SENATOR MARSHALL: THE MOMENTUM IS ON OUR SIDE

The following information was released by Kansas Senator Roger Marshall:

Senator Marshall Joins CBS News to Discuss His Healthcare Plan

On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas),joinedThe Takeout with Major Garretton CBS News to discuss his plan to make healthcare affordable by empowering patients rather than insurance companies.

ClickHEREor on the image above to listen to Senator Marshall's full interview.

On ACA subsidy fraud:

"So look, health care is in a crisis, and the last thing we want to be doing is throwing money away. To your point, the GAO said that there were 58,000 dead people that the government was paying premiums to insurance companies for an average of nine months, 58,000 dead people. This one person's social security number was used 125 times. So, the least we could do is eliminate the fraud. I give you one more data point: one out of three people on Obamacare did not make a claim that year. So, a lot of people are fictitious. Head to hunters who went out signed them up for Obamacare. And look, I want everyone to have access to meaningful, affordable health care, but we can't be throwing away money like we are right now."

On votes to advance a plan:

"Yeah, well, again, I want to go back that health care is in a crisis, and what our plan does is put patients in charge, not insurance companies. And every day we're gaining momentum. No, I don't have the votes yet, but we're working towards that. Again, what we want to do is take money that we were given to insurance companies, put them into your health care savings account, and pair that with price tags. We want to give consumers exactly what the costs are and then let you make the choices. Economists believe that will bring the cost of health care down for everybody, not just people in Obamacare, but everybody, some 20% so yes, we have a plan. Yes, we're gaining momentum. We're working across the aisle, and I hope that we can get across the finish line. So again, I'm just taking one step forward every day. Momentum is on our side."

On enhanced subsidies expiration:

"And look, the premiums are going to go up even if we do add these extended but the main Obamacare, which pays for about 80% of premiums for people under 400% of the poverty level, those are going to stay in place. There's the people over 400% of poverty level that are going to fill this really squeeze. But the real squeeze is the cost of health care for everybody, and that's what we need to address, and that's why we need to pass our transparency bill. Our price tag bills would do more to bring the cost of health care down than all these other plans out there. Look, tackling Obamacare is like tackling a buffalo that just ran through a barbed wire fence. And every time you try to set a piece of that fence free, you get poked by another part. It's complicated, but again, health care is in a crisis. I'm going to keep working at it."

On President Trump's stance:

"Well, I never would try to speak for the President, but certainly he's blessed the most important component of our plan, and this is something we've been talking about for years, that he wants to empower patients, not insurance companies, that he wants to take these enhanced subsidies, and give them the patients to put them into a health care savings account where they make choices. Right now, look, I think this is a compliment from the President that he believes that and understands this is a complex issue, and this is why the people of America elected the senators to figure it out. The White House is there to enforce, to take care of the fraud, all those other types of things. They can help us set up some type of reinsurance, health insurance program as well. But look, this job is a problem for the senators to figure out the House members. I've been working on this, not for a week or two, but now for eight years up here."

On hepatitis vaccines:

"Well, Senator Cassidy and I are allowed to disagree from time to time. He's one of my very best friends. I want to empower patients and doctors. I want the doctors to explain to patients, to moms, to grandparents, to fathers, of course, why their child needs this hepatitis vaccine, and I happen to think they don't need it on day one. But if you and your doctor decide you want your child to have it on day one, go ahead. I would rather have the immune system of that child develop a little bit and assess risk factors. Look, Hepatitis B is a sexually transmitted disease, or else, it's transmitted through IV sharing IV drugs as well from drug abusers. Occasionally, if there's a person with personal contact, but we identify all those things through the pregnancy, and if we're unsure of the status, yes, let's give that baby the hepatitis B vaccine. But I think this is another situation where the CDC is trying to empower the patient and let them make the decision along with their doctor."

On vaccine efficiency:

"No, not at all. I don't question the efficacy of it. I've had the hepatitis B vaccine, but I'm saying a one-day-old baby does not need it. I would want that immune system to develop a little bit, and whether it's at one month or three months or a year, if there's no risk factors, I don't see the upside in doing that. Look, I'm perfectly fine with the timing right now, the polio vaccine, the MMR, the D tap, those types of things, but I see no rush again. Hepatitis B is a sexually transmitted disease, or else, unless your baby is going to go play in a sand pit with IV drug needles, I don't see why the baby needs the vaccine at one day of age."