchers, and the small-business people, and the people that are in manufacturing, our county is one of the largest manufacturing counties in the nation per capita. \u00a0And Nucor would love to tell you thanks &#8212; Nucor Steel would love to tell you thanks for everything you&#8217;ve been doing.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Nucor has been very good. \u00a0It\u2019s going to get better, too.<\/p>\n<p>MR. SUMMERS: \u00a0And we&#8217;ve got a ton of those. \u00a0The space program &#8212; we used to make the shuttle boosters out of ATK Thiokal. \u00a0And we\u2019d love to have the space program. \u00a0I got a really good friend.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Those days are gone, but they&#8217;re coming back.<\/p>\n<p>MR. SUMMERS: \u00a0I\u2019ve got a friend that&#8217;s going to go up in the next little bit, Lieutenant Commander Scott Maker Tingle, who is headed up on a spaceship from Russia. \u00a0But he would love to come back to the United States and be able to go up through the United States. \u00a0So all those jobs I know will come back with you.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Well, Gary Cohn, who is sitting right next to you, he\u2019s a big believer in what you&#8217;re saying &#8212; right, Gary?<\/p>\n<p>MR. SUMMERS: \u00a0If there\u2019s anything we can do to help you, the counties are behind you. \u00a0We can find you low-hanging fruit to be able to pick off that tree to help with jobs. \u00a0Just let us know where we can help.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Good. \u00a0Thank you, Stan.<\/p>\n<p>MR. SUMMERS: \u00a0Thank you for your time.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Would you have anything to say, Tom, generally speaking?<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY PRICE: \u00a0Well, let me start, Mr. President &#8212; really powerful about the consequences of the current law, and you hear people\u2019s lives that have been affected in remarkably adverse ways that sometimes you don&#8217;t think about as it relates to healthcare &#8212; whether it\u2019s businesses that haven\u2019t been able to survive, or individuals who need to take three, four, five jobs; moms that can&#8217;t be with their kids when they want. \u00a0This is about real people. \u00a0It\u2019s about real patients.<\/p>\n<p>And so working with you and your leadership, we are really excited about the opportunity to put in place a patient-centered system where patients and families and doctors are making decisions, and not Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0What about the concept that &#8212; and everybody knows it\u2019s happening &#8212; that Obamacare is imploding, that if we don&#8217;t do anything, it\u2019s not even going to be around in another year? \u00a0The insurance companies are fleeing. \u00a0But now it seems to be getting this wonderful press like it\u2019s a wonderful thing, and it\u2019s a horrible thing actually, and getting worse. \u00a0And \u201917 will be, by far, the worst year so far.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY PRICE: \u00a0Yes.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Because a lot of things were put into \u201917. \u00a0But \u201917 is going to be worse, and I assume \u201918 will be worse even than \u201917. \u00a0So it\u2019s essentially gone. \u00a0How do you respond to that? \u00a0Because I\u2019ve been telling you, &#8220;Why don&#8217;t we wait? \u00a0Just let it implode, and let\u2019s not take the blame.&#8221; \u00a0I\u2019ve been telling you that as an option. \u00a0It\u2019s not an option I like, frankly, but it\u2019s certainly an option. \u00a0How do you respond to that?<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY PRICE: \u00a0I think \u201918 can be better if we implement the law and we utilize the regulatory process to make some &#8212;<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Well, I\u2019m not saying that. \u00a0I\u2019m saying, if we don&#8217;t implement the law, what happens with Obamacare? \u00a0What\u2019s going on with Obamacare?<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY PRICE: \u00a0What you\u2019ll see is a magnification of all these stories around this table: \u00a0more businesses being harmed, more individuals not having the kind of income that they &#8212; disposable income that they would use, more moms and dads not able to care for their kids in the way that they believe to be most appropriate, more people getting insurance but no care. \u00a0This is about real people\u2019s lives, and that&#8217;s why it\u2019s so important.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Getting insurance but not being able to use it because the deductibles are so high.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY PRICE: \u00a0That&#8217;s exactly right.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0And you hear these stories where they&#8217;re paying a fortune for insurance, and then you hear how high their deductible is. \u00a0And unless they have a tragedy in their family, they&#8217;re never going to be able to use it.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY PRICE: \u00a0Yes, this fellow has to &#8212; $13,000 before the insurance kicks in. \u00a0That&#8217;s what he has to pay &#8212; $13,000.<\/p>\n<p>MR. SEIFE: \u00a0That&#8217;s like not having insurance.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY PRICE: \u00a0That&#8217;s like not having insurance.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Well, keep working it.<\/p>\n<p>MS. SERTICH: \u00a0They&#8217;re catastrophic plans now.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY PRICE: \u00a0Exactly.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0He\u2019s been working very hard, and he\u2019s doing a great job.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Vice President, do you have anything to say?<\/p>\n<p>THE VICE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Mr. President, I think what unequivocally these great Americans see in high relief is you&#8217;re someone who puts people over politics. \u00a0And I just want to thank all of them for coming, and in front of the national media, talking about the real world and impacts of Obamacare. \u00a0You&#8217;ve said it consistently over the last two years that Obamacare has failed. \u00a0But these people are emblematic of the Americans that Obamacare has failed. \u00a0And I just am so grateful for their time, but so grateful for your compassionate leadership in driving the Congress and driving our nation toward better healthcare outcomes for them and better solutions built on those American principles of more consumer choices, more free market, but also, as you said, the caring for the most vulnerable by allowing our states to innovate and medicate in ways that will create even better healthcare coverage than they have today.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Thank you, Mike. \u00a0Thank you, everybody. \u00a0Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>Q \u00a0 \u00a0Mr. President, do you have any message for those who are concerned about losing their insurance, whether it be Medicaid or higher costs (inaudible)?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0It will get better. \u00a0If we&#8217;re allowed to do what we want to do, it will get better &#8212; much better. \u00a0Hopefully it will get very good.<\/p>\n<p>Q \u00a0 \u00a0So will it take long?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0It takes a period of time. \u00a0Thank you, press.<\/p>\n<p>END<br \/>\n12:00 P.M. EDT<\/p>\n<h2>PLEASE NOTE:<\/h2>\n<p>Please post comments related to this video and press release at the White House YouTube site <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ts_C_WivWGI\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Remarks by President Trump in a Listening Session on Healthcare Roosevelt Room 11:27 A.M. EDT &#8211; March 13, 2017 THE PRESIDENT: \u00a0Thank you all for being here today. \u00a0It\u2019s a great honor for you to share your personal stories of struggle under the enormous strain imposed on you by the very, very failed and failing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17871,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking","last_archivepost"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18653"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18655,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18653\/revisions\/18655"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}