CBS’s 60 Minutes scored a sit-down on Sunday with House Speaker Paul Ryan conducted by host Scott Pelley in which he sought to corner Ryan from the left on the repeal of ObamaCare supposedly putting millions of Americans at risk for no healthcare and whether or not President-elect Donald Trump says as many “bizarre things” in private as he does when tweeting.
After Pelley asked Ryan what his first legislative priority would be and when he responded with ObamaCare, Pelley wondered if he’d “repeal it first” before finding a replacement.
Ryan stated he would, but Pelley shot back by fretting not about the millions who were dropped from health care plans they had through their jobs or the skyrocketing premium costs, but instead this: “You're not pulling the rug out from under the 20 million people who already have ObamaCare?”
“We want to make sure that we have a good transition period, so that people can get better coverage at a better price,” Ryan explained and when pressed about a timetable, the Wisconsin Republican ruled that he couldn’t “give you an answer.”
He also reassured Pelley that young adults could stay on parental plans until age 26 and those with pre-existing conditions could be covered in addition to an overview of what principles the replacement must hold:
What we know is we have to make good on this promise. We have to bring relief as fast as possible to people who are struggling under ObamaCare...Patient-centered healthcare that gets everybody access to affordable healthcare coverage, so that they can buy what they what they want to buy.
Following sections on tax policy and Pelley flaunting the possibility that environmental regulations will be rolled back or wiped, the CBS Evening News anchor wanted to know what Trump was like in private.
Instead of being straightforward about it, Pelley knocked Trump for saying “bizarre things” on Twitter and questioned whether it matches Trump’s private demeanor:
PELLEY: Here's something many people wonder. Does he say the same bizarre things to you in private that he says in public? And it's an important distinction.
RYAN: You know, I think there is a bit of a difference between the private person and the public person. In the private person, there's a conversation like this, and it's all about how to get things done, so every conversation I have almost always revolves around, you know, personnel and policy focused on producing results.
The relevant portions of the transcript from CBS’s 60 Minutes on December 4 can be found below.
CBS’s 60 Minutes
December 4, 2016
7:08 p.m. EasternSCOTT PELLEY: What is the first bill you intend to pass?
HOUSE SPEAKER PAUL RYAN: Well, the first bill we're going to be working on is our ObamaCare legislation.
PELLEY: You're going to repeal it first?
RYAN: Yes.
PELLEY: You're not pulling the rug out from under the 20 million people who already have —
RYAN: No, no. We —
PELLEY: — ObamaCare?
RYAN: We want to make sure that we have a good transition period, so that people can get better coverage at a better price.
PELLEY: So what are we talking about? Months? Years?
RYAN: I can't give you an answer to that. We're still working on that.
PELLEY: But people talked about three years, in terms of a transition.
RYAN: Yeah, I don't know the answer to that right now. What we know is we have to make good on this promise. We have to bring relief as fast as possible to people who are struggling under ObamaCare.
PELLEY: What do Republicans intend to put in its place?
RYAN: Patient-centered healthcare that gets everybody access to affordable healthcare coverage, so that they can buy what they what they want to buy.
PELLEY: So people will still get coverage, regardless of their pre-existing condition.
RYAN: Yeah. We think pre-existing conditions is a very important feature of any healthcare system.
PELLEY: Children will stay on their parents' plans until the age of 26?
RYAN: Yeah, that's something that we actually have always had in our plan, as well.
PELLEY: And women will pay the same as men? That didn't used to be the case.
RYAN: Ryan: It depends on the age of a person. So, we believe that we should — have support based on age. The sicker and the older you get, the more support you ought to get. If you're a person that has — low income, you probably should have more assistance than a person with high income, for example.
PELLEY: Is your plan going to cover everyone in America?
RYAN: We will give everyone access to affordable healthcare coverage.
(....)
PELLEY: Do you trust him?
RYAN: Yeah.
PELLEY: Here's something many people wonder. Does he say the same bizarre things to you in private that he says in public? And it's an important distinction —
RYAN: You know, I think there is a bit of a difference between the private person and the public person. In the private person, there's a conversation like this, and it's all about how to get things done, so every conversation I have almost always revolves around, you know, personnel and policy focused on producing results.
PELLEY: Trump tweeted, in the last week or so, that he had actually won the popular vote, if you deduct the millions who voted illegally. Do you believe that?
RYAN: I don't know. I — I'm not really focused on these things.
PELLEY: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You — you have an opinion on whether millions of Americans voted illegally?
RYAN: I — I have no way of backing that up. I have no knowledge of such things.
PELLEY: You don't believe that —
RYAN: But I don't — it doesn't matter to me. He won the election.
PELLEY: But how, we asked, does he negotiate with a man whose word, or tweets, cannot always be believed?
RYAN: Look, like I said, he's going to — the way I see — the — the — the tweets you're talking about, he's basically giving voice to a lot of people who have felt that they were voiceless. He's — communicating with people in this country who've felt like they have not been listened to. He's going to be an unconventional president. I really think we have a great opportunity in front of us to fix problems, produce results, and improve people's lives. That's why we're here in the first place, and so that's what's going to matter at the end of the day.
