host: you can contact us at twitter. here is a preview of president

obama's trip to green bay today. this writer writing that when president obama touches down he will be landing in one of the highest value help communities in the nation. it has managed to control medical spending while steadily improving occam's. president obama says if we could make the rest of the nation practice medicine the way that green bay does we would have higher quality and lower costs. -- that was actually said by a peter orszag. obama is increasingly focused on wasteful medical care that does not extend life in may actually be harmful, he says. today in his meeting his first as president to promote health reform is intended to abolish one city strategy. the event coupled with a speech to the american medical

association on monday represents a fresh push to sell the public of legislation that could dramatically alter health care is given and pit for in this country. in the coming days and weeks, the president will be more active in making a public case for the origin need to reform our health-care system said a white house spokesman. what obama is likely to your is testimony to the value of digital records, a physician coverage in, preventive care, and transparency. that is from "the washington post" this morning. in "the wall street journal" -- how to stop socialized health care by carcarl rove. it says i would go the republican member of congress one for the -- it democrats and

at a public auction health insurance program, america is on the way to becoming a european- child welfare state. competition is needed to provide health insurance privately. 1300 companies already sell health insurance plans. second, a private auction -- a public auction will undercut private insurers and passed the tab to taxpayers. for example, medicare pays hospitals and 71% and doctors 81% of what private health insurers pay. it would critter the private insurance market, forcing most americans on to the government plan. one group estimates 70% of people with private insurance will quickly lose with a no get from private companies and be forced on to the government-run role as businesses decided is more cost-effective to drop coverage.

fourth, the public option is far too expensive. fifth, the public auction puts government firmly in the middle of the relationship between patients and their doctors. imagine what happens when government is the insurance carrier. that is karl rove ready about health care this morning. what do you think about health care? a democrat is first up this morning. caller: why are you quoting karl rove who is neither a nurse or doctor? under registered nurse for 35 years now. of course we can fix it. the first thing is that you cut out the for-profit. it does not mean that you cannot make a profit. you can make a nice living at a

cap of $250,000. second, you need to get rid of the insurance -- but they are terrible, like mafia or something. you get rid of that and you have that the public system. right now medicare would work beautifully if there were no doubt in it, kicking people out of hospitals in two days and then readmitting him and gudgeon the costs. it is really bad. the second thing -- and gauging the cost. use nurse practitioners, pay doctors medical school. you do this by every year the practice and take away their debt. host: are you still practicing nurse? caller: 08 yes, i worked in nursing homes and have worked in every area. public health, and the public health department in the city of

chicago. it worked beautifully in the head clinics. it was dismantled along with everything in chicago. ronald reagan was treated by trauma centers and then he closed them. we have enough money to give it to public health science. host: delaware on our independent line. caller: i pretty much agree with that nurse even though i am a basic secretary in the health- care industry. we have an aging population and we need to have long-term care and hospice care, dental care, it needs to be all inclusive. the current model does not work. it is crazy. host: how you pay for? caller: i'm one of the few who

probably has my coverage to my work system, but you really have to know the plan -- is a pain. it is a pain to be sick. it has taken me four months to go through the system for a simple problem with my knee. you have to get a consultant to consultant to confirm -- by the time that happens -- he knew. i could have had this done 10 days after they knew. host: in the "usa today" lawmakers target health insurance tax breaks from employers which could be scaled back to pay for president obama's overhaul. committees in congress are considering a cap on the tax break so that higher income employees would pay taxes on part of their value. senate finance committee chairman max baucus who plans to unveil his plan next week has

said he favors limiting the tax break. this is anna "the new york times" -- doctors group opposes public health care insurance plan. the ama says it will oppose creation of a government- sponsored insurance plan which president obama and many other democrats see as an essential element to remake the health care system. the opposition could be a mutuamajor hurdle. it is america's largest physician organization with about 2 minute 50,000 members. next caller, how you pay for caller: health care as the europeans do, with a gas tax. you drive a fuel-efficient car and it does not cost you that much.

it costs less than some of the averages monthly premiums. individuals paying $800, families paying $1,500. on a similar note, many republicans are being very disingenuous. if john mccain were president at think he would be running the government and the economy almost the exact same way. bailing out the economy, bailing out the auto industry -- and they're blasting obama. i really believe that there are many republicans who want obama to fail even if it meant the economy collapsing, even if it meant a terrorist attack. it is averageoutrageous as a wht the republicans are not getting behind obama and his quest to make sure that our economy does better. host: good morning, and the independent line.

caller: i also work in the health care industry. inpatie patient services. the idea i have would involve two controversial ideas. in essence, i don't believe that the biggest problem lies in how we approach health care. it lies in the way we approach fiduciary remuneration and capitalism. we view the capitalist ideal to be the driving force rather than the fuel. creativity is always the engine. that said, what of we discussed the idea of seeking litigation against hmo's and health care insurance companies for what they have done in my opinion, to the country. what if the argument were made

in the court of law that these institutions sublimated american democracy by engaging in reckless capitalism and thus endangering the entire republic. we sue them, taken to court, take away much of their material wealth and the verdict that into the economy to essentially subsidize a new health-care system for one and all. but that is just controversial. ok, another tack. if we will have a collaborative kepler's system, what if we had hmo's along with the government funding individual hospitals or health care systems at least on a trial basis for each organization worked in tandem with the public government system and at best a hospitals are subsidized by both public and private interests in a forthright fashion. host: howard on our republican

line from germantown, maryland. caller: i think the industry has run amok with capitalistic entities. it has become a business of making money, not securing the patient. if we took away the pressure that the keep applying to physicians and health-care providers by allowing them to have an insurance plan they can afford but as affordable, and rewards doctors that are curing patients and punish those who are spending excess of money to do services unnecessary solely to pad the profit of the firm -- if we can do that, it would minimize costs and make it available to more people. being fiscally conservative and makes sense to limit the expenditures of the federal government in terms of health care costs, but more americans are willing to pay for health insurance if it were affordable.

and that the insurance company could not say no, we're not covering your illnesses. but you have 500 insurance plans and nearly half of a rocket scientist to determine whether they will cover everything you do or don't need. host: here says a potential compromise might help to ease health bear this comfort. whether it to create a new government health care plan to compete with private insurance. the compromise would create health care cooperatives and by groups of residents and small businesses. the would be non-profit and without the government involvement. senate finance committee baucus said yesterday that they do could be the key to a bipartisan health care bill. that is from "the philadelphia

inquirer." here is more -- but his aides warned k street. there was a pre-emptive strike on wednesday with a group of prominent democratic lobbyists warning them not to attend the meeting today. they met with a block of more than 20 contract lobbyists, including several former senator baucus aids. the said republicans are having this meeting and need to let all your clients know that they will have someone there. it will be viewed as a hostile act said a democratic lobbyist who attended the meeting. going to the meeting will say that you are interested in working with republicans to stop health care reform. republican leaders have been meeting with health care stakeholders for months. a democrat from alexandria, va.

-- how the pay for health care? caller: through our own taxes. right now we pay taxes for the most, but seeing no personal benefit. but everyone's payment of taxes we will see something directly. right now i pay over $700 out- of-pocket. that would be spread out to everyone. it is not free. the government would not be painted out of their pockets. we would be willing to pay it out of our pocket. i believe in the same for education. we are going broke because of the health care system and the education system. host: ben in annapolis, md., good morning. caller: yes, we pay for the army with our taxes. if we put the government in control of health-care we lose accountability.

you have to have accountability. look at congress now. democrats blame the republicans. and of the republicans blamed the democrats. it is absurd, with no accountability. i have heard a lot of democrats this morning talk about such things as getting rid of salaries and incentives -- that is ridiculous. everything that has made america successful is the desire for profit. want to take out profit you have a miserable, government- controlled system and it will be a disaster. host: end "the hale" newspaper there's a special section on health care with lots of op-eds on health care. newt gingrich has one. here's a little bit from it.

to truly bring down costs and expand coverage we need to focus on three things -- improving individual health by incentivizing prevention, will miss, and early health, suddenly, incentivizing providers through fair and proper payments to adopt in best practices, and reforming public programs to rudolf fraud. here's a little bit of representative jim mcdermott's op-ed. it's as we must address and comprehensive reform is an overall primary care in this country from how we recruit and train doctors. the pyramid has to be turned right side up with a solid and broad base that is built upon primary care moving up to the specialty practices. primary care is the key to reforming health care in america.

here is a democrat from new york, senator charles schumer. in many areas of the country, one or two insurers have struggled on the entire market producing cost of premiums and health care decisions that may not always serve the best interests of the patient. this is why public health insurance plan is critical, to ensure the greatest amount of choice possible for consumers and provided least one option that is patient, not profit focus. host: john, an independent, you are on the line. caller: one dollar -- isn't that a great pain? i'm under medicaid. i wish my doctor were right here, and nurses here, and oxygen.

[unintelligible] if everybody could have $1 to see their doctor -- but it might actually cost $3 in virginia, to get your prescription drug. i am on many. host: are you satisfied with medicaid? caller: i am well-pleased. host: may i ask how old you are?

caller: 40 years old. host: thank you for watching and for calling in this morning. this is a picture of stephen who was killed yesterday at the holocaust museum. he was a six-year veteran of his employer services. he was 39 years old. the next call from alabama. caller: yes, i'm 67 and i watch my health. i have the nice things to stay alive, and i thank god about it in prayer. but i do not want health care. now i'm going to be forced into universal health care. it took me six months to get them to take part b of my social

security -- i would give them part a also. i want my freedom back. let the economy handle it. i do not want the government involving anything that i do. host: back to the special session this morning on health care. the new hhs secretary, kathleen sebelius has and op-ed there, too. she writes that we need reform that will improve the quality of care and give doctors the best research to help them make the most effective decisions, not just the most costly. we need to reform the eliminate the barriers. we must insure americans are not denied coverage because of pre- existing conditions, and we must provide insurance security for americans who lose or want to switch jobs. that is secretary kathleen sebelius writing in "the hale"

newspaper this morning. caller: please bear with me. on the revenue side -- it is a well-known fact as i have been cancelled by my accountant and people of my brokerage firm, that i should not report my profits and options since options are never reported to the government. that is a trillion-dollar industry. it is voted down every time by a voice in congress. that tells you how deep the corruption goes. secondly, we should be taxing oil. and since when does being a doctor make you a millionaire? they buy into other mri facilities and repeatedly refer patients to their own facilities. they also get referrals from drug companies. every time you take a drug, the

doctor to prescribe it is reported back to the drug company and the company reimburses the doctor in give some special trips and everything else. it is first of all of violation of my rights. secondly, that is nepotism. why do we advertise drugs on the air? since when does a patient listen to some haunting music and a woman running across the field with butterflies decide the issue of take- drug because a look so good on tv? my brother was flying in an airplane with a woman who was an insurance representative. she basically told them that all they do is give them 50% off the top. obama is taking on a very powerful drug company and insurance companies -- and they have billions and billions of dollars of revenue. they will funnel that to the republican friends and everyone else to stop this. we have got to get control of this because they're driving this country into bankruptcy. obama is absolutely right.

host: 4 canadian facing emergency surgery, the right on the learjet is cheaper than the actual operation in the u.s. hospital. canada's health care system will pay for urgent medical care outside the country, but a canadian rate of about $360 per day for a hospital stay. before stepping across the border the first thing that a canadian thinks about a supplemental health insurance said a spokesman for the canadian snowbird association which represents about 80,000 migratory citizens. no wonder president obama's plan to expand american healthcare coverage of the uninsured has become such a hot topic north of the border. if he succeeds, the u.s. could draw even more canadian doctors

and nurses to the u.s., exacerbating the shortage of medical professionals said the canadian health care critic and former head of the canadian medical association. if obama fails, perhaps canada could open a system to medical tourism from the u.s. about 500,000 americans annually travel to other countries for high quality but much cheaper medical care. few of them go to canada where the notion of funding public hospitals has been politically unacceptable. the canadian system ensures that everyone has access to basic health care without ever seeing a doctor or hospital bill. nevertheless, the demands on the system have the to waiting list for treatments such as mri scans, cataract and artery bypass surgeries. that is one reason why 70% of canadians have some form of supplemental health insurance whether or not the plan to visit the united states.

caller: yes, we have three military bases. i have been making an effort to talk to every single one of our military people about their health care system. if you want to know what the health-care system will look like being run by the government, look at the military. most of them are completely unsatisfied and scared to death of it. if you want nationalized health- care a look inside the governmentinsidehow is run. esther military people. -- ask your military people. stand up and ask them how they feel about it and whether it works well. when you join the military and let's say that you are wearing braces or retainer -- you have to take up the retainer because your body is theirs. host: san francisco, a

republican, hi. caller: we should keep everything private. do not involve the government. it is not 22 million people like canada. we're not a small country. we are the world's third largest country. right note we 0 $36 trillion for medicare. we cannot run everything. we do not have the money. we owe china summit millions now, close to $1 trillion in. we have to find a way to pay for things. if we get into this we have to build more buildings and bureaucracy. more pensions for eternity. we have to find a way to stay private. if there is an emergency, then the government can come in and help like with the swine flu. but let's take care of this by ourselves. what the private insurance

companies help us find a way to lower rates for those who are extremely poor. let's not put in people who are illegal because that is 12 million up to 20 million people we do not need to do this for. if we could keep quality and have an attitude of helping each other along with charities -- but there is no reason to put government in that could one day be an extremely evil leader -- that has happened all over the world. that has happened all over the world for people who have control over the people could damage the society permanently. host: labor groups are turning up the heat on senator baucus, fearing he will not embrace a robust government-run insurance option in his reform bill. some union officials have already approached senate

majority leader harry reid to voice their concerns about bacchus. that is also in that "the hill" newspaper. phoenix, a democrat. caller: i am fine. host: list of about your experience with health care. are you on medicare? caller: i think it is wonderful. without it i would be in a homeless shelter. host: do you get to choose your doctor? caller: i get a general doctor and then he refers before whatever -- last month had to have a carotid artery and he had to refer me to a surgeon. then i go to the surgeon and get all these tests that the check for the carotid artery. he set me up for surgery.