Exclusive—Bernie Moreno: Healthcare Companies ‘Became Filthy Rich’ from Democrats’ Obamacare; ‘We Need to See Perp Walks’ over Fraud

Healthcare companies have become “filthy rich” from Democrats’ Obamacare, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) said during a Breitbart News roundtable event, noting that people need to see “perp walks” over fraud.

Moreno sat down for a discussion with Breitbart News Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow and Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle and answered questions directly from the audience during the roundtable discussion. One individual asked the senator what actions Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is taking and inquired about fraudulent provider funds, asking how they could be turned into reduced premiums for health care in the Buckeye State.

“We have to introduce what I call consumerism into health care, where you know what things cost you,” Moreno replied. “We don’t give the subsidy to the insurance company.”

“Obama was the greatest thing that ever happened to insurance companies. These companies became filthy rich,” the Ohio senator continued, explaining that this happened because Democrats gave all the money to the insurance company and no empowerment to the individual.

“So we’re going to give a subsidy, give it to the taxpayer, let them control the money, let you go out and shop. In terms of what we’re doing with CMS and the crackdown on fraud, that makes more money available to actually make the system more efficient. It’s hundreds of billions of dollars aggregate all over the country,” he said,  using the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), more commonly known as food stamps, as an example.

“In the Working Families Tax Cuts, we said to states, ‘Hey, look, we’re going to give you this money for food stamps to help poor kids. Make sure you feed poor children. We don’t want poor children going hungry in the United States of America.’ We said we won’t allow more than six percent fraud. The Democrats lost their minds: ‘What do you mean only six percent fraud?’ California was over 20 percent. New York almost 30 percent,” Moreno revealed, explaining that the establishment media portrayed this requirement – limiting fraud to six percent – as if Republicans were slashing the food stamp program altogether. In reality, that could not have been further from the truth.

“By the way, my personal point of view, fraud should be zero. Zero,” he emphasized, calling for actual accountability. “But more importantly … we need to see perp walks.”

Moreno continued, “We can’t just have committees and talking and we’re collecting the money. I want to see people go to jail for a long time,” the senator said. “You steal money from the taxpayer, you’re going to pay a big, big penalty. We’ve got to make certain that that’s a part of it.”

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