Senator Bill Cassidy (2:40)

Yeah, I think we can. I have a plan, but it's one that other Republicans have proposed some form of. We take that enhanced premium tax credit, and instead of giving it to insurance companies where they take 20% for profit and overhead, we give 100% to the patient in the form of a deposit within a healthcare savings account. This allows her not to buy the more expensive silver plan, but also get a cheaper plan called the bronze plan. Now, did I say it's cheaper? It's cheaper. And so we're helping her on our affordability. By the way, the money in her health savings account also gives her first dollar coverage for her child's trip to the ER. You know, I practiced for 20 years as a doctor caring for the uninsured and the poorly insured. I learned that if you give power to the patient, you can lower healthcare costs. So we're giving power to the patient, not profit to the insurance company.

Interviewer/Reporter (3:28)

Well, Democrats come on board with this plan. It doesn't seem like they're interested in this. They want, at minimum, an extension for a year or two of the extended premiums.

Senator Bill Cassidy (3:36)

So think about it. We are. We would actually be, if you will, in one sense, extending the the enhanced premium tax credit. But Instead of giving 100% to insurance companies, they take 20% for profit and overhead. We're given 100% to the patient. So you get an extension.

Interviewer/Reporter (3:51)

But the pool shrinks that money. So is it on the higher shrink?

Senator Bill Cassidy (3:55)

It does not shrink well for the.

Interviewer/Reporter (3:56)

Insurers, are they going to have to pay more? Are you going to have to say you're on, say, the premium plan, or is your plan going to be even more expensive? It's not being subsidized by those on the lower end?

Senator Bill Cassidy (4:08)

No. Again, going back to this, if you got this amount of money and currently under the current plan, you give 100% to insurance companies and they take 20% for overhead and profit. Instead, you give 100% to patients in terms of deposits within a health savings account, first you're lowering their deductible. And because you have lowered their deductible, they can take a cheaper bronze plan. Now, normally you don't because your deductible is higher. We just lowered their deductible. They're getting a cheaper bronze plan. By the way, when you give power to the patient, she gets the health care she chooses to have that she knows she needs, as opposed to the health care the insurance company permits her to have. A lot of wins in here for the patient who would not be for that. Whether you're a Republican or a Democrat.

Podcast Host (4:50)

Do you think that this is enough to prevent the government from shutting again, shutting down again in January when this comes, comes back up?

Senator Bill Cassidy (4:57)

Absolutely. Why? Because we've actually addressed affordability on the exchanges. I would argue we also begin to address the overall increase in health care cost. When you give that woman, and women make all the decisions in health care, when you give her the power of the purse and you say, listen, if you go here, you save money. If you go there, you don't. Everybody begins to lower their cost to where they can attract her business.

Podcast Host (5:20)

You know, you said something earlier that I think is really important. You said that businesses have a role in creating jobs and creating a better landscape. Landscape for the lower quartiles and deciles of the US Economy and the US Earners. I just wonder what policies you think need to be implemented to do that, because right now it doesn't seem to be working.

Senator Bill Cassidy (5:40)

Are you talking about in terms of overall business?

Interviewer/Reporter (5:42)

Yes.

Senator Bill Cassidy (5:43)

Yes. So I think that the tax policy that we've put in, and frankly, with President Trump's tariffs, there's an incentive for people to begin to reshore and certainly near shore. And so when you reshore, you're going to create jobs. Now, that doesn't happen like that. Think how long you need to put together your financing stack. But that's going to happen. And so as it happens, we'll see that kind of upswing in jobs for construction, for service, all those jobs that are related to that reshoring of manufacturing activity, and that'll cause a general boom. So. So that is. That is a sustainable strategy to create prosperity for folks.

Podcast Host (6:18)

A lot of people are saying that the reason why companies haven't created more jobs is, is because they're using artificial intelligence for efficiencies. And you're seeing that in terms of Amazon coming out saying they're laying people off because of some of the efficiencies they're getting from algorithmic learning. I'm just wondering from a legislation standpoint what you think that the government's role is in trying to make sure that people aren't left behind in this transition, given that a lot of these new programs can take on roles previously done by humans.

Senator Bill Cassidy (6:49)

I'm a technical optimist. If you've got something that's going to increase the productivity of our nation, will increase tax revenue not by increasing rates, but by increasing the overall growth of the economy. When you increase that overall growth of the economy and you have more money, we've got like trillions of dollars of backlog in infrastructure. Let's just focus once more there. If you begin to invest that money in infrastructure, AI does not swing a hammer. You're going to create a lot of jobs for folks who right now are struggling to get better jobs. Jobs. By the way, we're also building out our oil and gas industry, our energy industry. That creates a heck of a lot of jobs. And so everybody looks at the negative. Oh, we're going to downside. We need to look at the positive. That will just shift investment to a more productive area of the economy. As we grow at the expense of other nations, or maybe we all grow together, we'll create that employment.

Interviewer/Reporter (7:35)

Lisa started out this conversation talking about affordability. Americans are still struggling. You're also looking at trying to address health care affordability by actually having this health system savings account proposal. The president talked about $2,000 tariff checks. You're on the Finance Committee. You're on the, you lead the health committee. Do you think that that is a good way to address affordability right now, putting money directly into consumers pockets?

Senator Bill Cassidy (7:59)

So I'd like to see what the President's going to propose. We do know that the debt and deficit eventually takes money out of our pockets. And so we absolutely know that. So the question is, is it better to pay down our nation's debt? And as you pay down our nation's debt, then it makes it easier to lower interest rates for the Fed to lower interest rates, which then lowers a mortgage payment, which then maybe lower other forms of credit. As you do that, you make life more affordable that way. The other thing you have to worry about is if you give everybody a $2,000 check, does that bump up inflation and therefore the Fed is inhibited on lowering their rates so it can't be taken in kind of isolation. It has to be taken in context of everything we can do to benefit that person sitting at home struggling a little bit.

Interviewer/Reporter (8:40)

It sounds like you would be a no then on the $2,000 check.

Senator Bill Cassidy (8:42)

It sounds like I'm going to investigate so that I know.

Interviewer/Reporter (8:45)

Okay, well while you. There's also potentially going to be another big Senate first a hearing and then a vote. When it comes to the President's Fed pick. Right now the frontrunner is his counsel and economic advisers chair, Kevin Hassett. Do you think you would say yes to him being the Fed Chair.

Senator Bill Cassidy (9:04)

I've been impressed with Kevin. This is the second time around serving in Trump's administration. I think he's done a good job. Of course, I reserve judgment until we actually begin to look at him as Fed Chair. We are having this problem of, of inflation, which just is a little bit sticky and yet we want to decrease rates. How are you going to navigate that? But I'm certainly predisposed to support it.

Podcast Host (9:25)

Are you worried about fed independence?

Senator Bill Cassidy (9:28)

Fed independence is critical. You just have to have it. But I also think that Kevin would step up and be as aware of the importance of fed independence as anybody.

Podcast Host (9:37)

Louisiana Senator, thank you so much for being with us. Louisiana Senator Bill Kasda here in the New York studio. Very much cost of living on the docket, especially given how much health care has dominated the conversation. And potentially Emory could be the reason why the government could shut down yet again.

Interviewer/Reporter (9:53)

Right there's this going to the debate. It's happening all of December. The senator is going to be leading a hearing on it. What do you do in the sense that you have these enhanced Obamacare credits that are going to be ending and, and for Democrats, this is really important for them to have this fight because this is what the entire shutdown, longest shutdown history was based around.

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