GOP's Orrin Hatch Calls Obamacare Supports "Stupidest, Dumbass People"
SEN. ORRIN HATCH, (R), UTAH: Now, if you didn't catch on, I was being very sarcastic. That was the stupidest dumbass bill that I've ever seen.</s>BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk this over with Dr. Zeke Emanuel, the architect of Obamacare, his former White House health care advisor to President Obama, also a prominent oncologist and bioethicists, and the author of several books, including "Prescription for the Future." OK. You hear Orrin Hatch saying that. I think of some people that are known for colorful language. You may actually be related to one of them. But I don't always think of Orrin Hatch with that. So, what are you thinking when you hear him say that?</s>DR. ZEKE EMANUEL, OBAMACARE ARCHITECT & FORMER OBAMA HEALTH CARE ADVISOR & AUTHOR: First of all, it's a sad day in American politics when it's an ad homonym attack on intelligence. Remember what Senator Moynihan said, you can have your own opinion but cannot have your own facts. The facts are, no matter what your view is, the Affordable Care Act has been a pretty good success. Coverage in terms of number of people uninsured dropped from 18 percent to under 11 percent. Health care inflation has come down. And the number of hospital-acquired conditions like infections has gone down. When the Republicans repeal the individual mandate, the projections are that premiums are going to go up, 18 percent on average, and that the number of Americans who are going to be uninsured is going to increase. I ask you, which policy is dumber, one that increases premiums and gets more people uninsured or one that gets people insured and brings health care costs down? It's pretty clear the Affordable Care Act has been a big success.</s>KEILAR: It's worth noting, and certainly I wouldn't want to just take your word for it. But when you do look at the Kaiser Family survey you see it's the most popular it's been since 2010, which is when it was really dismal. It was not a good outlook for Obamacare then.</s>EMANUEL: Right. That shows you the longer the people are in the program, the longer we have experience with the program, and when you look at the alternatives, it's a pretty good deal.</s>KEILAR: But it's changing because Republicans have made some changes to it. They have attempted to dismantle it.</s>EMANUEL: Right.</s>KEILAR: When you look at that and we're heading towards an election, what do you expect the effects will be?</s>EMANUEL: I think you're going to see that the American public will rally towards it. Let me give you one anecdote that reinforces your Kaiser Family Foundation poll. As I came here, the driver of my car said, the moment Obamacare came on, I signed up for it. I love the program. It allows me to get free, preventive services that I haven't been able to afford before. That's just one example. And I think the Republicans have shown they don't have an alternative plan. What they have done is going to make the situation a lot worse. And it's interesting that Senator Hatch said it's a regressive tax.</s>KEILAR: I was going to ask you about that. He said it's a regressive tax primarily funded by low-income families.</s>EMANUEL: Totally false. What the plan does, what the Affordable Care Act does, if you're poor, under 133 percent of the poverty line, you get Medicaid, and don't actually have to pay for your services. If you're above 133 percent of the poverty line and up to about $100,000 for a family of four, you get subsidized to buy insurance in the private market if you don't get it through your employer. That is helping people at the low end. Contrast that with the Republican tax cut, which everyone says gives its biggest benefits to the top 1 percent and undermines poor people and takes away any of the tax cuts they're going to get by 2025. That's clearly a regressive tax. The Affordable Care Act is quite a positive, progressive subsidy of poor people.</s>KEILAR: Do you worry, though, with the changes that have been made if, people see a negative effect on their health care, they still associate that with Obamacare?</s>EMANUEL: I agree with you. I am worried that because of the appeal of the individual mandate and a few other changes that the Republicans have made under the radar, that you are going to have this big increase in premiums and the Republicans are going to blame Obamacare when, in fact, it's their actions that have done this. This blame game is one of the problems. And, you know, unlike Senator Hatch, I don't like to insult people. But I do think we need to stick to the facts. The facts are that the Affordable Care Act has been a success and the Republicans have no alternative.</s>KEILAR: Zeke Emanuel thank you very much. Thanks for being with us.</s>EMANUEL: Thanks for having me.</s>KEILAR: Just ahead, the revolving door at the White House may be spinning again as CNN has learned H.R. McMaster could be the next to go. We'll tell you who tops the list to replace him. Plus, Russian President Vladimir Putin doubling down on his claims about his country's nuclear capabilities after releasing a chilling animation featuring missiles flying over what appears to be the state of Florida.