Solidarity HealthShare President and Co-Founder Chris Faddis joins The BS Show to discuss mail-order abortion pills, bird flu, and professional sports. Listen to the interview or read the transcript 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. Over the years, you and I have talked about what is the importance of price transparency. And finally, it appears that there’s been a crackdown on it because I mean, for years it seems like it’s been ignored, but the CMS, which stands for the Center for Medicare Services or Medicaid services.
Chris Faddis (00:35):
Correct, correct. Yep. Medicare. Yeah.
Bob Sansevere (00:37):
All right. It’s issued fines to 28 hospitals for alleged price transparency violations. And the one that got hit the high … And good. I’m fine with that. I guess it’s United Florida, University of Florida Health North in Jacksonville, $979,000. North Tide Hospital Atlanta, $883,180. Then there’s one in Miami, Jackson Memorial Hospital, 871. One in Chicago, Community First Medical Center, 847 plus. And one in Maryland that drops then to 325 Holy Cross Hospital in Maryland. But is this what it’s going to take, these stiff fines for all these hospitals to comply?
Chris Faddis (01:20):
Yeah, it’s going to take that and more, but I think that the administration is telegraphing very clearly that they’re taking this seriously and they’re not playing games any longer. I think the law that’s been in place for the last now five years has been woefully under enforced and definitely not complied with. So I think we’re seeing really good signs that the administration takes this seriously, that they understand that this is really, Bob, and we’ve talked about this before. At the end of the year, everyone was panicking about the enhanced subsidies going away where people making $300,000 a year were getting free healthcare. This is the real problem with healthcare costs. This is it right here. And so I think it’s really, really promising to see that CMS and HHS is taking this seriously. You saw last month, Bobby Kennedy come out and say that they’re fully enforcing these measures.
(02:15):
They’re actually increasing regulations on price transparency. And so I think we’re finally seeing something that you and I have been talking about being needed for so long. And this will help people. Now, again, these fines compared to the balance sheets of these hospitals. And shoot, these fines are less than the CEOs make at these hospitals. So the reality is it’s a drop in the bucket, but it is starting the right direction.
Bob Sansevere (02:44):
But they don’t want to lose any money.That’s the thing.
Chris Faddis (02:46):
They don’t lose any money. And of course, the press on it’s not good for them either. So I think we’ll see some pushback, but we’ll also see more aggressive measures taken by the administration.
Bob Sansevere (02:57):
Well, let me ask you this, because my thought would be that these hospitals are now identified. If you are going in for some sort of an elective surgery and it’s not an emergency, you may say, “I don’t want to go to that hospital. They’re going to gouge me. Find another hospital.” That’s what my reaction would be to that. I’m not going to a hospital where they have excessive price gouging. So that’s something I would want to know where you want it to be transparent. So I think the one that paid almost a million or a couple paid almost a million, it’s going to hit them a lot harder than a million dollars because there’ll be a ripple effect. So that not necessarily is a bad thing. Now, the other thing I wanted to ask you about is abortion pills now kill two thirds of all babies in abortions.
(03:47):
It’s a newly published national report documenting the shift in America’s abortion landscape and highlighting the expansion of chemical abortions and shield laws that protect abortionists and not women and renewed efforts to protect women and unabort children following the fall of Roe v. Wade. And I stay away generally from abortion, but the one question I have for every listener out there is, or to think about, this is not an abortion, it’s a medical issue, but it’s not like cancer. If you get cancer, there’s a lot that you have to do and it’s not something that’s avoidable for many people. This is the most avoidable medical issue I can think of because, well, yeah, protective sex, but even if you have sex, they have a morning after pill. And I know that Solidarity, that you don’t condone that either. But to me, until there’s a heartbeat, I don’t really see it as life because there may not even be … I mean, the morning after, you may not even be pregnant or beginning to be pregnant, but it’s not a bad idea maybe to do that so that you don’t have to worry about it and go through this.
(04:54):
And I’m sure you have met many people who have had an abortion. Some don’t have a problem with having had it. Others have remorse and they’d live with it for the rest of their lives. So to me, that becomes less of an issue. And again, I don’t want to go down this thing because I don’t want to … I know that it’s a hot button for many, many people.
Chris Faddis (05:15):
It’s a hot button, of course. Yeah. And let me just say this. I mean, I think the big thing going back to the abortion pill is the expansion of the abortion pill and being able to deliver it in the mail is a real concern for women’s health. I mean, that’s really … At the center of all of this, believing in abortion or not, that’s one of the biggest concerns that I have that we have is, at the end of the day, this combination of mefoprestone and this approach to chemical abortion, it caused before they allowed it by mail order, even it caused many emergencies, many women who are bleeding out, many women who went to the hospital because of hemorrhage. The percentages of risk are so high and there’s many outcomes that you really need a doctor to do an evaluation before you decide to give someone this bill, to make sure that they don’t have an ectopic pregnancy, that they don’t have other conditions that will cause massive trauma to the woman and possibly death.
(06:13):
And that’s the biggest problem right now is now that the FDA under Biden has allowed mail order and the Trump administration is apparently studying it, but they’re not stopping it. This is a real concern. Even before they allowed these mail order, the emergency hospital visitations due to the abortion bill were under reported by magnitudes of tens of thousands because of the ideological leanings of the professionals in those hospitals. And also it was very hard to report. It’s not an easy thing to report these adverse reactions. And so that’s been a big concern for a long time. And then when they allowed this by mail order, it really is now it’s increased to this two-thirds of all abortions. So it’s a real risk. And whether people … I of course do not believe abortion should happen at any point, even in the morning after approach.
(07:03):
But no matter where people are, this is a real concern for women’s health and they are not going by the actual published data on the abortion pill, whether or not it’s safe and effective, especially not without a medical consult before you do it.
Bob Sansevere (07:17):
Well, I mean, of all the advice I say to all women, I mean, be careful with everything. So we’ll leave it at that. And now I want to mention something that the Associated Press has several headlines, and I’m going to just read the headlines to you, and I’m worried or concerned that maybe heading into spring and summer, we could be dealing with a major bird flu issue. Now, here’s one of the headlines. Here’s why raw milk drinkers need to be concerned about bird flu in US dairy cows. Another one, bird flu outbreak in California elephant seals prompts officials to cancel popular tours and officials suspect bird flu after 12 swans died at Orlando’s Lake Eola and a fourth one, which actually turned out not to be bird flu. Thai officials say 72 tigers at tourist parks died in canine distemper, allaying bird flu fears, but the fact that they’re fearing it’s bird flu and these other places are dealing with bird flu, I’m a little concerned about that, that it could be something that really strikes and strikes hard in the coming months.
(08:23):
And we talked briefly off the air and you haven’t really heard that it’s rising or there’s an issue with it yet, right?
Chris Faddis (08:30):
I mean, not much, and obviously not with humans at this point. So we had this similar fear a year ago, and maybe a little over a year ago, I guess it was at the end of 2024, and you saw massive bird populations being forced to be killed, chicken populations to be killed by USDA and all of that. And then it really turned out to be nothing. So I think we have a good amount of measures in place in the US that even if there is some sort of outbreak around the world, I think it will stay maintained and controlled.
Bob Sansevere (09:04):
Well, hopefully.
Chris Faddis (09:04):
But we’ll see. I haven’t seen a lot yet. I think at this point, it’s maybe signals. I also think it’s sort of late in the season for bird flu. So I could be wrong on that timing, but I know in the past it’s typically December timeframe that you start to see that.
Bob Sansevere (09:19):
So –
Chris Faddis (09:20):
Hopefully-
Bob Sansevere (09:20):
I’m encouraged by that. Hopefully I’m right. Yeah. Hopefully you are. Now, tell me, are people in Minnesota right to be wanting Kyler Murray because he’s going to be available and you’re in Arizona and you know about him. Go ahead. Tell me what you think.
Chris Faddis (09:33):
God bless the guy. God bless the guy. I wanted him to work out. I mean, I’ve known for four years he wouldn’t work out, but just in my own heart. I think the Cardinals did him a disservice by giving him that massive guaranteed contract. He certainly did themselves a disservice. He’s getting $36 million point eight dollars just to walk this year. They released him. He’s going to get that money. So Minnesota should get a discount if they get him. (They will. They don’t-) The reality is-
Bob Sansevere (09:59):
Yeah.
Chris Faddis (10:00):
Kyler’s one of those guys who very likely will end up in a team where he’ll win the Super Bowl. So
(10:06):
I don’t doubt it. I think that just over time, it was too much in his head. He couldn’t do it here. It’s obviously something he took really personal. I do think he’s a good guy. I think he’s a good quarterback, but you’ve got to have a great offensive line for sure. You’ve got to mitigate the risk with him. But I don’t think he’s a bad pickup. And I do, I’ve always thought he’s going to be one of those guys who leaves here and he wins the Super Bowl. And that’s okay. That’s not a bad thing. We’re from Minnesota if you guys get him.
Bob Sansevere (10:33):
Well, the Vikings, they are the most ready. They need a quarterback and he will come for the minimum, which is like 1.3 million and the Cardinals will pay the difference. So he’s a bargain to bring him in here. I just don’t know if he and KOC … He’s not KOC’s type of quarterback. He likes the dropback guys. This guy likes the freelance, so we’ll see. All right.
Chris Faddis (10:55):
I kind of would prefer that if the Cardinals are going to pay for most of that salary, that it wouldn’t be in our division, but in our conference too. Yeah, my conference, I mean. Yeah. So anyway, it is what it is, but I wish him the best. I have to say, I do appreciate that he wrote a really nice remark to the fans and a little sad, but it is what it is. He’ll move on. He’ll do well.
Bob Sansevere (11:18):
All right. Chris Faddis, thank you, president and co-founder of Solidarity Healthshare. Solidarityhealthshare.org. Take a quick break. The BS Show‘ll be right back.