Solidarity HealthShare President Chris Faddis joined The BS Show to discuss the parasite affecting lettuce around the U.S. as well as making healthcare predictions in regard to the upcoming midterm elections. Read the transcript or listen below.

Bob Sansevere (00:00):

We are joined by Christopher Faddis, co-founder and president of the nonprofit healthcare sharing ministry, Solidarity HealthShare, which is an ethical, affordable alternative to traditional health insurance and is faithful to the moral teachings of the Catholic Church. Chris, we have an election, a significant one coming up. Now the president will not change, but the constitution of the Senate and the House could change. The Democrats can take control of both the House and the Senate, which happens often in midterms. How would that impact, or do you think there could be an impact on healthcare and how it is going forward? I mean, right now, things have not changed much in years, but does either side taking over make a difference for healthcare?

Chris Faddis (00:44):

I mean, it could make a difference in the sense if it becomes a Democrat House and Democrat Senate, I think you’ll see a lot more push for policies that expand the Affordable Care Act. That would be the biggest thing is expanding subsidies. Again, that’s a big kind of crowning piece that they want to see. It was part of what the Biden administration did. If you remember where they did what they called the enhanced subsidy, which qualified an extra, I think 20 some or more, maybe it was more than that, but I think 20 some million Americans used it, which ultimately netted. There were people making over $250,000 a year that were getting almost a full paid subsidy for their Affordable Care Act insurance. So that is likely to be something they push for. Again, anything that they do would be vetoed at the president’s desk.

Bob Sansevere (01:38):

Yeah, and it’s not going to be veto proof. I don’t think there’s going to be enough

Chris Faddis (01:41):

Votes.

(01:41):

What they’ll probably do, again, especially as we get later into the Trump term, is what they’ll do is they would use that as a battering ram against any Republican candidate for president to say, see this crisis you’ve created and you guys won’t even vote with us to solve it, that kind of thing. So that’ll be the biggest thing. I think if the Republicans can keep the House and Senate, which obviously is very much an if at this point, well, at least that’s what I’m hearing. If they can, it’ll be interesting if they gain any more momentum where they have more than the very sum majorities they have now. I mean, you could actually see them run the tables for two years because you’d have a lame duck president with a Republican House and Senate. They could get a lot done.

Bob Sansevere (02:26):

Yeah, but it hasn’t gotten much done in the last two years.

Chris Faddis (02:28):

It hasn’t gotten anything done in the last few years, so it’s hard to say. I mean, I am hearing that we likely could have a reconciliation bill before the election, or at least at the end of this year’s term. So that could also help because there’s a couple things they can do with healthcare in the reconciliation bill. Nothing major, but otherwise it’ll be interesting. I don’t see anything majorly significant other than what we’re seeing at the regulatory level under Bobby Kennedy. Obviously they’re going to continue pushing forward a lot of the agenda and healthcare and changes there.

Bob Sansevere (03:01):

Well, now Solidarity Health Share obviously is a health sharing group. Have both sides been open to health sharing or are Republicans more in tune to it and more agreeable to working with it than Democrats or are Democrats real agreeable?

Chris Faddis (03:16):

It’s definitely more Republicans are agreeable to it. There are some Democrats who are at least willing to not kill it or not kill any legislation that supports it. And a few that are willing to help support it, especially because they see it as a way to help the poor or those kind of things. But not very many. It’s definitely more of a Republican-supported thing. But even then, it’s been hard to get things done. I mean, both sides are well-funded by the insurance lobby, so it’s not necessarily. Those aren’t our fans. So it hasn’t been easy to get things done. In fact, recently we were talking to a sitting congressman who told us who did bill a bill that was going to help health sharing, and it was definitely that part of that lobby. But I do think in the beginning, when the Affordable Care Act language for healthcare sharing was drafted, there was actually some Democratic legislators that were involved in helping make that happen.

(04:17):

And so things have changed obviously in the last 15 years, so it’s not quite the same.

Bob Sansevere (04:21):

Well, if Democrats truly were looking out to help people and help people who are at the poorer end or middle-class or whatever, lower middle class, upper middle class, they should be in favor of health sharing because it is cheaper and less expensive than healthcare. But that doesn’t fit, like you said, because those lobbies are strong, no question about it, the healthcare lobbies. So that’s a big, big deal for them, I guess. Now, we talked briefly off the air about this. What is happening or what’s happened with. Well, the health officials have expanded the scope of this diarrhea causing parasite to four more states. They did this late last week. And Taco Bell restaurants, it’s shredded lettuce that was served at Taco Bell. It had originally been five states, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia. Now it’s expanded to Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania. Fortunately, you live in Arizona, I live in Minnesota.

(05:18):

Our states have not been added to that, but I mean, it’s probably about on Friday or the other day it was close to 2000. It might be more than 2000 now, and almost a hundred people have been hospitalized, no deaths from it. But this comes up occasionally where some lettuce or some type of a vegetable is getting people very, very sick, and they’re focusing on the lettuce from Taylor Farms as part of the outbreak.

(05:50):

This happens. Another year from now, it could happen again. As far as you know, do they not keep a good oversight on these lettuce producers, particularly when it’s in Mexico, which is where it’s coming from? Do you have any idea?

Chris Faddis (06:06):

Yeah, I do think they do. I mean, I think there’s certainly steps for certain periodic testing and those kind of things. And obviously the people carrying those things are supposed to be doing that as well. But I don’t know, in this case, I don’t know how often. I don’t remember that. I used to have some business in the food world and I don’t remember how often those testings happen. I mean, typically, it’s like the spot check testing. So I think it’ll be interesting to find out what did happen here. It looks like it was a certain farm they’ve isolated it to in Mexico that Taylor Farms works with and only serves certain markets and things. So I think that they do need to be testing, and I think there’s a certain amount of tests. Depending on the type of food, the people producing Taylor Farms, if they’re taking that food and producing product out of it, they’re supposed to test every so many samples.

(07:02):

And I’m sure those things were happening. It just depends. And then there’s certain amount of stuff that has to go to different federal groups for testing. But all of that’s in post. The good news is they have good supply chain now, so they know where that lettuce is and how to pull it. I think many, many years ago, or probably not that many years ago, we still were kind of like, wait, who has this lettuce?

Bob Sansevere (07:23):

Yeah.

Chris Faddis (07:23):

So, at least over the last few decades we have that. So people need to be careful. I mean, I even was stopping by the grocery store for last minute dinner supplies, and we were planning to have just a bag salad. It was just simple meal last night. And I paused for a second went, wait a minute. And luckily there was a sign up, a letter from the grocery store explaining the situation and why we’re safe in Arizona and all that. So I was able to still buy something.

Bob Sansevere (07:45):

Oh, that’s good to know. Absolutely. That’s good.

Chris Faddis (07:47):

You’re kind of like, shoot, what do I need to do here? So I think people need to be just very, very diligent. Hey, probiotics are amazing. I know for me, I go to Mexico fairly often. I have a certain probiotic, I don’t remember what it’s called, that I take with me that’s a little stronger for some of those different things that you can get in your stomach. And I just take them while I’m there. And actually since I’ve been doing that my last few trips, I’ve had no issues. So if you know you’re at risk, I would definitely talk to your doctor, but look at whether it’s probiotics, those kind of things. Again, I’m not a doctor, but I’m telling you there’s definitely benefits there to help you deal with whatever it is that we have in common.

Bob Sansevere (08:28):

Well, here’s the problem, because I live in an area that it’s a farming area, and there’s fertilizer. Now, fertilizers come with different types. You make fertilizer with different types of manure, ranging from chicken, cow, sheep, horse, and plant-based manures. Well, in Mexico, they use human waste as manure too. And I don’t know if this happened at this one, but that’s why whenever I’ve traveled to Mexico, I don’t go near any of their vegetables because I don’t care how much they say they washed them. I’m not taking a chance. So maybe that was it, maybe it wasn’t, but there are certainly problems and it’s likely linked to the fertilizer. All right. Well, let’s hope no one else gets sick and no other companies get an outbreak because I’ve done the same thing like what you had mentioned. I went to a sub shop the other day and they were putting the lettuce on and I’m thinking, “All right, I’ll take a chance.” But I do take a probiotic too.

(09:22):

I don’t know if that makes a difference.

Chris Faddis (09:23):

Yeah, it does help. It really does. And again, it doesn’t mean you can’t get it. And remember, not all of these things are, this isn’t necessarily deadly. So I mean, I think stomach bug’s a stomach bug, you definitely need to take it seriously, but we shouldn’t panic either. So I think it’s important that we pay attention.

Bob Sansevere (09:40):

Well, I see. I panic more than most because my father worked with a guy. He went to, I don’t remember what island it was, but was it St. Lucia? Wherever it was, came back, had a bug, died from it. They never were able to get it out of him. And it was pretty quick too.

Chris Faddis (10:00):

That’s dangerous. Yeah, yeah.That’s a bad one.

Bob Sansevere (10:02):

But anyway, so I’m overly cautious after hearing that, and it was someone who I knew. Anyway, thank you. Chris Faddis, president and co-founder of Solidarity HealthShare, solidarityhealthshare.org. Check it out. Great alternative to traditional healthcare. Thanks, Chris.