WEBVTT - 12-12-25 Bill Cunningham Show 0:00:07.840 --> 0:00:11.080 Bill Cunningham, the great American, of course. Right now the 0:00:11.119 --> 0:00:13.880 Congress is debating, if that's what it's called, whether to 0:00:14.000 --> 0:00:17.360 have more subsidies or less subsidies for Obamacare that controls 0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:19.320 about seven or eight percent of the healthcare. The great 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:22.760 majority of us have healthcare through our employer, through VA, 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:26.439 through Medicare or Medicaid, and we don't have the Obamacare subsidies. 0:00:26.640 --> 0:00:29.200 What you're going to skyrocket and they're going to be 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:32.199 done with in about what about three weeks. People are 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:34.919 on the Obamacare were lied to in the beginning by 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:37.440 Obama who said that if you like your plan, keep 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:39.879 your plan, like your doctor, keep your doctor. But the 0:00:39.880 --> 0:00:42.920 best part, Obama said would be that premiums will go 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:45.960 down on average by twenty five hundred dollars a year 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:49.600 and it would reduce the deficit. Now, I hate to 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:52.440 go back in time for facts, but that's what Obama promised. 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:54.640 It didn't turn out that way, John, and you and 0:00:54.680 --> 0:00:58.480 I now is a fine American, Beth Kaiser. She's the 0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:02.080 senior vice president of the West Region for Anthem Blue 0:01:02.080 --> 0:01:04.560 Crossing Blue Shield, one of the four or five largest 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:08.840 insurers in the world. And Beth Kaiser welcome, I think 0:01:08.840 --> 0:01:10.680 for the first time to the Bill Cunningham Show. 0:01:10.880 --> 0:01:12.720 And first of all, why are you doing this? 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:15.880 Because most of the time insurance company executives hide under 0:01:15.880 --> 0:01:16.400 the covers. 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:17.520 Why are you doing this? 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:21.280 Well, Bill, I'm proud to be with you in Ohio today, 0:01:21.319 --> 0:01:24.120 and I mean the reason we're doing this is at Anthem, 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:26.399 Blue Cross, and Blue Shield. If we don't manage these 0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:30.280 unaffordable healthcare costs, it will become inaccessible healthcare and we 0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:32.640 don't want that in Ohio. So we must have a 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:34.920 seat at the table with all the other stakeholders to 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:35.480 address this. 0:01:35.800 --> 0:01:38.360 It's a big question. Why is it unaffordable? Why are 0:01:38.360 --> 0:01:44.040 there cost guy rocketing? How come we pay more for insurance, 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:46.640 more for medical care than any country in the world 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:47.840 and get less results. 0:01:47.840 --> 0:01:48.360 Why is that? 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:52.240 Well, I said, there's a lot of factors in there, 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:53.880 but the ones that I know to be true for 0:01:53.960 --> 0:01:57.840 Ohio is we have an aging population, we have increased 0:01:57.920 --> 0:02:02.160 chronic conditions. You also mentioned and earlier about escalating costs. 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:05.840 We have escalating drug prices, we have provider consolidation, we 0:02:05.920 --> 0:02:08.880 have fraud and abuse, and we have ongoing legislative changes 0:02:08.880 --> 0:02:12.360 that you mentioned that also can draw that can increase costs. 0:02:13.360 --> 0:02:16.480 Are you in the business of providing good healthcare to 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:19.440 Ohioans or in the business and making money? 0:02:19.639 --> 0:02:20.240 Which is it? 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:25.320 We are in the business of trying to keep Ohioans healthy. 0:02:25.720 --> 0:02:28.080 That is our mission and our vision is to improve 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:31.840 the health of humanity, and specifically they're in Ohio, so 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:32.680 that is our mission. 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:35.440 Are you involved with the Obamacare subsidies? Is that part 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:38.360 of what you do? Is the vice president there of Anthem. 0:02:38.560 --> 0:02:40.519 Are you involved in Obamacare subsidies? 0:02:42.120 --> 0:02:42.720 Were? 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:44.200 Absolutely. 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:47.000 We're involved in conversations at the local level and at 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:51.960 the federal level with these important discussions around subsidies and 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:55.600 making sure that individuals stay covered and have access to 0:02:55.639 --> 0:02:56.600 affordable healthcare. 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:01.200 Why did the promises of what never happened? 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:05.880 Well, I wish I could speak to that, but I'm 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:07.920 not going to go there. We would, we'd probably be 0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:10.440 here till Sunday. But what I will say what we're 0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:12.560 doing about it at Anton, Blue Cross and Blue Shield 0:03:12.600 --> 0:03:15.720 is we're looking at ways that we can help curb 0:03:16.520 --> 0:03:20.880 the affordability crisis. And we're doing that through partnerships with 0:03:20.919 --> 0:03:24.520 our providers, with our legislators, and for example, I'll give 0:03:24.520 --> 0:03:26.399 you an example of what we're doing in the hospital 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:31.200 space with out of network physicians. So in twenty twenty six, 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:34.680 we're implementing a policy with our hospital providers and partners 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:41.000 that impatient that will curb out of network specialists from 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:43.160 using in network. 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:44.120 Hospitals to build. 0:03:44.560 --> 0:03:46.240 And so you say, well, what will that do if 0:03:46.240 --> 0:03:48.240 you ask me that bill, What that will do is 0:03:48.320 --> 0:03:52.440 that will actually encourage those out of network specialists to come. 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:55.800 In network and will help lure the cost. So that's 0:03:55.800 --> 0:03:58.640 good for our members, that's good for employers, that's good 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:00.000 for all. 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:02.720 We saw an editorial in the Inquirer a few days 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:06.320 ago from a doctor who spends He said, he's discussed 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:09.240 with the whole medical care industry. This is from a doctor, 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:12.240 and I know doctor friends of mine that have quit 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:15.200 in their sixties. They said they can't take it anymore 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:18.760 because they spend more time on paperwork than on meeting 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:21.320 with patients, and they have large numbers of people in 0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:24.800 their offices who deal with paperwork with insurance companies and 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:28.560 not with healthcare. How would you respond to that charge 0:04:28.560 --> 0:04:31.159 from the physicians themselves that they spend too much time 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:32.919 on paperwork and not healthcare. 0:04:34.720 --> 0:04:36.440 Yeah, I mean that's where Bill, I mean, we all 0:04:36.440 --> 0:04:39.320 talk about AI and the future and what data allows 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:42.159 us to do, and that's where I think the opportunity 0:04:42.200 --> 0:04:45.679 to be more efficient with our hospitals in the way 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:48.400 that we share that data. And there's so much technology 0:04:48.600 --> 0:04:52.040 that's improving and reducing the administrative burden that you mentioned 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:55.320 owned providers, and we're bringing that in many cases to 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:59.040 those relationships, and it's important because we do want doctors 0:04:59.080 --> 0:05:00.880 to be able to work top of license. 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:04.320 As far as the Medicare for All, which was the 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:07.839 cry of Bernie Sanders, that is not something the insurance 0:05:07.880 --> 0:05:08.760 companies would enjoy. 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:10.040 I would suspect. 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:13.279 Do you sense that if this problem is not fixed 0:05:13.560 --> 0:05:16.039 in the next five to ten years, there will be 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:19.719 Medicare for all and in fact, the bills will be 0:05:19.760 --> 0:05:23.000 sent to the US government with no incentive to hold 0:05:23.040 --> 0:05:25.040 down the cost at all because it's a pass through, 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:28.080 and that insurance companies like yours may be out of 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:31.760 business because the middleman, which is the insurance company, will 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:34.520 be taken out. I think in Western Europe there aren't 0:05:34.520 --> 0:05:37.760 too many insurance companies. The building is done by the 0:05:37.760 --> 0:05:42.800 governments of European countries and then they decide who gets 0:05:42.839 --> 0:05:45.200 care who doesn't get care. If you go to Canada, 0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:47.400 I think my Canadian friends tell me, if you want 0:05:47.400 --> 0:05:49.039 a hip replacement, get in line. 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:50.520 It might be nine months to a year. 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:53.560 So in a sense, are you fighting for the survival 0:05:53.600 --> 0:05:57.080 of insurance companies and not letting the government take over healthcare? 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:02.680 Well, i'd the privilege bill of working in Europe and 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:05.599 seeing how healthcare is handled there, and I'd say we have. 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:07.599 I mean, I'm very proud for where we're at. 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:10.880 And the healthcare, the quality of healthcare that we get delivered. 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:13.800 So this is an affordability conversation. So I believe it's 0:06:13.880 --> 0:06:16.039 up to us, and it's not just the payer. It's 0:06:16.080 --> 0:06:18.880 got to be the provider that's at the table, legislators 0:06:18.880 --> 0:06:21.800 and employers to make the changes that we need to address. 0:06:21.839 --> 0:06:22.720 Exactly what you were. 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:26.159 Describing, and Beth describe to the American people living in Ohio, 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:29.480 Kentucky and Indiana, what is the European system? So if 0:06:29.480 --> 0:06:32.480 my producer Tony Bender needs a hip replacement, he goes 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:35.640 to the doctor and stood Guard Germany, and his doctor 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:37.159 tells him, Tony Bender, you got. 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:37.960 To get your hip replaced. 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:42.080 And then what happens to the hip right now in Cincinnati, 0:06:42.160 --> 0:06:43.080 my sister. 0:06:43.120 --> 0:06:45.800 Who was at a wedding and. 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:49.320 Her hip, her hips how we say, became displaced and 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:52.240 she saw a doctor that day and the hip was 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:55.440 popped back in. She has surgery scheduled next week. If 0:06:55.480 --> 0:06:57.880 that happened in Stutgart, Germany, what would be what would 0:06:57.880 --> 0:06:58.679 happen to my sister? 0:07:00.440 --> 0:07:03.320 Yeah, I hope your sister was having fun before the 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:04.239 incident happens. 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:06.080 But you're exactly right. 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:09.120 I mean, we have top quality care in the US 0:07:09.160 --> 0:07:10.640 and we want to keep that. We just got to 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:12.800 make it affordable because what would have happened to your 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:15.280 sister potentially is she would have had to wait and 0:07:15.320 --> 0:07:18.040 she would have had to struggle to navigate. 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:18.560 Inside their system. 0:07:18.840 --> 0:07:22.240 So each system, as I've seen, has its own challenges, 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:25.040 But I want to address an anthem. Blue crossfu Shield 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:27.720 wants to address the challenges that we're seeing in Ohio, 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:29.200 and we want to do that head on. 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:32.240 So you're saying, am I right to say that if 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:36.040 you have a hip replacement, you have a pelvic fracture, 0:07:36.240 --> 0:07:38.880 you have a broken foot, you have a cancer, you 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:41.400 want to get diagnosed for cancer, You need a heart valve, 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:44.000 and I want to thank doctor Dean Cariacus for my 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:47.120 heart valve that's working well. I got in immediately, got care. 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:50.680 Same thing for any person living that has insurance in Ohio. 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:54.600 But if you're in the other systems indicate that the 0:07:54.680 --> 0:07:58.320 government pays, the government sets the rules. And as a consequence, 0:07:58.640 --> 0:08:02.440 is there greatly delayed care and other developed countries for 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:04.480 healthcare that doesn't happen in America? 0:08:04.640 --> 0:08:05.280 Is that true? 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:09.400 I would say in the different countries that I worked in, 0:08:10.120 --> 0:08:13.280 I saw differences in that, and so I can't speak 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:15.360 to each one, but the ones that I saw is 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:19.880 there were delays in some care, but there's also much 0:08:19.920 --> 0:08:24.160 more focused than other some countries owned staying healthy and build. 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:26.280 That's something that we've got to talk more about. I 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:29.320 think in the past insurers have not been focused. We've 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:31.880 been focused on paying claims, make sure we have high 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:35.480 quality providers and doing a lot of the administrative task, 0:08:35.800 --> 0:08:38.680 and we haven't engaged in the whole health conversation. And 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:40.640 so that's why I'm proud to be at Anthem Blue 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:43.959 CROSSLEU Shield is because we're looking at individuals with whole 0:08:43.960 --> 0:08:46.760 health and looking at how we keep people in Ohio 0:08:47.040 --> 0:08:50.800 healthier earlier in life to prevent those issues, the issue 0:08:50.800 --> 0:08:52.880 of rising costs and for health and. 0:08:52.880 --> 0:08:55.320 Beth Kaiser, there's three aspects of a person. I like 0:08:55.360 --> 0:08:58.560 to think philosophically. Can you think with me philosophically? 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:01.920 Absolutely? 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:02.559 Here we go. 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:06.920 There's three aspects of a person's being. It's how you 0:09:07.040 --> 0:09:11.400 perceive yourself. I think I look like Rinaldo. My wife 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:14.600 tells me I may not, but she says Christian and Romaldo. 0:09:15.080 --> 0:09:18.640 I think I look great, I look healthy. That's one aspect. 0:09:18.640 --> 0:09:21.600 That's how you view yourself now. The second aspect is 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:25.200 how other people view you. People may not view me 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:28.520 as looking six foot two, one hundred and eighty pounds 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:29.080 like Ronaldo. 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:29.560 That may be. 0:09:29.920 --> 0:09:33.520 And thirdly, reality do you have fixed in your mind? 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:38.720 How everach Americans view insurance companies because may I say, Beth, 0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:43.960 it's not a positive Can you understand, how everage Americans 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:47.560 view not just your company, but all the insurance companies. 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:50.600 We don't view insurance companies in a positive way. In fact, 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:54.520 you're as popular as an ascid. You're as popular as 0:09:54.559 --> 0:09:57.920 shall I say, trial attorneys. You're as popular as used 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:01.480 car dealers. And so do you understand how unpopular insurance 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:02.120 companies are. 0:10:04.080 --> 0:10:06.640 Absolutely, and that's the reason I think it's important for 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:10.160 us to be at the table to make sure all 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:13.440 understand what insurance looks like, what it means to be 0:10:13.480 --> 0:10:16.079 self insured, if you weren't for an employer, that your 0:10:16.120 --> 0:10:20.040 employers picking up, Like over eighty percent of employers. 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:20.440 Are self insured. 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:22.520 So if I ask for in costs five dollars or 0:10:22.600 --> 0:10:25.599 cost five hundred dollars, that that's important to know that 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:29.520 that helps individuals become savvyer consumers of health care. And 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:31.520 so we've got to have a voice that's out there 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:33.680 addressing this crisis. 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:36.640 Which is unaffordable healthcare. Are you surprised we won't have access? 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:39.080 So we talked about access and what that means in 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:39.800 other countries. 0:10:40.200 --> 0:10:42.680 If you have twenty five if you have twenty five 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:46.480 to thirty million illegals using the healthcare system and pay nothing, 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:48.840 does not drive up costs for those of us who 0:10:48.880 --> 0:10:52.000 pay well. 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:54.240 I would say, are we going to if we're going 0:10:54.320 --> 0:10:56.920 back to what I'm not an expert in that, so 0:10:56.960 --> 0:10:58.840 I think I should stand that apart. But what I 0:10:58.880 --> 0:11:02.400 will say is that the factors that I called out, 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:06.920 including those aging population the chronic conditions, the escalating These 0:11:06.920 --> 0:11:09.160 are things that you and I can address and we 0:11:09.200 --> 0:11:12.280 can work on in Ohio. The issues you were just describing, 0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:14.160 I'm going to lead to the people who are in 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:16.200 charge for that. I'm an expert in that. 0:11:16.120 --> 0:11:16.920 Bill I got. 0:11:17.000 --> 0:11:19.000 I got one more big question. Are you ready for 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:19.679 a big question? 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:21.680 Sure? 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:27.080 I'm watching this morning, Chuck Schumer. Then I'm watching the 0:11:27.160 --> 0:11:32.200 Republicans speak about healthcare. And if we continue simply the 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:36.359 government and the rest of us indirectly paying the healthcare 0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:39.800 subsidies for the next three years under Obamacare, in other words, 0:11:40.000 --> 0:11:43.600 keep the same system, keep paying the subsidies. Does that 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:47.720 have any impact whatsoever and lowering healthcare cost if we 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:50.360 simply keep the same system and pay more for it. 0:11:50.480 --> 0:11:51.640 Can you answer that question? 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:55.880 So, I would say, what's important to us is to 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:59.120 make sure individuals have an off ramp if they're coming 0:11:59.120 --> 0:12:02.640 off a subsiday, and that individuals our members stay covered 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:05.520 in some capacity. And so that's the reason in Ohio 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:09.000 we offer a variety of products that allow individuals to 0:12:09.040 --> 0:12:11.600 have something that they can have access to, and then 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:15.600 addressing unaffordability that will allow it to be more affordable 0:12:15.640 --> 0:12:18.400 for individuals who may be coming off of those subsidies 0:12:18.920 --> 0:12:19.559 in the future. 0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:21.560 Do you have any questions to work closely with that? 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:24.640 Do you have any questions for me? Go ahead? 0:12:24.960 --> 0:12:27.320 Well no, I was just gonna say, Bill, but you know, 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:29.360 one of the things that we have to appreciate is 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:32.559 as those individuals come off of subsidies, we do not 0:12:32.760 --> 0:12:36.240 want our healthcare partners to be for their emergency rooms 0:12:36.280 --> 0:12:37.319 to be clogged, to be. 0:12:37.320 --> 0:12:38.280 Backed up right. 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:40.560 We want to have an offer amp that allows those 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:43.040 individuals to have access to care, but not the most 0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:46.120 expensive form of care when it's not needed or warranted. 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:47.480 Do you have any questions for me? 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:51.920 I've been asking you questions now, Bill, Sports, Politics, World Capital. 0:12:53.840 --> 0:12:55.440 No, You've had a bunch of great questions. 0:12:55.559 --> 0:12:57.880 The biggest thing I would just like to encourage your 0:12:57.960 --> 0:13:02.520 viewers and your listeners to go to our website www. 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:07.560 Dot Anthem dot com, forward slash Affordability in Ohio and 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:10.360 let us know how they feel, as well as access 0:13:10.400 --> 0:13:12.719 the tools that we have for them and the resources 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:14.320 that we have for them there. 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:16.400 I want to thank you for having the guts. I 0:13:16.440 --> 0:13:18.200 want to thank you for having the guts to come on. 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:21.800 Thank you, Bill, God bless me. 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:24.000 I'm a wonderful weekend and happy holidays to you. 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:28.079 Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, God bless America, Marry Christmas. Beth Kaiser, 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:30.800 thank you, thank you all all. Let's continue with more 0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:33.920 news coming up after my comments. A News Radio seven 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:38.440 hundred WLW. All right, now, here's the Great American and 0:13:38.440 --> 0:13:42.280 here we go and broadcast Suprebity. After one o'clock today, 0:13:42.520 --> 0:13:44.679 we're going to have on the Rob Sanders, Kent County 0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:47.840 prosecutor had a big win yesterday in a murder case. 0:13:48.520 --> 0:13:51.800 After two o'clock today we'll be Robert Sherman like in 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:54.839 the tank, who's going to report live from Puerto Rico 0:13:55.240 --> 0:13:57.760 about what's happening in Venezuela and so much more. But 0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:01.320 until then, for those who closely, I try to get 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:03.880 different viewpoints so that you can get a well rounded 0:14:03.880 --> 0:14:07.840 display of different arguments on important issues. And one of 0:14:07.840 --> 0:14:10.000 them is medical insurance costs. All of us have a 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:12.000 human body, at least those of us who are alive, 0:14:12.600 --> 0:14:14.280 and all of us have need at some point for 0:14:14.360 --> 0:14:17.800 medical services of one type or another. And as you 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:21.200 get older, you have more need for more medical services. 0:14:21.400 --> 0:14:27.760 Who's cost our confiscatory, and so I have concerned about 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:30.480 where we're headed when it comes to these medical expenses 0:14:30.520 --> 0:14:32.640 that are skyrocketing. At the end of the day, is 0:14:32.680 --> 0:14:36.000 going to be government sponsored healthcare, much like the DMV. 0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:40.480 So Beth Kaiser seems like a well intended woman working 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:44.640 for a Blue Cross Blue Shield. She's the executive vice 0:14:44.680 --> 0:14:48.840 president in charge. Just heard from her. The goal of 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:51.680 the insurance companies sold on New York Stock Exchange. The 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:54.320 number one goal is to make money. The number one 0:14:54.400 --> 0:14:56.720 goal is to have a high return to the investors 0:14:56.760 --> 0:15:00.320 who buy the stock. The number one goal is to double, triple, 0:15:00.360 --> 0:15:02.160 or quadruple the amount of money you make for the 0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:05.840 next year. The number one goal is not patient healthcare. 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:06.000 Now. 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:06.920 They want to do both. 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:09.320 They want to have a great profit on one hand, 0:15:09.720 --> 0:15:12.240 they also want to have as much care as possible 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:12.640 in the other. 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:13.440 I get that. 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:16.880 I understand that the whole system is set up in 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:21.120 such a way in which insurance companies are motivated to 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:23.720 make money and the government is there to more us 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:26.280 to play at play the role as the referee, except 0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:28.960 when they sponsor healthcare, which is like at the VA. 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:34.080 So Beth Kaiser is a well intended person, but her 0:15:34.120 --> 0:15:36.400 goal in life is to make money, and her goal 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:38.320 in life is to have a return to the investors. 0:15:38.320 --> 0:15:40.320 Her goal in life is to make her bonus. Her 0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:41.640 goal in life is dividends. 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:45.240 That is to make money, which is why thirty to 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:48.160 forty percent of health client claims are turned down go 0:15:48.240 --> 0:15:49.320 through an appellate process. 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:50.760 Good luck with that. It's not going to work. 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:55.080 In the best world we could have, the Republicans and 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:58.760 the Democrats would get together, not play cheap political games 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:02.040 as Chuck Schumer is doing mainly the Democrats, and say 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:04.400 how do we keep the system we have, which is 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:06.680 the best in the world, and lower the cost of 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:10.960 the system. Because every doc I speak to, every hospital 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:13.680 I speak to tell me they spend more time on 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:16.800 paperwork than they spend often on healthcare, which is what 0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:18.280 they're in the business of doing. 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:19.040 So. 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:23.080 The Obamacare subsidies are a perfect example of what should happen, 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:26.720 what could happen, but will not happen. The average American 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:29.760 once their medical bills paid forthright and pay as little 0:16:29.760 --> 0:16:32.640 as possible and get the best care imaginable. That is 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:35.480 not happening right now in America and is not happening. 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:38.120 Guess what anywhere in the world. I try to penter 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:40.640 down on the fact that in Europe they have government 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:43.960 sponsored healthcare, but to get health care is in many 0:16:44.000 --> 0:16:47.160 months or many years process. It isn't like in our 0:16:47.240 --> 0:16:50.120 system you walk into an er and there's a possibility 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:52.080 within a week or two you may get care. I 0:16:52.160 --> 0:16:54.440 use my sister having her hip go out at a 0:16:54.480 --> 0:16:57.160 wedding at Santex Church all of a sudden, but within 0:16:57.880 --> 0:17:01.240 six hours it's popped back in functioning and surgery is 0:17:01.280 --> 0:17:04.560 scheduled to replace the hip. That doesn't happen in Germany 0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:06.800 or Holland or England, or it doesn't happen that way. 0:17:07.760 --> 0:17:11.000 So what the arguments about now with the so called 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:14.760 Obama healthcare because it has failed miserably, and the news 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:17.320 media in this country, bought and paid for by the Democrats, 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:19.960 are not going to tell you the truth about Obamacare. 0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:25.000 It was designed to fail because when government pays the bills, 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:28.240 there's no incentive to hold down cost and improve the care. 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:31.480 The government is issuing a check to the insurance companies, 0:17:31.720 --> 0:17:35.119 whether it's United or Anthem or Kaiser, Blue Blue Shield. 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:38.760 Their goal in life is to make money, maximized shareholder 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:43.720 value Secondarily, if they provide some good benefits along the way, 0:17:43.720 --> 0:17:47.120 that's good too, right, It doesn't work that way. All 0:17:47.200 --> 0:17:50.280 the credits will do is to kick the can down 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:53.359 the road for three years, double a triple the cost 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:55.720 of medical care that will be paid for by the 0:17:55.760 --> 0:17:58.120 tax prayer with Here's the goal, the long term goal. 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:00.359 Mark my words. I may not be with you in 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:02.280 five or ten years, but this is what's going to happen. 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:05.600 The American people will be so fed up with the 0:18:05.640 --> 0:18:09.240 medical insurance companies, so fed up with hospital care costs, 0:18:09.280 --> 0:18:12.359 so fed up with their doctors spending time on paperwork 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:15.960 and not healthcare. The American people will say, to hell 0:18:16.000 --> 0:18:18.879 with all the insurance companies. Get rid of United and 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:21.359 Anthem and Kaiser Blue costs, but get rid of all 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:24.639 of them and give the responsibility of health and human 0:18:24.680 --> 0:18:26.800 services to care for We're going to have a one 0:18:26.880 --> 0:18:31.159 payer system, much like Europe, much like most parts of 0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:34.120 the world. The government provides you healthcare, the insurance companies 0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:37.680 are gone, and the cost then will really skyrocket. There'll 0:18:37.720 --> 0:18:40.800 be no motivation whatsoever to hold down any cost. The 0:18:40.840 --> 0:18:43.640 government's going to write a check of trillions of dollars 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:48.720 every year right now, the cost of health care in 0:18:48.760 --> 0:18:53.520 America is about one sixth of the entire economy, which 0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:58.560 is about three trillion dollars a year, largely borne by 0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:02.320 the insurance companies and by employees working for employers that 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:05.600 have eighty percent of the coverage is provided through work, 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:10.040 and the employers are motivated to hold down the expenses because, 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:12.840 after all, they're paying the bill. When the government pays 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:15.400 the bill, there's no incentive to hold down the expense. 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:17.280 So down the. 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:20.240 Road, whether it's whether it's phones or whether it's television 0:19:20.240 --> 0:19:24.680 sets or whatever. When these fancy sets came out about 0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:27.320 twenty years ago, it was like ten thousand dollars for 0:19:27.400 --> 0:19:27.760 a set. 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:29.720 Now it's down there about three hundred dollars. 0:19:29.920 --> 0:19:33.440 Competition works, and healthcare doesn't work that way. 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:35.119 And so we're going to have. 0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:38.719