Joe Kernen to Rep. Ro Khanna Saying Medicare and Social Security Are ‘Efficient’: ‘Are You out of Your Mind?

KERNEN: “Those are, you know, the same arguments that Democrats and Republicans have been — been having forever. But in fact, I just tweeted something out that said that fraud, waste and abuse is probably the biggest bipartisan thing that we have, that it’s not specific to what my policies are, what my politics are. If it’s being levied by the federal government, it probably is inefficient because there’s no reason for it not to be.”
KHANNA: “Oh, there’s certain things that are not inefficient. Medicare, Social Security.”
KERNEN: “What?”
KHANNA: “Large part —”
KERNEN: “Medicare is not in a — come on. Are you out of your mind? Medicare? And I’m not saying it’s Medicare’s fault, necessarily. There are in — look around and look at the way Medicare is gamed out by the people that benefit from it or Medicaid. I think Medicare Advantage might be one of the things that we’re talking about. Right, Ro?”
KHANNA: “Medicare Advantage, I agree that they have actually had higher billing for people who are not as sick. But when you look at Medicare, the administrative cost of that program is far, far lower than private insurance. And most people who are on Medicare are pretty happy with — with Medicare. And that — and that is actually a place where government is more efficient than the private sector. So I do think there is a huge role for government. You look at the Medicaid cuts that they’re proposing, that in my town halls, that was the biggest thing people were concerned about, that they may not be able to get care for their kids or for their sick parents.”