thedcclothesline--2019-01-26--California Dept Of Education Wants To Teach Your Kindergartners That There Are 15 Genders

California Dept. Of Education Wants To Teach Your Kindergartners That There Are 15 Genders

Apparently, in the land of fruits and nuts, the California Department of Education believes it knows what is best for your children and wants to teach kindergartners that there are at least 15 different genders.  Not only that, but the curriculum being looked at claims that it is an impossibility to know whether a baby is a boy or a girl or something else… forget that 6,000 years of history has taught us “boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.”  Alex Newman from The Freedom Project and The New American was interviewed about California’s plan to indoctrinate young children, and no, parents you can’t opt out of the propaganda that will be fed to your little ones.  In a March 29 memo obtained by FreedomProject Media, Orange County Board of Education General Counsel Ronald Wenkart detailed his legal reasoning. As part of the “California Healthy Youth Act,” government schools are required to provide so-called “Comprehensive Sexuality Education.” One section of the “Education Code,” though, allows parents or guardians to excuse their child from “comprehensive sexual health education and HIV education,” Wenkart wrote. Unfortunately, there is a giant loophole in the law that still mandates LGBT indoctrination. Another section of the “Code” explains that the exemption does not apply to “instruction, materials, or programming that discusses gender, gender identity, gender expressions, sexual orientation, discrimination, harassment, bullying, intimidation, relationships, or family and does not discuss human reproductive organs and their functions.” “Therefore,” Wenkart wrote, “parents who disagree with the instructional materials related to gender, gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation may not excuse their children from this instruction. However, parents are free to advise their children that they disagree with some or all of the information presented in the instructional program and express their views on these subjects to their children.” So, in short, as long as actual reproduction is not discussed, government schools are free to brainwash children to support homosexuality, transgenderism, and more. Indeed, among other schemes, the California code requires affirmation of homosexuality and gender confusion while prohibiting “outdated gender norms.” In short, biblical morality is now banned at government school.  Carly Hoilman reports on the new developments:  California elementary school students could soon be the targets of progressive sexual indoctrination if new health guidelines are approved. The guidelines, listed under the California Department of Education’s proposed Health Education Framework, include educational resources that teach children to reject gender stereotypes and embrace a rainbow of possible gender options. One recommended book called “Who Are You?” teaches that there are at least 15 genders, and that it’s impossible to determine whether a baby is a boy, a girl or something else. Fed Up Parents Organize ‘Sex Ed Sit Out’ to Protest ‘Gender-Bending Propaganda’ Taught in Schools “Babies can’t talk, so grown-ups make a guess by looking at their bodies,” an excerpt reads. One chapter in the proposed guidelines offers suggestions on how to explain sexuality with kindergartners. “Discuss gender with kindergarteners by exploring gender stereotypes and asking open-ended questions, such as what are preferred colors, toys, and activities for boys/girls, and then challenging stereotypes if presented,” chapter three reads. “Throughout this discussion, show images of children around the same age who do not conform to typical gender stereotypes. Examples do not have to be exaggerated or overt. Simple differences, such as colors or toy preferences, can demonstrate acceptance of gender non-conformity.”  Newman goes on to elaborate more:  Then, the teacher should continue to confuse the children. “Throughout this discussion, show images of children around the same age who do not conform to typical gender stereotypes,” the instructions read. “Examples do not have to be exaggerated or overt. Simple differences, such as colors or toy preferences, can demonstrate acceptance of gender non-conformity.” Of course, preaching this sort of madness to vulnerable and impressionable children captive in a government classroom has devastating effects. As The Newman Report documented last year, a study from the University of California, Los Angeles, found that more than one fourth of children in the state between the ages of 12 and 17 are “gender non-conforming.” The new proposed guidelines, which are even more extreme than the previous ones, also call for encouraging middle-school students to fornicate with multiple people at the same time. “Some students may be non-monogamous and the term ‘partner(s)’ may be used to be more inclusive,” reads the material, which aims to normalize perversions that would have been unthinkable just a generation ago. Among the examples offered is “polyamory,” which is defined as “the practice of, desire to, or orientation toward having consensual non-monogamous relationships (i.e. relationships that may include multiple partners).” Another option is “polyfidelity (which involves more than two people being in romantic and/or sexual relationships which is not open to additional partners), amongst many other set-ups.” What exactly any of this perversion has to do with “health” was not made clear — especially since encouraging this sort of promiscuity and fornication leads to all sorts of venereal diseases, some of which can be deadly. Ironically, some of the sex propaganda is taught under the guise of preventing venereal disease. On the gender-bending madness, the American College of Pediatricians has said that encouraging children to believe they can change genders by taking hormones and mutilating their genitals is “child abuse.” In other words, these schools are institutionalizing the abuse of children.  That’s exactly right!  And parents that stand for this and willingly submit their little ones to this perversion should be held accountable for child abuse, but they won’t be in a state that sanctions it.  This is just another reason why if you have your children in the public indoctrination centers known as public schools, you should protect them by getting them out and teaching them yourself at home, and you can do so for free by clicking here.  Stop making excuses for turning your children over to the state to become little statists, and start becoming a part of the revolution!  Tim Brown is an author and Editor at FreedomOutpost.com, SonsOfLibertyMedia.com, GunsInTheNews.com and TheWashingtonStandard.com. He is husband to his “more precious than rubies” wife, father of 10 “mighty arrows”, jack of all trades, Christian and lover of liberty. He resides in the U.S. occupied Great State of South Carolina. . Follow Tim on Twitter. Also check him out on Gab, Minds, MeWe, Spreely, Mumbl It and Steemit


theguardianuk--2019-05-30--Families rally against special educational needs funding cuts

Thousands of families with children who have special educational needs and disabilities have staged protests across England against funding cuts.  On Thursday afternoon, children, parents and teachers marched in 28 towns and cities including London, Bristol, Leeds and Birmingham in the first national action of its kind.  Organisers of Send National Crisis said about 1,000 people attended a rally in Parliament Square in Westminster. Among the speakers was the campaigner Emma Parker, whose son James has spent 29 months out of school over the past five years because of exclusions and reduced timetables.  “We have thousands of children across the UK who are not in schools, who are on reduced timetables and who don’t have access to the schools that they desperately need,” Parker said.  Ahead of the rally, James delivered a 13,000-signature petition to Downing Street to call on the government to end the “national crisis” in special educational needs and disability (Send) funding and delivery.  Statistics released on Thursday by the Department for Education show the number of children and young people with special educational needs or education, health and care plans in England increased by 34,200 (or 11%) from 2018.  An analysis by the National Education Union published in April found that special needs provision in England had lost out on £1.2bn because of shortfalls in funding increases from central government since 2015.  Parker said a lack of educational funding for children would mean they were more reliant on taxpayers in the future. “They’re putting monetary value on our children and it’s like what comes first, the money or the children,” she said.  The TV presenter Carrie Grant, whose four children all have special needs, spoke to the crowd in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in the square. She said her family’s experience of getting the appropriate educational support for three of her children who have complex special needs had “been shocking to say the least”.  Grant added: “The world that they [disabled children] face is a world that is just not ready.”  Though the government has said legislation introduced in 2014 increased funding for Send pupils, campaigners have said the growing number of children and young people requiring support is outstripping funds.  The Local Government Association estimates that English councils face a Send funding gap of more than £500m this year.  Melissa Acar, a 19-year-old with a developmental language disorder and cognition and learning disabilities, said she was at the rally in Westminster “to get [her] voice heard”. After achieving seven A*-C GCSEs, Acar was refused admission to her local sixth form because they said they lacked the funding to support her.  She challenged the decision at the high court and won, but Acar said the situation left her with “a mental health problem and constant emotional breakdowns”.  Lindsey Valkenborgs, 35, who works for the National Deaf Children’s Society, attended the rally with her daughter, Lexie, six, who has been deaf since birth.  Lexie receives support from a teaching assistant (TA) in a mainstream school but Valkenborgs is fearful about more funding cuts. “She might lose that support and the only reason she’s doing as well as she is today is because she has a TA and she has that individual support,” she said.  Nadhim Zahawi, the children and families minister, said the DFE statistics released on Thursday were “concerning” He said: “Education, health and care plans were introduced to provide personalised and tailored support for those children with more complex needs, but the 11% increase in plans last year is a clear challenge for the SEN and disability system. We will use this data to follow up with local authorities who are not performing well to support and challenge them to improve.  “My ambition for children with additional needs is that they have the same opportunities to succeed in life as any other child and I am pleased to see that children with new plans are securing more placements in mainstream schools … While we have increased the total amount allocated to high needs funding to £6.3bn this year, we recognise the pressures in the system and we are working with the sector ahead of the spending review to find a long-term, sustainable solution for high needs funding.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2019-01-23--Academy School Failures And Misuse Of Funds Are Damaging Childrens Education Spending Watchdog War

Academy School Failures And Misuse Of Funds Are Damaging Children's Education, Spending Watchdog Warns

Children’s education is being damaged by academy school failures and misuse of funds that includes paying “excessive salaries” to top bosses, a public spending watchdog has warned.  Academy trusts are now responsible for educating nearly half of all children in state-funded schools in England but are not sufficiently accountable to parents and local communities, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has found.  A succession of high-profile collapses of schools and misuse of public money is harming both pupils’ learning and taxpayers’ pockets, a damning new report by the influential committee says.  The PAC has slammed sizeable salaries paid to schools bosses, including an alleged £850,000 payout to one disgraced executive headteacher, and criticised the use of controversial building contracts at some academy schools.  The cross-party committee of MPs, which acts as a watchdog on public spending, has now called for greater governance of the academies sector.  Meg Hillier MP, chair of the committee, said: “We have seen the troubling consequences of poor governance and oversight of academy trusts. Government must raise its game to ensure the failures of the past are not repeated.”  But the Department for Education (DfE) has hit back saying a haul of Oxbridge university offers at academy schools over the last week proves the system is working to improve outcomes for thousands of pupils.  Among the PAC’s findings are warnings that parents have to fight to obtain even basic information about their children’s schools.  It says academy trusts do not do enough to communicate decisions that affect schools and how they are spending public money.  Two high-profile academy chains - Durand Academy Trust and Bright Tribe Trust - are singled out for serious failures in governance and oversight.  The report says the previous executive headteacher at Durand Academy Trust was entitled to a lump sum payment of £850,000 despite “catastrophic failures of governance”, which it describes as a “shocking reward for failure”.  While the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is taking steps to control executive pay, the report warns these measures in isolation will not prevent abuse and are “as yet unproven”.  Witnesses also told the committee school improvement works funded by public money at The Whitehaven Academy, in west Cumbria, run by Bright Tribe Trust, had not been carried out and the building was in a poor state of repair. The allegations were the subject of a BBC Panorama investigation last year.  Parents were forced to use freedom of information requests to Bright Tribe to find out what was happening at the school when information was not forthcoming.  The PAC also criticises failings in transparency and governance across the academies sector, saying the accounts of individual academy trusts and for the sector as a whole are not accessible to parents and local people.  The committee says it is not clear who parents can turn to if they need to escalate concerns about the running of academy schools and academy trusts.  It warns the DfE has few sanctions at its disposal to penalise academy chiefs involved in malpractice.  While the DfE can ban individuals from teaching and acting as school governors, the ESFA admits there is nothing to stop censured staff setting up businesses that can trade with the education and training providers it oversees.


sottnet--2019-06-02--US Embassy in Honduras set ablaze amid massive protests against education and healthcare privatizati

US Embassy in Honduras set ablaze amid massive protests against education and healthcare privatization

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sottnet--2019-11-12--Google sucks up & analyzes healthcare data on millions of Americans in secret AI project

Google has teamed up with one of the largest health providers in the US to gather detailed medical records on millions of patients across the country without their knowledge, in a secret project the firm tried to keep under wraps.Dubbed "Project Nightingale," the secretive program brought together Google and healthcare giant Ascension in an effort to collect medical records on patients across 21 states, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The data sharing began last year, and has only accelerated in recent months.Google says it hopes to use the data to develop an application employing AI and machine learning to track patients and recommend treatments, and ultimately has its eye on creating a search engine that can aggregate disparate patient data in one place."Wow - this is downright alarming. Do you trust Google with your blood test results, diagnoses, sensitive health information?" asked attorney and Republican National Committee member Harmeet K. Dhillon in a tweet. "Google's secret 'Project Nightingale' gathers personal health data on millions of Americans."The company launched Google Health in 2008, but shuttered it less than four years later after failing to persuade enough users to hand over their medical records willingly, perhaps uncomfortable with the firm having access to such sensitive information. The tech giant has since cut individual consent out of its quest to amass healthcare data, going over the heads of patients to make deals with health providers instead.In September, the company allied with the Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic to provide cloud services and data analytics in a 10-year "strategic partnership," which will give Google access to data on up to 1 million patients at the clinic each year.In another mass data grab earlier this month, the company purchased the maker of the fitness tracking device Fitbit, gobbling up the data of some 28 million active users of the gadget. The data goes beyond simple fitness tracking, such as the number of steps one takes per day, as some users opt to link the device to additional medical or insurance records. While Google vowed to never hand out the Fitbit information to third parties, customers may still have reason to be skeptical about the integrity of their data.The case mirrored a similar mishap across the pond in 2017, in which the UK's National Health Service passed the company data on 1.6 million patients in violation of privacy laws.The data sharing with Ascension is likely permitted under US federal law, however, as the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPA) Act allows hospitals and other healthcare providers to pass data to business partners without informing patients so long as it "help[s] the covered entity carry out its health care functions."


sputnik--2019-03-21--Ex-US Envoy to UN Haley Schooled by Finns Angered by Free Healthcare Criticism

Former US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has come under international criticism for her comment about Finland's healthcare system, which, she argued, was inferior to that of the US.  The incident started when Senator Bernie Sanders, who recently declared he's running for president for a second time, slammed the cost of childbirth in the US. According to the Vermont senator, it's a mind-boggling $12,000 compared to only $60 in Finland. Using this argument as a battering ram, Sanders called to end the US' "profit-driven healthcare system" he called a "disgrace".  Haley countered by claiming that Finland's healthcare wasn't too popular among its citizens and suggesting it "skimped on healthcare".  "It's pretty great, thanks for asking. We skimp on pregnant women's health so much that the infant mortality rate is almost 3 times higher in the US than in Finland. We skimp so much on pregnant women and the newborn that every pregnant person receives a maternity package (or if they choose, cash) filled with clothes and other goodies for the child. For free", podcaster and writer Taru Torikka retorted in a series of tweets.  Another user compared Nikki Haley with the former Soviet Union in trying to tell people that life in the West is terrible.  "Finland has a high performing health system, with remarkable good quality in both primary and hospital care. The country also achieves good health status at relatively low level of health spending", Kai Sauer tweeted.  He added that the United Nations describes Finland as having the world's third-lowest infant mortality rate, the lowest maternal mortality, the second-lowest total mortality from cancer in the EU.  To add salt to the wound, Sauer apologised for his belated answer by claiming that Finland was busy celebrating its rank as the world's happiest country.  When it comes to under-five mortality rates, Finland has 2.3 deaths per 1,000 live births, according to the United Nations Children's Fund, while the US has 6.6 per 1,000 live births for the same age group.  Despite significantly higher health care spending than Finland, the United States has the worst overall child mortality rate compared with 19 other wealthy nations in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, according to a study published last year in the journal Health Affairs. Also, the maternal mortality rate in the US is 14 per 100,000 women, nearly five times higher than Finland's which is three.  A 2018 Global Burden of Disease study found Finland to have one of the best healthcare systems along with the likes of Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland. By contrast, the US was found to have the most expensive healthcare. In Finland, the annual cost-per-patient is around 2,800 euros, while in the US' privately-financed health care system that figure is nearly 6,900 euros per patient.


sputnik--2019-04-14--Know Your Enemy US Health Insurers Lead Fight Against Universal Healthcare

Know Your Enemy: US Health Insurers Lead Fight Against Universal Healthcare

The whistleblower stated that he had taken his story public so that patients in the US would understand what they are up against as they attempt to trim unnecessary financial dealings from what most agree must be a freely-offered right to healthcare for all.  "I felt Americans needed to know exactly who it is that's fighting against the idea that healthcare is a right, not a privilege," the anonymous whistleblower told the Washington Post's Jeff Stein.  In answering questions about how his for-profit health insurance company was fighting the popular Medicare for All movement, Nelson hinted at crafting carefully strategized backroom dealings while brewing a broad propaganda blitzkrieg.  "One of the things you said: ‘We're really quiet' or ‘It seems like we're quiet.' Um, we've done a lot more than you would think," Nelson asserted in response to an employee's question about the company's role regarding Medicare for All, according to a leaked video, mentioned by the Washington Post but not published.  "You want to be kind of thoughtful about how you show up and have these kind of conversations, because the last thing you want to do is become the poster child during the presidential campaign," Nelson warned, cited by Washpost.com.  In addition, Nelson declared that UnitedHealthcare "opposes Medicare for All because it excludes the private sector, which he said does a better job of delivering healthcare than the government, and said he doubted how a single-payer system could be funded or effectively administered."  The CEO's comments were leaked just a few days after Vermont Senator and 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (I-VT) revealed a new Medicare for All healthcare bill, which will extend US healthcare benefits to everyone, including undocumented migrants, Sputnik reported Saturday.  The bill, introduced by Sanders last week, did not reference immigrants directly, but clearly stated it would cover all US "residents." The bill has received the support of Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).  The bill is intended to be a major step beyond the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare), which limits its effect to those who are US citizens, nationals and "lawfully present immigrants."  Following the introduction of his bill, Sanders criticized insurance and pharmaceutical companies.  "In my view, the current debate over Medicare for All really has nothing to do with healthcare. It's all about greed and profiteering," Sanders said in a recent statement.  "It is about whether we maintain a dysfunctional system which allows the top five health insurance companies to make over $20 billion in profits last year," he pointed out.  On Friday, Sanders addressed Nelson and UnitedHealthcare in a Twitter message, writing: "Our message to Steve Nelson and UnitedHealthcare is simple: When we are in the White House your greed is going to end. We will end the disgrace of millions of people being denied health care while a single company earns $226 billion and its CEO makes $7.5 million in compensation."  In a recent statement to the Washington Post, Medicare for All campaigner Tim Faust noted, "When the people begin organizing against private insurance, the lonely insurance executives turn to their only friends: the elected officials beholden to their cash."  Medicare for All, a ‘single-payer' plan, envisages the US government paying for any and all expenses related to the physical health and wellbeing of its citizens, similar to most every other developed nation in the world.  By eliminating every other money-moving, for-profit or bureaucratic entity from the current US healthcare system, including insurance companies as well as federal and state branches, Medicare-for-All would provide all the necessary baseline healthcare needs for every US citizen, at no charge to the patient.  Medicare-for-All would eliminate the need for the thousands of publicly-traded and extremely-profitable private-insurance companies that have managed to insinuate themselves between patients and actual healthcare providers, including doctors, clinics and hospitals, according to Washpost.com.  Notably, 17 developed nations including Norway, Japan, the United Kingdom, Kuwait, Sweden, Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Finland, Slovenia, Italy, Portugal, Cyprus, Spain and Iceland have successfully established single-payer systems.


sputnik--2019-08-04--UK Allocates Extra 22Bln to Modernize Hospitals Healthcare System - Prime Minister

UK Allocates Extra $2.2Bln to Modernize Hospitals, Healthcare System - Prime Minister

"Today I’m announcing an extra £1.8 billion for the NHS – that means more beds, better care and lives saved", Johnson said, as quoted by his office.  These funds will be used to modernize about 20 hospitals. In addition, capital expenditures on the health system as a whole will be increased, the prime minister's office noted. More than a billion pounds of the newly announced funding will be spent in the current fiscal year, it added.  Additional funding is above 33.9 billion pounds allocated annually from the NHS budget in accordance with a long-term program approved last year.  The news comes almost a week after UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid has announced that additional 2.1 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) were earmarked to prepare the country for a no-deal Brexit.  Meanwhile, London has already allocated 6.3 billion pounds for Brexit preparations, including 4.2 billion made available this financial year.  In his first speech as prime minister, Boris Johnson vowed to leave the European Union by the 31 October deadline. He also added that while London would work to secure a new and "better" deal with Brussels, preparations for a potential no-deal Brexit would be necessary if "Brussels refuses any further to negotiate".  Johnson said in June that the chances for no-deal Brexit were a "million-to-one against".  Johnson has been also calling on the European Commission to drop a clause that seeks to avoid a hard Irish border by tying the country to the EU customs union, despite Brussels saying it will not reopen the talks on the Brexit deal.  UK citizens voted to leave the European Union in 2016. Brexit was originally scheduled for late March, but UK lawmakers failed to endorse the deal agreed upon by London and Brussels, so the deadline was moved to 31 October. The failure to deliver the withdrawal made Johnson's predecessor, Theresa May, to step down.  According to US Goldman Sachs investment bank, Brexit reportedly cost the United Kingdom about $785 million per week since the 2016 referendum that sealed the country's fate to exit the European bloc.


talkingpointsmemo--2019-04-02--Trump Punts Says GOP Will Unveil Healthcare Plan Right After The Election

Trump Punts, Says GOP Will Unveil Healthcare Plan ‘Right After The Election’

President Donald Trump, perhaps realizing the political cudgel he had handed Democrats with the renewed Obamacare attack, tweeted Monday that Republicans would wait to unveil their healthcare plan alternative until “right after the election.”  The punt could also be a result of Republicans not actually having a plan. Reports surfaced Monday that Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) was pitching in on the effort, which did not seem very far along in its development. Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) washed his hands of the issue entirely, clearly unwilling to make a second run at an issue that provided a huge win for the Democrats and humiliation for his caucus last time around.  Democrats have hungrily gobbled up the chance to make yet another election about health care, which plays right into the narratives of many 2020 contenders who are focusing on bread and butter issues.


tass--2019-03-14--South Korea Russia develop joint healthcare projects

South Korea, Russia develop joint healthcare projects

SEOUL, March 14. /TASS/. The Republic of Korea and Russia are successfully cultivating relations in the field of healthcare, South Korean Health and Welfare Minister Park Neung-hu said in an interview with a TASS correspondent on Thursday. The top health official participated in the opening ceremony of the Medical Korea conference, and the Korea International Medical & Hospital Equipment Show, KIMES, at the COEX Convention and Exhibition Center in Seoul.  Park Neung-hu particularly emphasized that after the South Korean and Russian Health Ministries signed a corresponding memorandum, the countries started developing partnerships in many spheres. He was mainly referring to the field of healthcare that uses information technology, as well as medical staff internship programs. The minister said that last year Russian medical workers and pharmaceutical industry representatives visited South Korea for training, while a South Korean delegation paid a visit to Russia later to study the possibilities for running joint business projects. One of these projects is introducing information technology in the Russian Far East Region to provide equal access to healthcare to all citizens.  In other media


tass--2019-08-20--Funds allocated for national healthcare project should be spent wisely Putin

Funds allocated for national healthcare project should be spent wisely — Putin

He recalled that 1 trillion 367 billion rubles ($20.5 bln) were allocated for the implementation of this national project, in particular 237.5 billion rubles ($3.6 bln) were granted for the development of primary healthcare.  MOSCOW, August 20. /TASS/. The funds allocated for the implementation of the national project Healthcare should be spent wisely, Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting on the modernization of primary healthcare on Tuesday.  Male obesity surges in Russia in past 16 years, says Ministry of Health expert  "These are significant resources that should be spent wisely and should give a good result," Putin said, noting that there are "many more problems in this area." In particular, he said, we are talking about the availability of medical care for residents of small towns and remote territories.  The president noted that earlier, he had discussed problems in primary healthcare at a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova.  The main tasks of the National project include reduction of mortality from cardiovascular and oncological diseases, introduction of lean technologies, large-scale prevention and screening, elimination of personnel shortages, the development of the infrastructure of children's hospitals.  The national project includes eight federal projects, in particular "Development of the primary healthcare system", "Combating cardiovascular diseases", "Combating oncological diseases", "Development of children's healthcare" and others.  Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova is in charge of the National Project, and Russian Health Minister Veronica Skvortsova heads it.


tass--2019-10-31--Putin says allocations for healthcare will grow

"As far as healthcare financing at large is concerned, certainly, we must and will increase it," the head of state said. "While [healthcare expenses] are 3.7% of GDP in this year, they will be 4.1% of GDP as early as in the next year," Putin said. The consolidated healthcare budget amounts to 2.7 trillion rubles ($42.2 bln) in 2019 and will be 4.5 trillion rubles ($70.4 bln) in 2020, the president said.  "This is more than 4% in many countries, that is true, but the tax burden there is also higher," Putin said. "The overall tax burden in Russia is 28.4%, while it is more than 37% in Germany and over 40% in Belgium and France," the Russian leader said. "In other words, they collect from the whole economy, from citizens, and make reallocations there. Are we ready at present to dramatically increase the tax burden and what will be the result? This is a very delicate sphere," Putin noted.  "The understanding that healthcare financing should be increased is present. It [financing] will grow," the head of state added.


tass--2019-11-25--Venturing into the future of healthcare with AI - SonoScape at Medica 2019

DUSSELDORF, Germany, Nov. 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- SonoScape, as one of the leading providers of medical ultrasound and endoscopy solutions, presented its latest products and technologies in the world's largest medical event Medica: its first echoendoscope EG-UR5 (endoscopic ultrasound), a new 4-LED light source and SFI/VIST technology for endoscopy HD550, and a new ultrasound system, P60.  The future of medicine is here at Medica: visitors can see a lightweight medical robot assisting a surgeon to perform minimally invasive, highly precise operations while reducing the strain on medical personnel to the greatest extent possible.  SonoScape combines its two strongest know-how in sonography and endoscopy and presents its first echoendoscope EG-UR5. The system comes with SonoScape's high-end endoscopy systems, and is paired with the premium color Doppler ultrasound S60. A true "best of the two worlds", EG-UR5 is a golden key to unlock the modern endoscopic ultrasound area. SonoScape is one of the few global brands and the first from China that has released an endoscopic ultrasound system certified by the EU.  SonoScape Endoscopy Division keeps up its incredibly fast pace in product development and introduced a 4-LED light source, HD550. This technology delivers a noticeably upgraded brightness with even more image details under both white light and chromoendoscopy SFI/VIST modes, fulfilling all key factors for a quality optical diagnosis.  P60 extends its existing AI features from GI to holistic care for women: from family planning, pregnancy biometry and visualization to breast & pelvic health. With a strong Wis+ platform, P60 is designed to provide more insightful evidence for diagnosis and enhanced efficiency.  At a seminar during Medica, professor doctors from Germany and Spain endorsed P60 for its imaging quality and AI functions. This reiterated SonoScape's vision: bringing better health care to the world and improving doctor and patient care experiences through unparalleled commitment to expertise, innovation, and service.  Founded in 2002 in Shenzhen, China, SonoScape has committed itself to "Caring for life through innovation" by providing ultrasound and endoscopy solutions and delivering first-rate services. It now has seven R&D centers in Shenzhen, Shanghai, Harbin, Wuhan, Tokyo, Silicon Valley and Seattle. Ranked as the top 10 ultrasound brands globally, SonoScape reinvests 18% of its revenue into R&D annually, with more advanced products to be introduced into the pipeline.


theamericanconservative--2019-10-17--Patient Zero: Democrats’ Healthcare Split Could Prove Fatal

Universal healthcare: It’s been the raison d’etre for Democrats seeking the White House for as long as I can remember.  First, there was candidate and then-President Bill Clinton’s attempt, the much-maligned, stillborn “HillaryCare.” Based in part on the government controlling health care costs, it was rebuked by Congressional Republicans and then voters in 1994, as the GOP seized the House for the first time in a half-century.  Then, as conservatism was on its back at the end of the George W. Bush presidency, there was appetite again for a second try. Horror stories of America’s shambolic system were everywhere in the 2000’s. From Michael Moore’s “Sicko” to songs by Conor Oberst—“Oh, we got no health insurance, no cellular service, no disease, they can cure”—it seemed healthcare, as much as the failing financial system, and the fraught wars abroad, was foremost in everyone’s minds.  In the middle part of the naughties, leading Republicans championed an approach they thought would help preserve the market system—most notably RomneyCare, shepherded in by then-Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Years later, the Right and Romney himself would reject the approach nationally. But the Romney system relied on the individual mandate—that is, requiring citizens to buy private insurance.  The leading Democrats in the 2008 primary—then-Sen. Hillary Clinton, then-Sen. Barack Obama, and 2004 primary runner-up John Edwards—were divided on the matter. Clinton and Edwards favored a mandate, while Obama, often portrayed as furthest left of the trio, actually opposed the mandate. As president, of course, Obama would change his mind and deem it necessary for American healthcare reform.  Heading into 2020, as Democrats nominate a post-Obama, post-Clinton standard-bearer for the first time in years, healthcare still weighs heavily on the minds of both voters and party elites. Obamacare, a relatively moderate, technocratic fix, the thinking goes, cost an ocean of political capital for the Left, only to be dynamited by President Obama’s political successor. Obama didn’t even get a prime attraction of his program through—the public option, that is, a real-deal government rival to private insurance.  If the Left is going to do healthcare reform, the thinking goes, why not go for gold? Republicans will work to sunder any attempt, anyways. As Mayor Pete Buttigieg said this earlier this year: “If we adopt a platform way out to the left, they’re going to say we’re socialists. If we adopt a more moderate or conservative platform, they’re going to say we’re socialists. So, we might as well just do what we think is right, make the case for it and then let them do what they want.”  This dynamic was on full display Tuesday night in Ohio.  The hardcore option is so-called “Medicare for All,” most commonly associated with front-runner Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, the latter of whom wrote the bill in the Senate, as he reminded us Tuesday night. Warren, whose stock has rocketed in recent weeks, was needled for lack of specificity on how she would pay for the watershed program. Said Sanders: “As someone who wrote the damn bill … I do think it is appropriate to acknowledge that taxes will go up. They will go up significantly for the wealthy and for virtually everybody, the tax increase will be substantially less.”  Warren’s other rivals pulled fewer punches. “I believe the best and boldest idea here is to not trash Obamacare,” said Sen. Amy Klobachur, a consensus breakout star of the debate. “But to do what Barack Obama wanted to do from the beginning and that’s have a public option that would bring down the cost of the premium, and expand the number of people covered, and take on the pharmaceutical companies. That is what we should be doing.” Klobachur added, clearly directing her aim at Warren: “Instead of kicking 149 million people off their insurance.”  The Minnesota senator said the Massachusetts senator’s ambivalence toward repairing Obamacare was evidence that she had bought into “Republican talking points”; Warren said Klobachur’s refusal to embrace a bigger approach also represented bringing a conservative spirit to the problem.  The Warren-Klobachur fracas was emblematic of the fight between the increasingly warring camps on America’s Left: between medicare-for-all and the less ambitious public option, which would offer a Medicare-like plan to folks under 65 and is embraced by Klobachur, the label-ambivalent Buttigieg, and former Vice President Joe Biden. The ex-veep, like Sanders, was quick to remind voters of his relevance to this debate, recalling that he backed the public option hard while in the White House.  Industry is not sleeping on this dynamic, either. Major insurer Kaiser Permanente has released a survey implicitly favorable to the Biden-Buttigieg-Klobuchar approach, finding only fifty-one percent of people want Medicare-for-all — down from nearly sixty percent last year, before the primary debate kicked out. Kaiser, for its worth, found that 73 percent of people favored a public option. “Biden has cast ‘Medicare for All’ as ‘getting rid of Obamacare’ and Mayor Pete has said you don’t need to gut private health insurance to get to universal coverage,” Washington Examiner senior healthcare reporter Kimberly Leonard told me.  The Democratic Party represents the hopes for millions of disenfranchised and struggling Americans. But its fundamental tensions with its Left is that the party is also composed of much of America’s educated elite, who are generally just fine with their healthcare coverage, thank you very much.  In 2017, Democrats in Virginia and New Jersey rode the healthcare issue to a ballot box bonanza, after the abortive Trump admin healthcare overhaul. Leading Dem strategists hope to repeat that success again. But for a party that hopes to unite before the summer and above all else—replace Donald Trump—the now open rift on a such a seminal issue is worrying.  Curt Mills is senior writer for The American Conservative.


theblaze--2019-01-29--Kamala Harris wants to totally eradicate private healthcare Lets eliminate all of that

Kamala Harris wants to totally eradicate private healthcare: 'Let's eliminate all of that'  The 2020 Democrat wants more than just Medicare expansion


theblaze--2019-04-24--Green New Deal advocate rejects any compromise says priorities are jobs guarantees and free healthc

Green New Deal advocate rejects any compromise, says priorities are jobs guarantees and free healthcare


theconservativetreehouse--2019-06-24--President Trump Announces Executive Order on Healthcare Price Transparency

President Trump Announces Executive Order on Healthcare Price Transparency….

Earlier today President Trump announced a new executive order, constructed to facilitate a regulation change, that will require healthcare providers to inform patients of the cost of their procedures in advance of treatment.  [Lots of Background Here]  The President makes the announcement [Video and Transcript Below]  [Transcript] – 3:17 P.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you. Wow. (Applause.) Wow. That’s very nice. Thank you very much everybody. Wow. We must be doing something right lately. (Laughter.) That’s very nice. I appreciate it very much. And welcome to the White House. Great place. No place like it, actually.  We’re here to announce new groundbreaking actions that we’re taking to dramatically increase quality, affordability, and fairness to our healthcare system. This landmark initiative continues our campaign to put American patients first. This is a truly big action. People have no idea how big it is. Some people say bigger than healthcare itself. This is something that’s going to be very important.  For too long, it’s been virtually impossible for Americans to know the real price and quality of healthcare services and the services they receive. As a result, patients face significant obstacles shopping for the best care at the best price, driving up healthcare costs for everyone.  With today’s historic action, we are fundamentally changing the nature of the healthcare marketplace. This is bigger than anything we’ve done in this particular realm. And probably, Alex, it’s not even close, from what they’re telling me.  We will empower patients with the information they need to search for the lowest costs and the highest-quality care. In other words, they’ll be able to seek out their doctor, seek out the doctor they want, and they’ll be given vast amounts of information about those doctors.  We’re grateful to be joined by Secretary Alex Azar and Administrator Seema Verma. Thank you very much. Alex? Where’s Seema? Hi, Seema. (Applause.)  And I also want to recognize and thank a great senator, Chuck Grassley. Chuck, thank you very much. (Applause.) And, by the way, congratulations on ethanol. E15, right? He fought so hard. Oh, he’s tough. When he goes after you, he’s brutal. (Laughter.) But he gets what he wants and then he likes you, right? Anyway, congratulations to the farmers, frankly, Chuck. Right? Great job. Appreciate it. And that’s all year-round.  And Mike Braun. Mike, thank you. Thank you, Mike. Great job you’re doing.  Representatives Greg Walden — we worked so hard together on Right to Try, Greg. Right? Right to Try. People are loving it. Michael Burgess, Doug Collins, Devin — Devin Nunes. Thank you all. Incredible people.  Lieutenant Governors Geoff Duncan and Dan Forest. Thank you, fellas. Thank you. Thank you. You didn’t get a very good seat. I can’t believe it. (Laughter.) That’s not like you.  And all of our great state legislators. We have a lot of them with us today, and a lot of great medical people and doctors.  For decades, powerful insurance companies, lobbyists, and special interests have denied the public access to the real cost of the healthcare services they provide. It’s that simple. This lack of price transparency has enriched industry giants greatly, costing Americans hundreds of billions of dollars a year.  Patients have been billed nearly $800 for saline; more than $6,000 for a drug test, at the simplest methods used, and $6,000 — I’ve seen them; and over $17,000 for stitches to just stitch up a minor wound. Often, prices differ drastically between providers and hospitals for the exact same services. And there’s no consistency. There’s no predictability. And there’s, frankly, no rhyme or reason to what’s been happening for so many years.  As a result, Americans, such as Erika Jay, who is here today, find themselves in deeply unfair situations. Erika, please, if you would come up and just explain what happened to you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. (Applause.)  MS. JAY: Thank you. Over the last three and a half years, while fighting a stage-three cancer, we visited many healthcare facilities. We saw price variations that just caught us off-guard and really surprised us — took us by surprise — from one facility to the next. And it caused us financial hardship.  An example of this is when I had two identical bone biopsy procedures only 11 days apart at facilities that were only 17 miles apart from each other. We learned, when we received the bills for the second procedure, that it cost us more than 330 percent than the first time we had it done. Different facility, identical procedure: drastically different pricing.  This is one of many stories our family has. If price transparency had been required, we would have been empowered to find the best pricing for my care, saving thousands of dollars over the last three years.  THE PRESIDENT: Yes. I’m right here. (Laughter.)  MS. JAY: Thank you for this executive order.  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.  MS. JAY: And thank you for empowering and helping families like mine all over the nation.  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. That’s very nice. (Applause.) Thank you. Thanks very much, Erika.  We believe the American people have a right to know the price of services before they go to visit the doctor. Therefore, in just a few moments, I will be signing a breakthrough executive order. It will create unprecedented transparency about healthcare prices and provide this information to the American people for the first time ever — first time it’s ever been done. People knew it should have been done years ago, but they never got it done. I wonder why.  With this order, hospitals will be required to publish prices that reflect what people actually pay for services in a way that’s clear, straightforward, and accessible to all. And you’ll be able to price it among many different potential providers, and you’ll get great pricing. Prices will come down by numbers that you won’t even believe. You won’t even believe it. More price transparency will mean more competition, and the cost of healthcare will go way, way down.  Vanderbilt economist — highly respected — Dr. Larry Van Horn is here with us. Larry was introduced to me by a gentleman who is a great gentleman, great economist: Art Laffer. And Art Laffer just got — as you know, Larry — just got the Presidential Medal of Freedom a couple of days ago. And Art was telling me that he’s the head of a hospital, where he comes from. He’s on the board. And they did this. He said it is beyond anything he’s seen, from an economic standpoint and even a health standpoint.  And I said, “Let’s talk about it.” And we discussed it, and it’s something known very well, but a lot of people don’t do it because there won’t be some rich people that will be too happy about this. But the people will be happy about it.  So, Larry, could you — (applause) — so, Larry, if you would — one thing, before Larry gets up: One of the other big beneficiaries are really good doctors. The good doctors. And they should be the beneficiaries — not the bad doctors, but the good doctors. And I think all of the doctors in the audience know exactly what I’m talking about. So thank you for being here, because I guarantee you’re all probably very good doctors.  So, Larry, if you would, please come up and share a little of your wisdom and what this is all about. Thank you. Thank you very much. (Applause.)  DR. VAN HORN: Thank you, Mr. President, for taking this action that will put healthcare information in the hands of the American consumer. This truly will be transformational.  For years, I’ve studied the impact of hidden prices and what that’s had — the impact that’s had on markets — healthcare markets — as well as American consumers.  My analysis suggests that when cash prices are transparent, upfront, in the market, on average, they’re 39 percent cheaper than the amounts that third-party payers pay for like services.  Even when insurance covers the cost, there is, on average, a 300 percent price variation within a market across — for the exact same services. Your healthcare transparency initiative will empower consumers and use free market forces to drive healthcare markets towards lower prices, better outcomes, greater access, and greater value.   But this is bigger than healthcare. Lower prices for healthcare leaves more money in Americans’ wallets and in their paychecks for the purchase of all other goods and services that are important parts of their lives. This will be good for America and good for Americans. (Applause.)  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Larry.  Today’s action is not just about lower prices. It’s also about helping Americans find excellent care. Currently, patients do not have adequate tools to find the doctors who would deliver better health outcomes at an affordable cost.  And when they used to talk about Obamacare, “You can keep your doctor,” that turned out to be a lie. Twenty-eight different times it turned out to be a lie. Here, you can keep your doctor, but you can also maybe find somebody other than your doctor at your choice, and that would be based on talent and it would also be based on price.  Because of this, you’ll be able to search out for the right doctor. And it really is, in a true sense, the opposite of Obamacare. You get much better pricing, and you’ll get the doctor that you want and maybe you’ll get better than the doctor that you originally thought about. It’s pretty incredible.  Low-quality care often means unnecessary services. For example, a bad doctor may routinely perform an expensive spinal surgery for back pain without first trying physical therapy.   That’s why my order directs agencies to help inform the public about the quality of doctors and hospitals by leveraging all of this data. By making much better use of this new information, we will save money and save lives, and your care will be much better. It’s incredible.  We’re also joined by Dr. Elaina George, a longtime advocate for patients. Elaina, please come up and tell them a little bit about what transparency means. Thank you. (Applause.)  DR. GEORGE: I love being a doctor. However, one of the most challenging things has been the inability to be an effective advocate for my patients. I’ve had patients deny themselves care because they don’t know how much a service will cost, or, worse, be stuck with a costly bill that they didn’t expect.  I have felt powerless at times because of my inability to help them, especially if I have to send them to a hospital and we can’t find out the price of the service.  Price transparency is a solution to this problem. When patients become healthcare consumers, it will drive prices down, quality up, and most importantly, help doctors serve their patients better.  Thank you, President Trump, for this executive order. (Applause.)  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Elaina. Thank you very much. Great job. Thank you, Elaina.  As we fight to increase transparency and lower costs for patients, more than 120 Democrats in Congress support Bernie Sanders’s socialist takeover of American healthcare. It’s very dangerous. The Democrat plan would terminate the private health insurance of over 180 million Americans who are really happy with what they have.  Under my administration, we will never let that happen. We believe in giving patients — (applause) — we believe in giving patients choice and freedom in healthcare, ensuring access to the doctors they want, the treatments they need, and the highest standard of medical care anywhere in the world. And this will make it much better than it’s ever been.  This is a truly historic day. I don’t know that it will be covered that way by the fake news. (Laughter.) But this is truly a historic day. This is a very big thing that’s happening right now. And it’s pretty much going to blow everything away, Alex, as we discussed. People never thought they’d see us do this.  We’re making new affordable health options available to millions of American workers through the association health plans, short-term plans, and health reimbursement arrangements.  We’re working with Congress to stop surprise medical billing. And when you hear “surprise” — (applause) — right? And when we hear “surprise medical bill” we’re not talking about a positive surprise. (Laughter.) We’re talking about, you know, not surprise, “Oh, gee. How happy I am.” You’re talking about, like, a disaster.  Because no American should be blindsided by bills for medical service they never agreed to in advance. Because people get sick. They don’t really think in terms of, “Let’s sit down and negotiate for 20 minutes.” You want to get better. And then you get hit, and you get hit really hard. And that stops.  We’re expanding access to tax-free health savings accounts. To give critically ill patients access to lifesaving cures, we passed Right to Try. We were helped so much by these gentlemen in the front row. What a job you all did, and I really appreciate it. And you, too, Senator. I’ll tell you, that was really great. We think in terms of the House — because I know how hard you fought for it, Greg and Doug. You guys were amazing. But — and Devin, I know you worked on this one very, very hard with everything else you do, but I appreciate it. And very few people would’ve done that.  You know, Right to Try is interesting because it’s been — they’ve been trying to get it for 45 years. And they couldn’t do it. And it sounds simple, but it’s not, because everybody had a reason for not wanting it. The insurance companies didn’t want it because of liabilities. The country didn’t want it because they didn’t want to be sued.  But now you have terminally ill patients that used to — if they were rich enough, they’d go Asia. They’d go to Europe. They’d go all over the world looking for a cure. And we have the greatest doctors in the world right here; the greatest lab technicians and labs and medical services. We have everything. But it takes a period of time to get a certain potential cure approved. Sometimes 15 years. And, by the way, we brought that down to probably an average of six.  But you need time because you don’t want to hurt anybody. But these are patients that are terminally ill and they didn’t want to give them a potential cure because they didn’t want to hurt them, but they’re terminally ill. So we agreed that people would sign a waiver. Nobody is going to be held liable. The drug companies, which didn’t want it because they didn’t want it on their record, we made it a much less part of their record. And we set up different standards where it would be in other parts, which was great for them.  And everybody is happy, and many lives have been saved. And I’ll tell you, we had one the other day that was on — so incredible. A young — incredible young woman where they made a medical mistake and it was over for her. They were explaining last rites. And then, all of a sudden, she did this and she’s now healthy. They think she’s going to be actually fine. You might have seen it. It’s been — it was actually an incredible thing.  So I’m really happy. I talk about it a lot. Right to Try — something that sounds so simple, and yet for 45 years they’ve been trying to get it approved. And they got it.  And just so you feel good, Greg and Doug and everybody — tremendous success. Have you been seeing what’s going on? So many people that were definitely not going to make it are now living, and, in many cases, they’re going to be just fine. So it’s something very — you can all be very proud of that.  So for the first time in a long time, we’re doing things that nobody has ever done before, from the standpoint of what we’re here for.  We eliminated the Obamacare individual mandate penalty, which was the most unpopular thing in Obamacare, by far. And I had a decision to make: Do we do a good job with Obamacare — the remnant of Obamacare? Or do we do a bad job? If I do a bad job, well, there you can blame Obama and the Democrats. If we do a good job, they’ll get a little bit more credit. But it’s still very faulty. It doesn’t work, and it’s too expensive. And I told our great Secretary Alex Azar, “Don’t do a good job, do a great job. Do what you have to do. Work with the states. Do whatever you have to do to make it as good as possible.” Once we got rid of the individual mandate, it made it better.  But Obamacare doesn’t work, but it works at least adequately now. And we had that choice to make. And, politically, it’s probably not a good thing that I did, but it’s the right thing to do for a lot of people. So I want to thank you and I want to thank Seema for doing a fantastic job. I appreciate it. (Applause.)  And we spend a lot of time defending Medicare and Social Security, and we’re always going to protect patients with preexisting conditions. People don’t understand that — that we are fighting very, very hard to get it taken care of for preexisting conditions. And if we weren’t, that wouldn’t happen.  But the Republicans are very much behind that. Totally behind that. And if we do anything and if you see anything a little unusual, it doesn’t make it because we’re putting in very, very strong — taking care of patients with preexisting conditions.  And I would say, Alex, that that is, really, a very strong foundation of what we’re doing and what we’re all about. So it’s very important.  Together, we’re taking power away from bureaucrats. We’re taking it away from insurance companies and away from special interests. We’re giving that power back to patients, and we’re giving Americans the right to know. So we have the right to try, and now we have the right to know, and the right to negotiate, and the right to pick your own doctor, and the right to get great prices. And other than that, you know, what can I tell you? (Laughter.) You can’t do better than that.  But we’re taking one more giant step toward a healthcare system and a healthcare system that’s really fantastic, and it’s going to be good, and it’s going to work for the people.  So I just want to thank everybody for being here. I’m going to go and sign the executive order. And if this is half as big as some people are saying it will be, it will be one of the biggest things ever done in this world, in this industry, in this profession.  And I want to especially thank all of the doctors for being here. We have a lot of doctors in this room, and they’re very proud of what they do, and they want to have our system work. And this is something that I think is going to get it to really work efficiently and well.  Thank you very much for being here. I’m going to sign the executive order. Thank you. (Applause.)


theconservativetreehouse--2019-11-16--President Trump Delivers Remarks on Healthcare Price Transparency Initiative – Video and Transcript

Earlier today President Trump gave remarks and held a brief White House presser on the topic of healthcare pricing transparency. [Video and Transcript Below]  [Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, everybody. It’s a great honor. The stock market is up big today. It set a new record. I think it’s the 22nd time this year, and it’s over 100 times for the time that we’re in office. We’ve set over 100. I think it’s substantially more than 100. We’ll get the exact number because I know you wouldn’t want me to have that wrong. They don’t like that.  But we’re up over 100 times for the stock market. And that means jobs. That means companies are moving back into the United States that left. We have many, many companies coming back.  The employment numbers are at a record. The — or very close. And we just got a new number on African American employment. It’s the best it’s ever been. You could say employment or unemployment — they’re the best numbers they’ve ever been.  So we’re very proud of what’s happened with our economy. A few months ago, you were predicting a recession. Perhaps someday there will be a recession, but we have a long way to go. The consumer has never been stronger, and we’re going to make the consumer even stronger yet, with transparency, because they’re going to get much better pricing at hospitals. So I think we can probably add this to the number.  You saw median household income — for President Bush, eight years — was $450. For President Obama, for eight years — eight years, think of that — was $975. For President Trump — a little over two and a half years — when they did the final number, it was $5,000. And they add to that $2,000, thanks to Kevin and everybody. Thank you, Kevin. You’re behind me someplace, right? Add $2,000 or $2,500, Kevin. What would you say?  REPRESENTATIVE BRADY: Yeah. Right about there, Mr. President.  THE PRESIDENT: Right there? So let’s add $2,000, and then add $3,000 for regulation, and add something for the energy savings. So you have $10,000. So it’s $400 and $975 — that’s for eight and eight. And then, for two and half years, it’s $10,000. That’s not bad. But the consumer is very powerful, and this is going to make them more powerful.  So, welcome, everyone. This afternoon, we celebrate something that I’m very proud of: another major victory in our mission to deliver great healthcare at a price that you can afford. This will have a tremendous impact on prices.  A certain gentleman, who is in the room — who will say a couple of words — actually said this is more important than healthcare. And when he said that, my ears really perked up, and I listened. And they were right, and they gave me plenty of examples. And that person recently got the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His name is Art Laffer, and he’s a very talented guy.  Where is Art? Is he here? Yes?  THE PRESIDENT: Hello, Art. I didn’t see you. I didn’t see you back there. All right, stand up here. A great gentleman. And you brought a man here who’s the king of that world. And — hello. How are you? That’s the guy. And you made that statement to me: “More important than healthcare.” That was a big statement. As soon as I heard that, I said, “That sounds good to me.” It’s transparency.  So I signed, as you know, an executive order — historic. And we’re requiring price transparency in healthcare, forcing companies to compete for your business. It’s a very important thing that we’ve done here. I don’t think it’ll be covered by you, but it will be in the years to come.  Our goal was to give patients the knowledge they need about the real price of healthcare services. They’ll be able to check them, compare them, go to different locations, so they can shop for the highest-quality care at the lowest cost. And this is about high-quality care. You’re also looking at that. You’re looking at comparisons between talents, which is very important. And then, you’re also looking at cost. And, in some cases, you get the best doctor for the lowest cost. That’s a — that’s a good thing.  Today, I’m proud to announce two new actions implementing that order. First, we are finalizing a rule that will compel hospitals to publish prices publicly online for everyone to see and to compare. So you’re able to go online and compare all of the hospitals and the doctors and the prices, and, I assume, get résumés on doctors and see who you like.  And the good doctors — like, I assume these two guys are fantastic doctors, otherwise you wouldn’t be here. (Laughter.) And the bad doctors, I guess they have to go and hide someplace. I don’t know. Maybe they don’t do so well. I don’t know. But if they’re not good, we — we are more interested in the good ones. It’s called “rewarding talent.”  Second, we’re putting forward a proposed rule to require health insurance providers to disclose their pricing information to consumers. We’re giving American families control of their healthcare decisions. And the freedom to choose that care is right before them on the Internet and elsewhere, but on the Internet. Very, very open. Very transparent. That’s why it’s called transparency.  And this has been done on a small basis, on individual hospitals. In fact, Art, you were telling me about that, with your hospital, that you’re on the board of a hospital that did this.  I’d like you to actually — before I go further, I’d like you talk about that just for a second. Art Laffer. Art, just mention that, if you could.  DR. LAFFER: Yeah. You’ve got to lower it really far. (Laughter.) Sorry about that.  Let me, if I can, just say I was the chairman of the board of Centennial Hospital. We had some problems. But when you look at this, this is the biggest revolution I’ve seen in generations. I mean — and as opposed to most revolutions, this revolution saves lives; it doesn’t cost lives.  And, in this revolution, it saves money. You don’t have to spend money. And what you’ve seen here before is that we have no transparency whatsoever in medical. It’s like the hermit kingdom of industries. You don’t know what the price is. You don’t know what the outcome is. And you don’t know what the inputs are.  What this does is this pulls away the veil and allows people to see exactly what they can and what they do. And if I can say, I think this will lead to a phenomenal change in the U.S. outcome of employment output production. It’s just one of the industries that desperately needs this.  I’ll stop about here, but the last one I can remember being involved with was with Lady Thatcher when she privatized coal, steel, and the railroads. I mean, the changes there with Sir Keith Joseph. And this outdoes all of those revolutions, sir. It’s the most amazing of all time.  And it takes real leadership to do it and real practitioners to be able to get it through. And Secretary Azar is a great practitioner, and my buddy Larry Ku- — Larry Van Horn is also a great practitioner — as well as Larry Kudlow, by the way. (Laughter.) Thank you, sir.  THE PRESIDENT: And I’d like to have Larry maybe say a few words and explain what this is that we’re being — for the public.  DR. VAN HORN: Sure, Mr. President. This is a momentous day. Americans, year over year, have been faced with higher and higher healthcare costs, facing higher and higher obligation to pay for those out of their own wallets without information around the price and the quality associated with that.  The charges that have been put out are fictitious. Nobody pays the charges. This effort is to make real prices transparent. The net allowed amounts that drive the decision-making for patients every day will now be in their hands. They can make better trade-offs and have, hopefully, more money in their wallets and their paychecks to pay for all of the goods and services they need to live their lives.  So this is a very momentous day. And I appreciate the efforts of the administration all the way through in terms of being able to follow through and execute this.  THE PRESIDENT: And it we did max, right? We didn’t do a smaller version?  MR. VAN HORN: We did it max.  THE PRESIDENT: I kept saying —  THE PRESIDENT: There are versions of this. I said, “No, I don’t want the C or the D. I want the A-plus.” And we did it the A-plus, so I’m very happy with that. And I think you’re going to see things. It’s kicking in immediately. It’ll kick in as of today, but it’s going to really start going during the course of the year, the following year — this year coming. And you’ll see some results that are going to be actually incredible in terms of costs coming down and, I think, in terms of the quality of the care because you’re picking people that you’d want to be with.  This afternoon, we’re grateful to be joined by Secretary Steve Mnuchin — wherever you may be, Steve. Where is Steve?  Secretary Gene Scalia. And I hear you’re really doing a job over there. Huh?  SECRETARY SCALIA: We’re doing our best.  THE PRESIDENT: Labor is doing okay. Your numbers are certainly doing very good. It’s a good time to be Department of Labor. Right? This is a —  THE PRESIDENT: Right. Thank you very much. Good.  Secretary Alex Azar. Thank you, Alex. Thank you. Thank you, Alex.  And Administrator Seema Verma. Thank you very much, Seema. Where’s Seema? This is an unusual group today. They’re spread all over the place.  I also want to welcome Representatives Kevin Brady, Michael Burgess, and Greg Walden. They’ve been so fantastic on getting us to a really good position with the taxes.  We’re going to be doing a major middle-income tax cut if we take back the House. And we’ll talking about that sometime later. But we’re going to be doing a very major middle-income tax cut, mostly devoted to middle income who have really been big beneficiaries of the tax cut we did, which was the largest in the history of our country. But we’re doing a major tax cut for the middle income, and that’ll be subject, obviously, to take — taking over the House, because Democrats like tax increases, not tax cuts.  I also want to thank our state leaders. We have a lot state leaders here today at the highest level, and I want to thank them for being here. And a special thanks again to highly respected economists, Dr. Art Laffer and Dr. Larry Van Horn.  And, really, it was those two people that came to my office. We were talking about Art, and we were all congratulating him because he did an incredible job over a lot of years with Ronald Reagan and beyond. And when I said, “The Presidential Medal of Freedom,” which is the highest civilian award you can get, he told me this little story about a certain hospital he was involved with where they did this. And every hospital has had just incredible experience with it. And I said, “Tell me more.” And then we got involved with Larry and Larry Kudlow also, by the way. And we had a little group of four people that talked about it a lot. And I think it’s going to have a tremendous impact.  And again, the statement was made: “This is bigger than healthcare.” And I think it will be. I think it’ll be more meaningful, in many ways. You’ll save so much money and you’ll get the care that you want, and you’ll choose the doctor you want, which was not possible despite the many pleas. You know, “You can have your plan and you can have your doctor.” Well, they turned out to be untrue statements about Obamacare.  For decades, hospitals, insurance companies, lobbyists, and special interests have hidden prices from consumers so they could drive up costs for you. And you had no idea what was happening. You’d get bills that were unbelievable and you have no idea why.  For example, researchers found that for the same MRI at the same hospital, patients were charged anywhere from $248 to $2,500. So, 10 times more, at the same hospital. I assume that would be different doctors within the same hospital. I don’t know if the hospitals are going to like me too much anymore with this, but that’s okay, right? That’s okay. I think the doctors are going to, actually.  In the Boston area, the price of delivering a baby can cost anywhere from roughly $4,700 to nearly $16,000. One survey found that within a single metro area, the highest negotiated price for a simple blood test was roughly 40 times more than the lowest price. They were given exactly the same service — in some cases, sent them to the same labs — and were charged 40 times more money.  Under the new price transparency rule we are finalizing today — and it will be all finalized — it is finalized; it’ll be put out today — all of that will change. Hospitals will soon be required to publish the price of everything from individual medical supplies to the total cost of common procedures.  Next, we will bring much-needed price transparency to insurance companies. I’m sure they’ll be thrilled. This will allow you to see your out-of-pocket costs and other vital price information before you go in for treatment. So you’re going to know what it’s going to be and you’re going to be able to have lots of choices, both in terms of doctors, hospitals, and price. And we’re stopping American patients from just getting, pure and simple — two words, very simple words: ripped off. Because they’ve been ripped off for years. For a lot of years.  With us today is Melissa Ural who works for a company that benefits from price transparency. And, Melissa, could you come up and say a few words?  THE PRESIDENT: Great. Thank you, Melissa. Thank you very much.  MS. URAL: Thank you, Mr. President. My name is Melissa Ural, and I am the vice president of human resources for HB Global. We are an employee-owned mechanical contracting company.  Transparent pricing initiative aligns with our ownership model because it allows employees to get the care that they need at the cost that they want.  Currently, we are partnering with a broker to work and negotiate prices for surgeries and other procedures at local surgical centers. This allows our employees to know what the procedure or what the cost will look like when they walk through the door.  This also allows our employees to get great care at a fraction of the cost, with the same quality and standard of care that they would have gotten, and they won’t receive any surprise bills.  Right now, we have some price transparency behind the scenes, but with full price transparency up front, our employees can make the best decisions possible.  We wouldn’t expect our employees to go buy a car or a house without knowing the price up front. Why should their healthcare be any different?  I want to thank the President for bringing this important initiative to the front. Thank you.  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Melissa. (Applause.)  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Good job, Melissa.  We’re also joined by Kara Boeckel, who works for the same company and benefitted when her employer shopped for the best price on a surgery — a surgery that she needed. And I’d like to have Kara come up and please tell us about it. Kara? Please.  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.  MS. BOECKEL: My name is Kara Boeckel and I work for HB Global, along with Melissa. And in January of this year, I had surgery on my ankle. I’m the sole provider of my two-year-old son, so this impact was huge for his and my day-to-day life.  When I initially went to an orthopedic urgent care, I had no idea what I was going to pay, no idea what the costs were going to be. I just know that I needed to get help. I ended up with a bill for over $1,000. This was an unexpected expense that my family now had to endure, and it had a huge impact on us.  I would — it was a huge stresser to know that I needed surgery and not know what the cost was going to be and how it was going to impact my life.  Thankfully, my company was able to work with a brokerage firm and shop around to know what prices were going to be beforehand. With insurance, the claim my company would have paid was $19,500, and we wouldn’t have known that cost until afterwards. By shopping around beforehand, we knew the claim was going to be $7,800, which is a 60 percent price difference. And it was at zero cost to me. I was even able to get the care out of the same facility that I was going to go to if I would have used my insurance.  I want to thank the President for making healthcare more transparent so that others in my situation don’t have to have these unexpected financial surprises and hardships.  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much.  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Kara. Also with us is Dr. Rick Schultz, Chief Medical Officer at Texas Free Market Surgery. Doctor, I’d like to have you come up and say a few words about what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. Thank you, Dr. Rick.  DR. SCHULTZ: Thank you. Well, thank you very much for having us here today. This is a very exciting day. I’d like to take a minute to talk about stewardship.  First, I’d like to thank Jesus for allowing me the opportunity and charging me with being a good steward of the opportunity and the abilities to practice orthopedic surgery in Texas for the last 20 years.  I’d also like to thank the President for his leadership and stewardship in this effort and the fact that, since he’s been elected, he trusts Americans to be courageous and make smart decisions with their own money and their own healthcare. And he knows that we’re smart enough to make good decisions now.  This policy — this transparency will be the fuel for healthcare innovation very similar to what we’re doing with Texas Free Market Surgery and Texas Medical Management. Right now, every day, we take good care of patients at a very fair price, and it’s completely transparent. This is not something in the future; this is something we’re doing today. If you don’t believe me, just check out our website.  Finally, I’d really like to challenge the Americans that this is a right that you’re getting back, to know the price of your healthcare. This is going to be a fight. This is very disruptive. The people who are currently making a lot of money off of us are going to fight this tooth and nail. If you aren’t ready to fight for this, then don’t complain when it gets taken away from you.  Mr. President, thank you for stepping into the gap, taking the slings and arrows, and helping to get this going.  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Thank you.  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. I think, if I could, I’d like to have Kevin Brady come up just for a second and talk about what we’ve done with the individual mandate and how that’s just a part of our — a small part, but it’s a very big part in terms of healthcare; what we did with respect to our tax cuts and our reforms. And you might want to discuss the individual mandate. Getting rid of it was such a big deal. Thank you.  REPRESENTATIVE BRADY: So thank you — thank you, Mr. President. So, first, thank you for being the President who led on letting people keep more of what they earn so they can afford healthcare costs, utility costs, college costs, all of which has seemed to go up.  Secondly, thank you for — when we saw the failings of the Affordable Care Act, especially forcing average Texans, average Americans, into buying healthcare they couldn’t use and couldn’t afford, you stepped forward with Congress to eliminate, effectively, that mandate. So — which was another tax cut on the American people.  You’ve also created association health plans. Because if you’re in a small business — if you work for a small business or have one, you’ve been left behind under the Affordable Care Act. Your plans that allow our small businesses to join together to afford healthcare the way the big companies do — they’re cutting prices 30 and 40 percent, making healthcare affordable again. Hugely helpful.  And then, today, as Art Laffer has pointed out — and you too, Mr. President — look, patients are confused. Families don’t know what things cost. You can’t shop around and don’t understand the price. This, pulling back the curtain on healthcare prices, will help competition occur; give us, as families and patients, choices ahead of time; and will ultimately lower the healthcare costs.  And I’ll close with this: It’s easy to have quality care or affordable care. The goal is to have both. Making these prices transparent allow our families and our businesses to have quality care and affordable at the same time. This really is transformational. Thank you, Mr. President. (Applause.)  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. It all, sort of, fits in. It’s like a puzzle. And I see my friend, Greg. I can’t believe you’re going to be leaving Congress one of these days. I was so disappointed to see that, but you’re fantastic. And we all work together with everybody — all of us.  Come on up here, the two of you. I’d like you to discuss Right to Try a little bit. And, I mean, you think about — it’s really a very important part of healthcare.  THE PRESIDENT: The ultimate part of healthcare. And for 45 years, they’ve been trying to get it passed and they couldn’t do it. And Greg Walden, the three of us plus a lot, we’ve got it done.  THE PRESIDENT: Congressman, thank you very much.  THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead. Please.  REPRESENTATIVE WALDEN: Well, thank you, Mr. President. We’ve never had a President lean further, farther forward on behalf of patients than President Donald Trump. (Applause.) And we finally got into law — we finally got into law Right to Try. Now you’re going to get in place “Right to Know.” (Laughter.) We should have the right to know what these things cost.  This is — I was here with you when you talked about surprise medical billing. And we are very close to legislating on that, Mr. President. And that is a huge win for consumers. This is a huge win for consumers. You’re doing the right thing. And Dr. Mike Burgess, who was my Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health Care, now the top Republican on healthcare, has really been a leader in this effort as well, Mr. President.  And your team, working with the Secretaries and Seema and others, have been at the forefront of this. And Americans are benefitting. And the one thing I hear about is what Kevin Brady talked about: We want affordable care, we want innovation, but we have to be able to afford it. And you can’t know what things cost if they won’t tell you. And it’s all hidden back behind the curtain.  So, Mr. President, thanks for your leadership and your team’s leadership.  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Michael, say a few words, please.  REPRESENTATIVE BURGESS: Well, what I hear from constituents all the time — I practiced medicine for 25 years — they’re concerned with the cost and complexity of healthcare. This is a major step — major step — in delivering on that promise for patients.  Look, there’s another party in town that just wants to take away all your choices and give you one choice. This President is trying to expand your choices. That’s a better choice.  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Michael. (Applause.)  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you very much.  So the actions that we’re announcing today are only the latest steps in our campaign to deliver great healthcare for American patients. Our efforts to reduce the price of prescription drugs — and I don’t know if you know that, but this is the first time, Secretary Azar, I think in 51 years, that prices have actually gone down —  THE PRESIDENT: — for prescription drugs. So, that’s quite an achievement.  And if we had the help of the Democrats, which we don’t — it’s a shame, because we could knock drug prices down so low. We will be giving states the right to go to other countries to buy their drugs, because other countries — because they don’t have these crazy, arcane rules that we could fix so quickly if we had the help of the Democrats. But they want the price of drugs to say high, I suppose.  But we brought it down the most in 51 years, and we’re very proud of that. But we can bring them down much more. And one of the things I’m doing is, as an example, Canada will pay much less for drugs because they don’t have to pay for research and development, so their pricing is much cheaper. So we’ll buy — I’m working with Ron DeSantis in Florida and some other governors — great governors. And they’re going to buy from other countries and skip all of the nonsense. And I think, ultimately, what that’s going to do is the drug companies will bring the price of their drugs down, or they’ll buy from other countries. That’s okay, too.  The same pill, made in the same factory, made by the same company, sells for 50, 60, and 70 percent less in one country than it does in another. And we’re always the high country. So, I’m going to be giving governors the right, very shortly, to buy — I’ve already given some the right — to buy their — their prescription drugs from other countries. And we avoid — we skirt a lot of — a lot — that probably sounds like a pretty good idea to you. What do you think, huh?  THE PRESIDENT: You, as the great economist. So, anyway.  So, the actions that we’re announcing today are the latest steps. Our efforts to reduce the price of prescription drugs — we’re going to have some tremendous results. We could do it so simply if we had any kind of help from the Democrats. But they’re doing so many other things, namely one: wasting a lot of time. And very bad for our country, what they’re doing.  And they should approve USMCA. By the way, it’s the greatest trade deal ever made. (Applause.) And they should stop playing games. And, you know, Mexico signed it many months ago. Canada keeps calling me: “When is this deal going to happen? Is this deal going to happen?” And it’s sitting on Nancy Pelosi’s desk for about three months, four months. Nervous Nancy — she needs a little nervous energy to get it done because all she has to do is put it up. She’s got plenty of Democrat votes. A lot of Democrats are pushing her, but she doesn’t want to do it because she doesn’t want to have a victory for the American people. And that’s all it is. So either she does it or she doesn’t do it.  But Mexico wants to know what’s happening. Canada wants to know what’s happening. They could live without it. Because it’s a great deal for us. They could live without it. And they want to know what’s going on.  We eliminated the Obamacare individual mandate penalty, and we’re expanding affordable alternatives which cost up to 60 percent less than Obamacare plans. And it could be even quite a bit higher than that, in some cases. And we will always protect patients with preexisting conditions, and, as I’ve been saying lately, and also patients with preexisting physicians. (Laughter.) I thought that was good. I made it in one speech. I said, “You know, people like that.” But it’s true, because you didn’t have your doctor, you didn’t have your plan. And now you have the plan and you have the doctor. So, it’s pretty good.  In everything we do, my administration is fighting for the rights of American consumers, the wellbeing of American patients, and the health of American people. We’re taking on the bureaucrats in more ways than one. You probably notice that, right? We’re taking on a lot bureaucrats. We’re taking on the insurance companies, and we’re taking on the special interests.  And that’s one of the difficulties I have in Washington because I’ve taken on a lot of the establishment. And a lot of the politicians are taken care of by the establishment, and they don’t like that I take on the establishment. But I’m taking it on for the consumer, for the American people. And that’s why you see prices going down. And you haven’t seen anything yet. Things are going to happen that will be shocking. But there are people in Washington — as I say, there are people in the swamp that don’t like what I’m doing for that reason.  We will not rest until every American has access to the highest quality, most affordable healthcare anywhere in the world.  And, again, I want to thank you all. And I’d like to ask Secretary Azar to come up and say a few words. Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause.)  SECRETARY AZAR: Well, thank you very much, Mr. President. And thank you for your leadership. You asked us, as you said earlier, to deliver “A-plus” transparency in healthcare. Well, right now, our system wouldn’t even get a passing grade on transparency. Patients are at the mercy of a shadowy system with no control over their care. But thanks to your leadership and your transparency executive order, we’re changing that.  The changes you described, what we’re doing at HHS, will be revolutionary to our healthcare system — perhaps the biggest single change that President Trump has made to Americans’ healthcare experience. More than 70 percent of the most common hospital services are shoppable. We’re delivering American patients the information they need to make the right choices for themselves.  That’s crucial to the kind of system that we’re building for American patients with affordable, personalized, patient-centric care that puts you in control and treats you like a human being and not like a number.  So thank you, Mr. President, for delivering American patients the affordability that you need, the options and control that you want, and the quality that you deserve.  A key leader in this work has been Administrator Verma, who will now say a few words. Seema. (Applause.)  First of all, I want to thank the President because people have been talking about price transparency forever. We all know that what’s been going on in the healthcare system has been wrong. It’s not fair that patients don’t know the cost of the services that they’re going to get. But only one man has been willing to stand up to special interests and do what’s right for patients and put them back in control of their healthcare. So, thank you, President Trump.  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much.  ADMINISTRATOR VERMA: Really appreciate it.  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much.  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause.)  So, after many, many years, we finally have transparency. It’s going into effect today. It will have a tremendous impact. It will, sort of, go in sections and stages, but it all begins today. And within about 12 months, I think it’ll be fully implemented — and, we can even say, probably a shorter period of time than that. Some of it’s complex and some of it’s very easy. But it’s all very good. It’s — there’s never been anything like this.  So the word is “transparency,” and I love transparency in many ways. And this is going to be something that’s going to be — it’s going to be incredible for the consumer, for the patient. I think it’s going to be really good for the good doctors, maybe not so good for other doctors. I think it’s going to be really good for the great hospitals, frankly. And it’s very exciting.  And it’s something that again, Art, I want to thank you very much because you really did bring it to my attention and I appreciate it very much. Thank you very much.  Q Mr. President, what do you say to Democrats that say you were witness tampering this morning when you made that tweet (inaudible) Ambassador Yovanovitch?  THE PRESIDENT: You don’t want to talk about transparency?  THE PRESIDENT: You know, I’ll talk about transparency. I like transparency here. And I’m the most transparent President in history.  And I’ll tell you about what tampering is. Tampering is when a guy like Shifty Shift [sic] doesn’t let us have lawyers. Tampering is when Schiff doesn’t let us have witnesses, doesn’t let us speak. I’ve been watching today. For the first time, I started watching and it’s really sad when you see people not allowed to ask questions. It’s totally — nobody has ever had such horrible due process. There was no due process. And I think it’s —  Q Republicans have been asking questions all day.  THE PRESIDENT: — I think it’s considered a joke all over Washington and all over the world. The Republicans are given no due process whatsoever. We’re not allowed to do anything. It’s a disgrace what’s happening. But you know what? The American public understands it. And that’s why the poll numbers are so good. And that’s why other things are so good. What they’re doing in Washington with that hearing — and, by the way, it’s a political process. It’s not a legal process.  So if I have somebody saying, I’m allowed to speak up. If somebody says about me, we’re not allowed to have any kind of representation, we’re not allowed to have almost anything. And nobody has seen anything like it. In the history of our country there has never been a disgrace like what’s going on right now. So, you know what? I — I have the right to speak. I have freedom of speech, just as other people do. But they’ve taken away the Republicans’ rights.  And I watched today, as certain very talented people wanted to ask questions, and they weren’t even allowed to ask questions — Republicans. They weren’t allowed to ask questions. It’s a very sad thing.  Q Why did you attack her?  Q Sir, with your freedom, were you trying to intimidate Ambassador Yovanovitch?  THE PRESIDENT: I just want to have a total — I want freedom of speech. That’s a political process. The Republicans have been treated very badly. And I watched a little bit of it today. I wasn’t able to yesterday because we had the President of Turkey here, and I wasn’t able to watch much. I watched some of it this morning. I thought it was a disgrace.  When we have great Republican representatives — people elected by the people — and they’re not allowed to even ask a question, they’re not allowed to make a statement; we’re not allowed to have witnesses; we’re not allowed to have legal counsel, White House Counsel — it’s a disgrace and it’s an embarrassment to our nation.  Q Do you believe your tweets and your words can be intimidating, sir?  THE PRESIDENT: Yes — go ahead, please.  Q Sir, do you believe your tweets and words —  Q Sir, do you believe your tweets and words can be intimidating?  THE PRESIDENT: I don’t think so at all.  Q Mr. President, do you think you’re going to get impeached?  THE PRESIDENT: Well, I shouldn’t be. In fact, I thought, last night, it ended. Because last night, I was in Louisiana, where we’re going to hopefully elect a great governor — a Republican governor. And I was getting off the plane, and they handed me a statement that was just made by the Foreign Minister and President of the Ukraine.  And Ukraine — they came out loud and clear that there was no linkage whatsoever, not even a little bit. And you saw it. You all saw it. I said, “Oh, well, that ends the impeachment.” And you people don’t even report it.  Look, the press is unbelievably dishonest. That was a major statement put out last night by the Foreign Minister of Ukraine and also by the President of Ukraine, and you don’t even report it. It’s a disgrace. Because it’s sad. There was absolutely no linkage. We had a perfect conversation.  And I also, because of transparency — whether it’s medical transparency or just transparency, generally — I also put out, today, a statement. And in the statement, we released — and then Congressman Nunes read — a call that I had with the President of Ukraine. And it was a great call. It was a very nice call. Everybody said it was perfect. I always say it was equally as good as the other call.  And I put it out today, and nobody even wants to report it. Because it was so good, they don’t want to report it.  Look, if we had an honest press in this country, we would be so well served. And you know what? When I look at your approval numbers, they’re the worst they’ve ever been in the history of our country. The media, the approval numbers — they are horrible. And you ought to get yourself back and you ought to put yourself back in a position where people respect the media again.  And I know some great journalists, I know some great people in the media, but there aren’t enough of them. There’s a lot of dishonesty. And many of you, I just consider members of the Democrats, and it’s a shame.  Okay. Thank you all very much. Thank you. (Applause.)