Peter Welch Tells RFK Jr. To His Face That His Policies Are Making Healthcare Less Affordable

4 months ago

At a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Thursday, Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) questioned HHS Sec. RFK Jr. about the affordability crisis in health care.

Transcript

00:00Senator Welch. Mr. Chairman, thank you. I want to sum up, and I want to make three

00:10points. First, we have a health care affordability crisis in this country. And

00:19second, Secretary Kennedy's policies is making that affordability crisis worse,

00:26not better. And third, Mr. Chairman, the United States Senate is not doing its job.

00:34Health care, citizens of the United States, our employers, our taxpayers, and our

00:43families pay the most and get the least. That has been persistent and chronic, and

00:48it's not being addressed, it's being aggregated. Let me be specific. In Vermont,

00:52a family of four that makes $82,000 in income with premium support on

01:00Obamacare now pays $6,970 for their health care premium. That is going to

01:08increase $23,000 to $30,000. That is unaffordable, it's shocking, and it's cruel. The big

01:20beautiful bill that we're talking about. Vermonters are going to lose 45,000

01:25families lose health care. That is going to be a hammer blow to our hospitals, because

01:31those folks who lose health care don't get a guarantee they won't get sick, and

01:35they're going to show up at our community hospitals. Our community hospitals are

01:38going to treat them, and they aren't going to be compensated. And it's why Vermont

01:42community hospitals are on a financial thin ice, and that's true that about 338

01:50hospitals around our country are in danger of closing. Second, Mr. Chairman, I

01:58believe the Secretary made assurances to this committee, and he has not kept the

02:03promises he made. Prices have not come down, they've gone up. He assured Senator

02:11Cassidy that he would not change the standards for vaccine review. Yet since

02:16his confirmation, all 17 members of the Vaccine Advisory Board have been fired by

02:23him. He has limited the use of COVID-19 vaccine, and he has inexplicably

02:31canceled $500 million in vaccine research and funding. So, you know, I'm not

02:39surprised Stephen Miller credited you with being the crown jewel of the Cabinet. In

02:47my observation about the crown jewel of the Cabinet and the policies of folks who

02:51get rewarded are the ones who fire those in service that speak truth to power.

02:58Susan Minaris, we've gone over that, fired because she refused to fire herself, staff

03:03without cause, and refused to rubber stamp changes to the vaccine schedule, without

03:08data. The head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics was fired because she gave a

03:16report with honest numbers about the job report. CIA Russia expert who'd been there

03:23for 30 years fired after the meeting with Putin. So, Mr. President, that is serious.

03:32And worrisome. But I want to finally end by challenging us in the United States Senate

03:40to do our job. We have a constitutional responsibility to be a check and balance.

03:45And the fear of our founders was that there would be a concentration of power in one

03:51branch and that would lead to catastrophic consequences for our country. And what has

03:56Congress done on oversight and advice and consent? We have confirmed a vaccine denier. On tariffs,

04:04we've given up our constitutional responsibility. On appropriations, we're bending the knee to

04:09an administration that is rescinding and decided what to spend and what not to spend despite what

04:14our law in a bipartisan way was passed. We cannot cede power. And there are consequences. A crumbling health

04:22care system, a deficit exploding, and our allies losing faith in us. You know, Mr. Secretary,

04:32in the past you have accused some of my colleagues of being in the pocket of pharma, pharma shills. You

04:38did that with Senator Warren today. You've done it in the past with Senator Bennett and Senator Sanders. You

04:44are not a pharma shill. But I believe we have to fight pharma and bring down the prices. And Senator

04:53Cortez Mastow spoke about the legislation that we now have that would reverse the $5 billion handout to

05:03big pharma in the one big beautiful bill. And when I leave today with Senator Wyden, we are going to go to

05:09the floor and seek unanimous consent to pass our legislation that would reverse that giveaway.

05:15And I ask you to put your policy in your body where your mouth is and join us in supporting that

05:23bill to restore price negotiation power so those pharma prices can come down from being the highest in the

05:31world to something within range of reason. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.

05:39I'm I'll see you again.

05:45Bye-bye.

05:52member

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Peter Welch Tells RFK Jr. To His Face That His Policies Are Making Healthcare Less Affordable

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