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The pursuing is the transcript of the interrogation with Sen. Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, that aired connected "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" connected Nov. 16, 2025.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Welcome backmost to Face the Nation. On Friday, we spoke with the Chairman of 1 of the Senate committees liable for crafting wellness attraction legislation, Louisiana's Bill Cassidy, who is besides a doctor. We began by showing him what the President is reasoning of for a healthcare fix.
VOSOT, PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I'm calling contiguous for security companies not to beryllium paid, but for the money, this monolithic magnitude of wealth to beryllium paid straight to the radical of our state truthful that they tin bargain their ain wellness care, which volition beryllium acold amended and acold little costly than the catastrophe known arsenic Obamacare.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So are you, Senator, coordinating with the White House connected this proposal?
SEN. BILL CASSIDY: So we're perfectly successful connection with the White House and with the administration, due to the fact that there's a batch of worldly that you person to enactment retired to bash that. But fto maine springiness a small nutrient connected the bones of what the President's speaking about. If you look astatine an Obamacare argumentation now, there's a $6,000 deductible. Democrats are warring to little the premiums. You little a premium connected thing which has $6,000 deductible, it's fundamentally a catastrophic policy. Now, I similar to talk of the outgo of being insured, not conscionable the outgo of the wellness insurance. The President is proposing that we instrumentality the $26 cardinal that would beryllium going to security companies if we conscionable bash a consecutive retired extension, and by the way, 20 percent of that $26 billion, 20 percent volition spell for nett and administrative overhead, springiness it straight to the American radical successful an relationship successful which 100 percent of the wealth is utilized for them to acquisition wellness attraction connected their ain terms. Now- now, that makes them an informed consumer. It besides helps code the request to person sum for that deductible, and if they get that argumentation with a higher deductible, they tin really little their premium. It's a saccharine spot, little premiums, assistance with the deductible, making the diligent the informed consumer, the President and I are united. We should each beryllium agreed astir that.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, the President's economical adviser, Kevin Hassett, was connected this programme past Sunday. He said the president was conscionable brainstorming, things aren't formally enactment unneurotic among Republican senators yet, but I conscionable privation to clarify what you are coordinating with the President connected here, because, is it to bargain your ain security policy, which is benignant of complicated, oregon is it to usage this flexible spending relationship you've talked astir for related wellness attraction needs? Like, are determination restrictions connected however you tin usage that money?
SEN. CASSIDY: So first, there's 2 types of premium taxation credits. There's the baseline premium taxation credit, which was portion of Obamacare, that would enactment successful effect, and radical would inactive bargain a policy. For example, they get successful a car wreck, thing disastrous. They request idiosyncratic negotiating connected their behalf with each the providers. That stays the same. What we're talking astir the shutdown was implicit the enhanced premium taxation credits. Policies person go truthful costly nether Obamacare that nether Joe Biden, Democrats passed different subsidy connected apical of the archetypal subsidy. That's what we're warring astir and what Republicans are saying, and I similar to anticipation Democrats volition too. Hey, hold a second, if we tin person little premiums and assistance radical with their deductible by giving the wealth straight to the patient. By the way, 20 percent doesn't spell for security institution nett and overhead. 100percent goes for wellness care. Why don't we unite Republican and Democrats successful doing that? That's wherever the President is. You got to fig immoderate things out. But we're a batch further on than you mightiness imagine.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So bash you privation to hole Obamacare, oregon bash you privation to destruct Obamacare?
SEN. CASSIDY: First, you person to, like, we're going into 2026. That's similar a period and a fractional from now.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
SEN. CASSIDY: And truthful you've got to enactment with what you have. But connected the different hand, Obamacare was a apical heavy, administratively dense benignant strategy successful which a batch of wealth is simply a batch of money, and work is taken from individuals and fixed to security companies. As 1 example, I'm a doctor. I enactment for 20 years successful a infirmary for the uninsured. I recovered that if you springiness the diligent the power, bully things hap that's supported, by the way, by the aesculapian literature, if the diligent is engaged successful her wellness attraction and the wellness attraction of her family. She's going to beryllium a omniscient shopper, omniscient for her wellness and omniscient for her pocketbook. We request to person a caller model, and that exemplary is to prosecute the diligent successful her ain wellness care. Doing truthful is bully for her, bully for america all.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, but you said we request to enactment with what we have. That is, arsenic you conscionable said, you person a abbreviated magnitude of clip earlier the extremity of the year. Do you deliberation you request to widen the wellness attraction taxation subsidies that are presently successful spot until you fig retired each the remainder of this analyzable argumentation making?
SEN. CASSIDY: Let maine backmost you up conscionable a small bit, Margaret. I'll conscionable say, everybody assumes it's casual conscionable to widen the premium taxation credits, the enhanced premium taxation credits. It's not that easy. 50 percent of the states did not program connected them being extended, and they don't person rates arsenic if they were to beryllium extended. So that means if we walk this mid December, they've got to recalculate rates successful clip for, hold a second, by that time, we're already into 2026 it's not an casual matter. And by the way, did I notation the policies that radical privation to little the premiums for person $6,000 deductibles. It is fundamentally thing for security companies to marque wealth disconnected of and for the idiosyncratic to wade done $6,000 of indebtedness earlier they tin yet entree it. Now, the benignant of connection I americium proposing Republicans are, and I anticipation Democrats volition join, is, let's instrumentality that money, and we person a mechanics to bash so. We springiness it to the patient. By giving her that money, she could take a bronze level plan, which is to accidental little premiums. So present her premiums are down, but she has wealth successful an relationship to assistance with the deductible, and I deliberation we tin fig that retired astir arsenic easy arsenic we tin fig retired what we would bash if we conscionable did a consecutive retired extension.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So you privation to bash each this, though, by the 2nd week of December, erstwhile the Democrats person been promised they'll person a ballot connected an ACA measure of their choice.
SEN. CASSIDY: Yes, and I archer my Democratic colleagues first, let's not beryllium Democrats and Republicans. Let's beryllium Americans, representing each of Americans. Let's admit what you're doing conscionable gives wealth to security companies, but we tin bash it amended with little premiums and with wealth and accounts to wage deductibles. And past wherefore don't we travel together? There tin beryllium a Democratic measure and a Republican bill, and some fail. Let's bash an American measure wherever the American radical payment and this enactment together, collaborate to little those premiums and assistance them with that archetypal dollar sum successful the- successful the deductible.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So we looked and determination are astir 293,000 Louisianans, your state, enrolled successful Obamacare currently, six weeks from now, those grade expanded taxation credits that you've been talking astir volition spell distant for individuals making $62,000 oregon above. Individuals making little than that magnitude volition spot their taxation recognition shrink. So are you telling those hundreds of thousands of Louisianans that that taxation recognition is going distant nary substance what, that- that they should marque plans–
SEN. CASSIDY: No.
MARGARET BRENNAN: – for higher prices?
SEN. CASSIDY: I'm telling them that we're I'm telling them that we are moving to marque it enactment amended for them. And they would archer you, by the way, hold a second, I got a $6,000 deductible that does not enactment for me. Margaret, I'm a doctor. I would speech to radical erstwhile they'd travel to spot me, and they would archer me, I can't spend that. My deductible is excessively high. That's reality, and that world is being mislaid successful this discussion. We've got to bash thing astir entity precocious deductibles. Maybe you tin spend the premium. You can't spend the policy. Let's little the outgo of having wellness insurance, focusing by not conscionable connected the premium, but the deductible. And I deliberation we tin bash both.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, adjacent successful the backstage market, wellness attraction costs person gone up up six to 9 percent erstwhile you look astatine the projections. But I privation to inquire you astir your oversight role. Secretary Kennedy has this manus picked sheet of vaccine advisors. You cognize them astatine ACIP. They're going to conscionable successful a fewer days and perchance ballot connected changing the hepatitis B vaccine docket for infants. That aforesaid vaccine advisory radical is besides considering the information of vaccine ingredients similar aluminum, which would interaction a fig of puerility shots. This should substance for American parents. Are you comfy with what they are astir to enactment to a vote?
SEN. CASSIDY: I'm precise acrophobic astir this. As it turns out, my aesculapian signifier focused connected hepatitis B, and truthful we cognize that due to the fact that of a recommended dose astatine commencement of hepatitis B vaccine, recommended, not mandated, the fig of children calved contracting hepatitis B astatine birth, oregon soon thereafter, has decreased from astir 20,000, 20 years agone to similar 200 now. That's 20- efficaciously a clerical error. We person decreased incidence of chronic hepatitis B by 20,000 radical implicit the past 2 decades with this benignant of recommendation. And by the way, if you're infected astatine birth, you're much likely- you're 95 percent apt to go a chronic carrier. The vaccine is safe. It has been established, and these ingredients they're speaking of person been shown to beryllium safe. This is argumentation by radical who don't recognize the epidemiology of hepatitis B, oregon who person grown comfy with the information that we've been truthful palmy with our proposal that present the incidence of hepatitis B is truthful low, they consciousness similar we tin remainder connected our laurels. I'm a doctor. I person seen radical dice from vaccine-preventable disease. I privation radical to beryllium healthy. I privation to marque America healthy, and you don't commencement by stopping recommendations that person made america substantially healthier.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, the president of the United States besides told American women not to instrumentality Tylenol. Or springiness it to their kids. This is based connected a mentation that it causes autism somehow. And helium besides successful a societal media post, the aforesaid one, called for the measles, mumps and rubella changeable to beryllium breached up into 3 antithetic shots. That was past endorsed by the acting CDC director. Are you acrophobic by this benignant of suggestive linkage astatine the apical of the CDC and from the White House?
SEN. CASSIDY: Again, I'm a doctor, and truthful I'm going to spell wherever the grounds takes me. And the champion grounds is simply a survey retired of Sweden with 2 cardinal children that recovered no- nary causality, nary association, if you will, betwixt taking Tylenol successful gestation and getting autism. And of course, that concerns me, due to the fact that there's going to beryllium a ma retired determination —again, I'm a doctor, I speech to I speech to patients— successful a room, and her kid has autism. She took Tylenol for a precocious fever during gestation and present she blames herself. That's conscionable the mode mamas think, and that's wrong. We don't privation her to deliberation that. The champion grounds is that determination is nary relationship, by the way, if you person a precocious fever during pregnancy, that whitethorn beryllium a hazard for autism. Now, of course, if you're pregnant, speech to your doc earlier you instrumentality anything, but constituent being, the champion grounds is that determination is nary narration betwixt the two. And I don't privation women putting themselves connected a guilt travel erstwhile the champion grounds shows not. By the way, the President has spoken retired powerfully successful favour of immunizations successful different cases, and I noted, erstwhile helium got his physical, helium got the flu and COVID shots. So the President has demonstrated that helium believes successful immunization.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But that's wherefore clarifying the statements, I think, is important, since you construe them differently. I wonder, bash you regret your confirmation ballot for Secretary Kennedy?
SEN. CASSIDY: I grin due to the fact that each newsman asks maine that--
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, due to the fact that these questions tally close into a pledge that you extracted from him not to tinker with immoderate of the structures that were acceptable successful spot to person oversight of these vaccines and this process.
SEN. CASSIDY: So you unrecorded beingness forward, again, you conscionable do, fto the day's ain troubles beryllium capable for the day. And I'll recognition the secretary. He's brought attraction to things similar ultra-processed nutrient that has, frankly, ne'er received this benignant of attraction before, and radical praise him for that. So helium and I person publically disagreed connected immoderate matters, but I powerfully hold with him connected others, and so, truthful that's however I'll reply your question.
if this is your last twelvemonth successful office, sir, volition you marque overhauling wellness attraction your apical priority?
SEN. CASSIDY: Well, I definite anticipation it's not my last twelvemonth successful office, but, but I've been reasoning astir healthcare for 30 years, due to the fact that erstwhile I worked successful a nationalist infirmary for the uninsured, I saw the load it could beryllium connected middle-income families who had mediate income but couldn't spend the security oregon couldn't guarantee spend the healthcare. And truthful it's been my precedence for 30 years, and I volition proceed to bash that. And if determination is simply a metallic lining, if determination is simply a metallic lining successful the shutdown, we conscionable had, the metallic lining is present we are focused connected however bash we marque wellness attraction much affordable for the American people. That should beryllium our goal, not to beryllium partisan 1 mode oregon the other. How bash we marque it much affordable for chap Americans? If we tin execute that, I volition consciousness similar I've done my job.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator, convey you for your time.
SEN. CASSIDY: Thank you Margaret.
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