silencer, et cetera. and they asked him about my political leanings and great detail my attitudes toward the government in great detail. if you want to connect the dots it's because big brother is listening. >> mr. bamford. >> that's the problem is you're an innocent citizen, never done anything wrong and your comments could be taken completely out of context. that's how you get a million people on the watch list. that's how you get so many innocent people. it's not a problem of just being thrown off an airplane. you may not even be on the list that is a no fly list, but you could be on the nsa black list, but it means if you secretly somehow -- or if you had say a relative or a son that wants to go to the -- one of the service academies, he might not get in because they see that you, from

the mistaken intercepts that they're getting, indicate that you're not a loyal american citizen, or you're applying for a small business loan, and you don't get it. may not know why but may be because you're on this secret watch list that nsa has. those are some of the dangers. people say i never do anything wrong, that's why you should care because there are a million people. who knows how many never did anything wrong. they aren't going to send you a letter saying you're on the watch list. you're not going to get that loan you applied for as this gentleman mentioned going to be questioned because they think that the person is involved in terrorism or something. >> how is it that the nsa is getting this information out of -- how is it that they are getting it, what is the role of

telecommunicati telecommunications companies, at&t, google, are they allowing nsa to tap? >> they have been doing it since 1952. actually you go back to the predecessor at nsa, in 1946. the telecommunications have always known it was illegal to help these agencies do it. and they've always gone along and done it. this last time was the warrantless eavesdropping. during the bush administration. once again at&t and the other companies, saluted smartly and did whatever nsa asked them to do, regardless of the fact that it was a violation of the law. and they suffered no penalties because congress passed a law saying they can't be prosecuted and cannot be suited. and they can't even be sued. they gave them total immunity for what happened. there is no incentive to obey the law. and if you get another president like bush or nimen comes in and

used it largely a lot of times for political reasons. that's the problem. if you have immunity to these companies the next president can use it to subvert his political opponent or use it for nefarious ways. as the nixon administration did. >> gracie on twitter. what would happen if we got rid of the nsa, defund them? fire them? what would happen? >> i don't know. it would be an interesting question. i'm not a supporter of doing away with the nsa but i am in favor of putting the nsa on a leash so they can't get away with doing what they did during the bush administration or operate in absolute secrecy in a democracy. i would like to see some compromise where nsa gets the funding it needs but doesn't get the funding that is so excessive that it's getting now. and with no questions asked. the congress asks no questions of nsa.

at the end of this article, but the next article i wrote about nsa. i said about, who's listening to the listeners, that's the problem. nobody's paying attention to the people that are doing the eavesdropping. >> do the intelligence committees on the hill have oversight of nsa? >> they did but the problem with the house intelligence committee do but the role has shifted. when these committees were created around mid-70s under senator frank church, for example, he was very aggressive in taking on his role protecting the american public from these agencies. and he did an enormous search, that's how they found out that nsa had been illegally eavesdropping for 30 years. since that time congress has shifted its role pretty much. now it's basically a cheering squad for the nsa. administration isn't giving the intelligence community enough money, they are lobbying for

more money going to the nsa. so it's a complete switch from this hard oversight to a lack is a daisical, well, we can't say anything about nsa. they can do whatever they want attitude. >> james bamford writes about the nsa, wrote the wired cover piece, inside of the piece he writes once it's operational this utah data center which comes with a price tag of 2 billion for construction will become the nsa's cloud. the center will be collected data fed by the satellites, listening posts and secret monitoring rooms throughout the u.s. all of that data will be accessible to the nsa's code breakers, data minors, analysts, specialists, and others working at its ft. meade headquarters and around the world. georgie, democratic caller in california. good morning. >> caller: good morning. i've always found this interesting and with my age i've

always known that they have been doing this. but now they are doing it where people are actually getting arrested for things they have done five years ago. and it's been things that's been on their cell phone. so that's going to be interesting to see how that plays out in california. in los angeles, it's going to set a precedence. if it hasn't already been set, i don't know if it's been set or not. anything you say on your cell phone, you get red flagged. and people know they are red flagged but then there are so many that don't, and they find themselves behind bars five years later for something they said five years ago. to me it's absolutely insane. we lost this country, the citizens of this country need to take this country back, and make it a democracy. >> all right. chris a republican in las vegas.

>> caller: thank you for your work, mr. bamford. >> appreciate it. thank you. >> as one who also connected the dots out here i have found that this utah center seems to be the crowning jewel of what was originally inspired under 10 usc 2358, the strom thurmond act of 1961. and i find it likely that there's an incorporative system to it that interfears with the smart meters through the smart grid system that enables a two-way transmitter on your home to create that virtual wire prism, the wires in your home, you can't see and possibly the

introduction of mind alter ing psycho electronic waves in your home via the tower on the ac frequency. >> that was chris in las vegas. we'll hear from corrine. >> caller: mr. bamford, my question to you is that you mentioned that congress needs to launch an investigation into the illegal tactics of what the nsa are doing but how is that possible when congress are pretty much allowing and you know, passing legislation to allow the nsa to do what they are able to do? >> mr. bramford. >> all of those questions are very good. and the question that the gentleman just asked, that's the problem. congress doesn't have an incentive to look into nsa because the problem with the congress right now is that no congress person ever wants to look weak on terrorism. because they know that their opponent is going to say well, you voted against this new bill to put the data center in utah which actually isn't even a

bill, nsa just does it. that's the problem. the problem is that there are too many congress people not willing to go out on a limb and say we've got too much surveillance going on, because they are so afraid of being accused of being weak on terrorism so anything that the administration suggests or proposes or anything that nsa comes up with is okay because it's going to fight this war on terror. and to be opposed to it is to open yourself up to criticism from the future opponent who is going to say you're weak on terrorism. i think that's a serious problem how you get around it you have to have congressmen or congress people that have a lot of moral fiber to stand up against these agencies. >> how has the obama administration responded to the nsa? >> well, it's done the same as i was saying, they are very weak on the whole issue of privacy. president obama when he was

running for office said he was totally against what nsa was doing, illegal warrantless eavesdropping and that he would vote against any expansion of nsa's power. he would even filibuster against it, and he said he would vote against any immunity to the telecom companies that illegally assisted nsa. and then when push came to shove and it came up for a vote he voted in favor of expanding nsa's surveillance capability and voted in favor of immunity to the telecom companies. since then the u.s. surveillance under obama has increased enormously from the bush years. now they are talking about drones flying over the united states collecting pictures and eavesdropping. as a few people have mentioned general petraeus, the new head

of the cia came out a few days ago, a couple weeks ago maybe, saying there's all of these connections now to people's electronics in their houses, dishwashers, their electronic components and that the cia feels it has a responsibility to monitor these things. nobody's saying stop. everybody is saying uh-oh, war on terrorism, we better let them do whatever they want to do. >> cape cod, massachusetts, clay, democratic caller. >> caller: thank you very much. mr. bamford i thoroughly enjoy your books. i have a question for you. in 2008, i had attended the conference where admiral gary spoke about the test fleet. as you all know, i think the test fleet is a reinvigoration from the fdr era of anti-submarine by american forces.

i believe it was about 50 at the time. as i understand it the fleet is now going to incorporate 44,000 employees on top of i believe 13,000 employees for intelligence gathering specifically electronic eavesdropping. i'd like to know if you heard of this about this program and by the way, some of these directors, the present was a former nsa director. some of these programs what their budget is, and what they are tasked for. i would very much like to hear your comments on this. thank you very much. >> well, it's a good question. it's expanded enormously. there is this entire fleet now of cyber warriors. that's the new war. we're creating an enormous -- always looking for new wars throughout and now they are latching on to cyber wars is the latest thing. these contractors, these contractors need some place to make money and they are making lots of money on these cyber

wars. as you mentioned, there is a new fleet, the fleet is going to be made up of eavesdroppers and cyber warriors. >> james bamford, we have to leave it there. thank you for your time. >> appreciate it, greta. on washington journal tomorrow morning, the president of the national organization for women with, terry o'neil will take your calls about the senate debate on reauthorizing the violence against women act. and we'll be joined by steve forbes to discuss tax policy in the economy. washington journal is live on c-span every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern. up next on c-span3, a senate aging committee hearing on providing long term care for seniors. then a panel of governors talks about the tax policy at the george w. bush institute. and later, the u.s. institute of

peace looks at the future of afghan security after the withdrawal of american troops. >> on thursday, defense secretary leon panetta will give an update on syria's human rights organization. he'll be joined at the house armed services committee by martin dempsey. you can watch live coverage beginning at 10:00 a.m. eastern time here on c-span3. >> from a colonial era, prohibition to today, drinking for better or worse has always been a part of the american landscape. saturday night live on american history tv. a history of alcohol in america. watch our simulcast back story with the american history guys, host ed ayers regail with tales of beer and spirits in america. part of american history tv this weekend on c-span3.

>> this senate special committee on aging looked into the finances of long term care for seniors, and its effect on the medicare program. several witnesses argued for allowing more states flexibility in providing long term care. this hearing is 1:20. >> good afternoon to everyone. and thank you so much for being here today. we're looking at the question how best to provide and finance long term care services for the millions of americans who need them while also balancing our debt, our deficits and overall financial picture. as we look ahead, we're going to have to do more with less, we all know that. in fact, we must find better and

more efficient ways to find care, because the money simply will not be there. today we're going -- we're here today to talk about some of the ways to save money, without doing material damage to long term care. the cost of long term care services, more than $300 billion a year are already massive for both taxpayers and families, and left unchecked this burden will continue to grow as our rapidly aging population requires more long term care. medicaid alone projects 1.9 trillion in long term care costs over the next ten years, with an average cost increase of.6%. and we are seeing similar increasing costs for medicare and in some sectors of the long term care insurance industry. unfortunately, there is no easy answer. while our two largest publicly financed health care programs,

medicaid and medicare currently pay for the bulk of long term care, they're limited in scope and private long term care insurance has the potential to play a larger role. the market is facing challenges and some consumers have been skeptical about purchasing a policy is worth -- both worth the cost and represents a secure and sound investment. to help us meet these challenges, our witnesses will discuss some promising strategies for improving services while at the same time restraining costs. particularly i look forward to hearing about the savings we would achieve by reducing unnecessary hospitalizations. by delaying or avoiding institutionalization, and by increasing the use of home and community based services. as we will hear today, these solutions have already achieved some success and could be expanded across the country. as we work to develop policies

that enable seniors of all incomes, the plan for and access long term care we will need the best ideas and we will need to work together in a bipartisan manner. so we look forward to today's hearing, is a testimony and the ideas that we will hear from our witnesses. now the witnesses, mr. john o'brien is director of health care and insurance for the u.s. office of personnel management. overseas, federal employees health benefit program. and more importantly for this hearing, the federal long term care insurance program. this program is the largest private long term care program in the country. mr. loren coleman is with the department of human services, with more than 25 years of experience with with long term care facilities, a host of

programs for older adults, and is the leading force behind minnesota's transform 2010 program. which is designed to help the state prepare for retirement of the baby boomer generation. dr. aiken is president of the american action forum. he was chief economist with the council of economic advisers from 2001 to 2002. and he serbs as the director of the congressional budget office from 2003 to 2005. professor judy fader has had a long and established academic career, serving as dean of the policy in washington, d.c., from 1999 to 2008. today she's a professor at georgetown university, a fellow at the urban institute and an elected member of the institute of medicine. we also have dr. bruce chernoff

with us today, the president and ceo of the scan foundation. an organization that's dedicated to research and dissemination knowledge that improves the health of older older adults. dr. chernof also served as director and chief medical officer for the los angeles county department of health services. we thank you all for being here. and before we go to your testimony, we'll hear from the distinguished ranking member of this committee, senator corker. >> mr. chairman, thank you. and i had a conflict. i came at the perfect time. i don't give opening comments much. i thank you for calling the hearing and i look forward to hearing the witnesses. so thank you so much. i appreciate it. >> thank you. all right. mr. o'brien? >> chairman, ranking member corker, members of the committee. thank you for the opportunity to testify today on long-term care insurance. the office of personnel management oversees numerous

benefit programs, including long-term care insurance for federal employees, annuityans and family members. long-term care is provided to people who need help with activities of daily living or need supervision due to severe cognitive impairment. it can be provided at home, an adult day-care center, assisted living facility or nursing home. most health insurance programs, including the federal health benefits program do not provide coverage for long-term care services. this unmet need led to the creation of the federal long-term care insurance program. long-term care insurance is an important benefit because people are living longer and a likelihood of needing long-term care services increases with age. after age 65, americans have a 76% chance of needing some form of long-term care during their lives. long-term care is also provided to people under age 65 who need help taking care of themselves due to diseases, chronic conditions, injury, developmental disabilities, or severe mental illness. long-term care insurance is also important because services can

be very expensive for the average american family. in 2011, the average cost of a semi private room in a nursing home was over $75,000. and the average cost of home care was roughly $31,000. in 2000, congress passed the long-term care security act, which authorized opm to contract with qualified carriers to provide long-term care coverage to federal employees, u.s. postal employees, members of the uniformed services, annuityans and her qualified family members. in march we introduced the program. this is the tenth year for the program and is the largest employer-sponsored program in the country. the long-term care program is 100% -- is a 100% employee-paid benefit. through the long-term care program, the federal government uses its leverage in the marketplace to offer private long-term care insurance to federal employees and their certain qualified family members. the initial contract to provide long-term care insurance for

federal employees was with long-term care partners, a joint venture of john hancock and metropolitan life. the benefit became available to federal employees in 2002, and by february 2003, 187,000 individuals were enrolled. by the end of the initial seven-year contract term, enrollment had increased to approximately 224,000 enrollees. at the ending of the initial contract term in 2009, opm awarded a second contract to john hancock. as part of the newhan dock, john hancock add increased benefit options, new benefit periods, higher daily benefit amounts, and increased payment limits for informal care provided by family members. the long-term program provides coverage for nursing room stays, assisted living facilities, hospice stays, home care, and other services. in addition to federal civilian and uniformed service employers, other qualified family members who are eligible to apply for the coverage includes spouses,

same-sex domestic partner, surviving spouses, members of the uniformed services, parents, and adult children. although enrollees can customize the benefit, the vast majority, over 99%, opt for one of four prepackaged options. the prepackaged plans offer variations in the daily benefit amount, the benefit period, the maximum lifetime benefit amount, waiting periods, and inflation protection options. the package includes comprehensive care coordination, portability of coverage, international benefits with no war seclusions, and guaranteed renewability. enrollees can change their coverage options as their needs change and have a variety of premium payment options. since the new contract offered new covered options that were not previously available, in 2011, opm held an open season for the long-term care program. i should note that an individual can enroll in the long-term care program at any time, but outside of an open enrollment period, or twithineir hiring of an employee, they are subject

to full medical underwriting, what we refer to as open season allows employees and their spouses to apply with abbreviated underwriting, which means applicants answer fewer questions about their medical history. i should also note that during the 2011 open season, same-sex domestic partners of federal employees had the option to apply with the abbreviated underwriting. thme sex domestic partners followed president obama's june 2010 memorandum directing agencies to extend benefits to same-sexees existing law. educational efforts for the 2011 open seasons began in fall of 2010.along with long-term care partners worked to increase awareness about the benefits of long-term care insurance for the federal workforce. direct mail, e-mail campaign, workshops, webinars, advertisements, payroll notices and other tools educated the federal workforce about long-term care insurance. additional information was

available on the federal long-term care website, including the ability to apply for coverage online. clarity and transparency were top priorities of the educational campaign, and care was taken to assure that benefits and features of the long-term care product were clearly understood. the educational efforts were very successful at increasing awareness among the eligible population that the program is a valuable and cost-effective way to protect against the high costs of long-term care. the success of the effort was born out by the numbers. we received over 45,000 applications during the 2011 open season. and total program enrollment increased 20% from 224,000 to approximately 270,000 members. market continues to evolve, we believe the federal long-term care program is well-positioned to offer a variety of benefit choices with relatively low cost to enrollees. opm is working to maintain the long-term viability of the program by pursuing policies that will protect current and

future enrollees. for example, we are interested in pursuing participation in state/federal long-term care partnerships which provide asset protection as an incentive for enrollment. we're also continuing to assess plan benefit options to assure that they're tariff to enrollees. long-term share insurance provides a cost-effective for individuals making average incomes like most federal employees to protect themselves against a financial castify that a long-term injury or illness can cause. the market is still relatively young and uncertain is, and opm will need to closely monitor the market to make sure the program meets the current and future needs of the federal family. our goal is to provide enrollees with insurance protection, mitigate their potential costs for long-term care services. thank you for the opportunity to testify today. and i am happy to address any questions you may have. >> thank you, mr. o'brien. mr. colman? >> thank you, mr. chair and members of the committee.

on behalf of commissioner jesseun, i thank you for the opportunity to share with the efforts that minnesota is making to provide the best possible long-term care system for older adults and persons with disabilities. minnesota has a strong infrastructure built over many years of long-term care services and supports for older adults and people with disabilities. last fall we were very proud and gratified to see the quality of minnesota's long-term system recognized by the aarp and the scan foundation. minnesota ranked number one among all states in the first ever aarp scoreboard on long-term care services and supports for older adults, people with disabilities, and family caregivers. the report validates the direction that minnesota has been moving for the past 25 years. to reduce reliance on institutional care and encourage access to services in home and community-based settings. it acknowledges minnesota's efforts in providing

comprehensive phone and web-based information and referral sources for seniors and their families and people with disabilities, as well as providing evidence-based support for family caregivers. not that long ago, most people that were served by medicaid in minnesota received long-term care services in institution. over time, we've developed the supports needed to serve people in their own homes and communities. today 63% of the older adults receiving medicaid long-term services get that care in their home or in community settings. and 95% of persons with disabilities receiving medical assistance long-term care services are in community settings. we're also proud of minnesota's systems of nursing facilities as the state and facilities have worked in partnership toward improved quality and care. several queers ago we launched a nursing facility report card to give consumers and family members access to comparative information on quality and consumer satct