premise that people ought to be able to keep the health care they have got if they wanted. that is the essence of the choice we are talking about. once we establish that tenet, we go and say, look, part of this whole discussion has become so important because the costs have gone out of control and led to increasing numbers of uninsured americans. how was it that we are going to for the uninsured access to coverage? we want to provide access to a basic plan for all americans. we do so by making sure we keep down costs and incorporate the ability for folks to pull together to access lower-cost, to bring private sector into the

game, and keep government out. i applaud the efforts that have resulted in the plan today. i look forward to working with president obama, speaker pelosi, to make sure we arrive at a consensus so we can have some health care reform in this country. >> thank you, eric. we have had a hard working group, and that group continues to work to be part of this debate and part of the solution. the healthcare solutions group wants to be exactly that. republicans are for health care plan is more affordable. we want everyone have access to it regardless of a pre-existing condition with a renewed focus on quality and the doctor- patient relationship. of americans who have health care coverage generally like it. that is why we constantly say if you like what you have come a weekend -- you can keep it. people seem to believe that if there is a government

competitor, you will not be able to keep what you have. if there is a government competitor, they will never compete fairly. eventually, there will be no competitors. we would add a caveat to that, if you like what you have, you can keep it. he should have more choices than you have today even if you like what you have. more of a marketplace, more access to individual decision making. one of those decisions might be very well -- might very well be i am pleased with my company, or i might want to take the tax benefit and to go out and have a similar benefit with the band -- with a plan that better fit the needs of my family or myself. we will do whatever we can to do that. there are ways to get uninsured people on the insurance rolls without having the $1 trillion price tag. there are ways to make medicaid more efficient, and ways to make

sure that everybody who has access to medicaid knows they have access to medicaid and gets on the medicaid system. many of the uninsured today actually qualify for existing programs. 10 million of the uninsured today -- among other things, employees should have the opt out aggressively as opposed to aggressively having to opt in. there are things like that that can make a big difference in the system in a hurry. on the ground work that the government will never compete fairly, look at what is happening in the auto industry. the government run general motors with gmac financing cars close to zero. before credit is quite a bit above zero. -- the ford credit is quite above thzero.

the government will not compete fairly. we think there's a marketplace we can help create. our members are going to come up and talk about that. they're going to come and talk about elements of the plan that will be working with folks to draft. while we are almost always last in line with the resources available to congress these days, we're going to be working hard now to bring these concepts and the legislative language is quickly as we can. >> thank you for a leadership on the solutions group. i want to think leader boehner and all of my colleagues to help really make it possible for us

to come forward with an american solution to health care. the president said that should have a uniquely american solution. we have what that we believe focuses on affordability, accessibility, and availability. the question is, how we do that? we think is very important that there be a robust waste fraud and abuse oversight of health care. natalie in the government programs of medicare and medicaid, but clearly the duplicity we find in our health- care system. we think that to be part of the plan as we move forward. you can't have a serious discussion unless you agree to address the issue of liability reform, defensive medicine, medical malpractice. we think it should also be an important part of health care moving forward. the president has just begun. we heard the issue in his speech

at the ama. clearly, we think that of all people who are at low and modest incomes who do not qualify for medicaid should get some help with buying insurance. also, those between the ages of 55 and 64, they should get some assistance with purchasing health insurance. lastly, there needs to be a very strong while this provision. prevention is key to getting lower costs. we want to try to get the cost of health care and prevention is critical. we have seen that works. there are a number of areas in the private sector where health care costs have actually gone down because employees have incentives to actually meet healthy lifestyle criteria. those are just some of the areas that we will focus on. this is our summary. we're working towards legislation with my colleagues

in the congress. we look for the offering the solution and being part of the bipartisan solution to health care, offering some good ideas to the debate. congressman barton. >> thank you. republicans believe that if you need health care, you does your doctor or nurse, did not go see a government bureaucrat. our basic premise is, we want to work within the existing market structure. we do not want to create new federal mandates or barack receives -- or bureaucracies. we will begin to meet next week. chairman waxman says he will have three hearings on health care next week. we will be engaged in those if and when they decide -- will be engaged in those. if and when the democrats decide to go and marked up, will be there as part of the comprehensive package.

we believe we need to reform medicaid. we need to reform schip. we believe we should give people the right, the option, if they take the amount -- we would give them the premium assistance to do that. we believe we need to take pressure off of medicaid by creating incentives for long- term health care so we have got some proposals that will do that. . people should be able to put it -- a former -- form associations. we even believe that states should be able to form regional pools across state lines so that people who work in areas that do not have health care for their business can be part of a pool. we think the federal government should provide premium

assistance for those individuals. we believe in a refundable tax credit. we believe that individuals can make informed choices if we have health care transparency. we will have proposals that will provide more transparency in the marketplace. we believe that doctors should be reimbursed adequately for their services. we will have a proposal that fixes the physician reimbursement problem. we're not sure yet if that is going to be a 2-3 year fixed or a permanent fix. it may depend on the funds that are available once we decide what everything is going to cost. we are prepared to be engaged in the process. mr. bond has an excellent job of the solutions groups. the leader has been personally involved in making sure that when the time comes, we will have an alternative both

legislatively and at each of the committees. hopefully, if the democrats mean what they say, we will have a bipartisan solution. we have no problem with president obama's general principles. the big difference is, we believe in a private-sector approach as opposed to a government approach. we have a food safety market going up -- mark up going on right now is like an excuse myself -- so i'm going to excuse myself. >> we agreed to build on what works and fix what is broken. we said that with serious health care reform, we want people who like their coverage to keep it. we want to protect americans from being forced into a government run health care plan. this is a major contrast with the democrats' plan.

the cbo tells us it will ship -- by and large, our employer base health-care system is a success. most employees are happy with the coverage they have received. my goal throughout this process, because of my role in the education and labor committee, has been to build upon the success of employer based coverage. there are common-sense ways to expand coverage and reduce the number of uninsured. for example, small business health plans make coverage more affordable. i want to thank roy blunt for the great job they have done. they will enjoy it. >> i am from florida. guess what? i have the highest number of people on medicare. every day, 8000 additional

people are going on medicare as they turn 65. medicare is having severe financial problems. the other day when the president spoke before the ama, that there were points where he was obviously not very well received. let me tell you, the doctors in my district and districts around america are not -- they are in forming their patients. both medicare and non medicare patients on what the democrats are proposing. one of the reasons why i am very excited about the plan, i also have a large number of people who are 55 to 64 who moved to florida in many districts in this are to have health problems. this offers them availability and affordability. that way, they do not have to

wait until they're 65 to get medicare. there are additional fixes in the bill that will increase funding and availability of federally qualified health centers which are great resources in the majority of districts that offer a very low- cost health care insurance. it is part of the solution. doctors are warning their patients about what is going to happen because they see that day obama plan is not going to work for the patient. in this bill, we protect the doctor patient relationship which is so important to people of all ages. >> as a heart surgeon with over 20 years of experience, having been involved in heart transplants and those types of things, i have seen the sickest of the sec in america.

i have dealt right at the heart of the problem where we deal with the doctor patient relationship. that is where the primary cost driver is. at the intersection of that relationship, there is a secondary costs. i like what we have done. my goal in this was to insure that all americans have the highest quality access to a doctor. our plan will do that. we will also look at the insurance markets and make some substantive reforms greeting a wide range of choices that will open things up for americans and create different options for different families, small businesses, and so forth. we have taken a comprehensive look at this. if you do not focus on the doctor patient relationship, the behavior of the doctor and the behavior of the patient, and where that intersection occurs or where it does not occur and

there is a lack of relationship, that is where we are really driving the cost with utilization of care in the emergency rooms. i believe we have a very good plan that will have bipartisan support in to meet the principles outlined by president obama and the principles we have outlined as a solutions group. i'm optimistic that we can move forward in a bipartisan way to have a health care plan that all americans are proud of. i want to thank the leader, the whip, and our ranking members. it has been a good effort. it has been the beginning of a substantive debate for health care. >> questions? >> would you guys think of the plan to have the government fund community organizations? does it have national significance to go out and do

well this and prevention monitoring? >> anytime our friends are talking about community organizations, we usually think acorn. they do, too. we're for community health centers. we are for everybody having access to a primary-care physician. we are not for empowering a lot of activists on the other side to go out and ask people how they're feeling. that will not solve any problems. it is not too hard these days to find a bill that has something to enhance the finances of community organizations i think everybody has begun to see through that for what it is. >> your plan does not have a lot of numbers in it. how're you going to pay for it?

how many uninsured you estimate -- >> we believe we can come up with a plan where every person has access to insurance. we're going to have no mandate. we're going to try to think of ways to encourage the 28 year- old guy who thinks he is invincible to get into the health-care system. a lot of the uninsured fit that. a lot people simply do not have access to coverage today. we want to guarantee that they have access to coverage and access that they can afford. affordability is a hard to define terms. they may be different things. we want this to be as affordable as possible. we will not have coverage paid for by taxpayers for people at

500%. we will not have coverage where the taxpayers pay for families that make over $50,000. that is not part of our plan. we might start by looking at the numbers and personages we allow for medicare and figure out how you dial those up or down to get at a number that the american people will benefit from by having more people in the health-care system. fewer people at the emergency room. fewer people who do not have a doctor patient relationship that keeps them well. the relationship that charles was talking about. many of our doctors on the solutions group, we think access to care is important. >> i wanted to mention, as you know, the majority party is

first in line for scoring their legislation. we are at the end of that line. those at the front of the line, we have not actually heard all other numbers. i think it is important to read a bill that has a common-sense approach. >> are you going to raise taxes to pay for it? [inaudible] >> if i could just finish, we're not going to have a bill that is larger than the gdp of most countries, which is what we're beginning to see rollout. as we move forward and actually have legislative language that we can get the scores back, we will be making those public. >> [inaudible] something that could be identified as a tax, that any health care to go i think is

important that we identify the right policies. it is important that we have a debate where we do not follow the stimulus model. it is not so much about us for the committees, but to the american people have a voice in something as important as health care? in stimulus, we're talking about money. money is important, but we're talking about people's health here. i think we can get a lot of support for what we're doing. a lot of people can get behind we're doing. we're going to have to have a bill that is paid for. that is going to depend on what scores come back. until we get those, it is going to be very different. our colleagues do not have a score on any of their bills. as a set in the front of the line -- as i said, there at the front of the line.

there is an american vision for health care reform, one we believe will get a lot of support. >> did you have a ballpark of how many people? or how it will be paid for? >> we do have ideas. one section of our bill says that if you are a dependent and under the age of 25, if you can stay on your parents' health insurance, that covers 7 million people in america. those are the kind of reforms that we really want to have a chance to talk about. we think it can be done. we think it will be a bipartisan provision that people get behind. >> midwesterners in this debate are thinking actively on both sides. think about that, and if you do not get your way -- >> i intend to reach out to senator conrad and others that have talked about it.

where we live, the idea of co- ops is not an unusual idea. i like to see what they're thinking about there. it depends on how -- whether they would be reasonable competitor or not. remember, there will be people saying that there will not be enough competitors. they said the same thing with prescription drugs. the day that the program started, there are too many competitors and people will not be able to choose. no one underestimates the marketplace dynamics. you do not want to underestimate the kinds of things mr. camp just mentioned. if you expand family coverage to people who are out of school and have not yet found a job, it includes insurance to keep them on family coverage. if you made it more likely that people who could have insurance at work sign up for it, that is 10 million.

suddenly, you're taking big chunks of numbers out of the government's responsibility and putting them back where individuals can be responsible for their own health care. the other thing you do not want to overlook is efficiencies in the system. there are probably on score will, but if the democrats can get those horrible, there is a 90 savings and the system. -- there is information technology savings in the system. we're for transparency. all those things will help save money, whether the majority can convince the cbo to score those are not, and it is something we will be interested in seeing. we'll have a significantly lower price tag. there are 45 different places to go. efficiencies -- there are four or five different places to go. they're not talked about the extent that i think they should be talked about. >> [inaudible]

>> is certainly not part of our plan. i cannot tell you if it is part of the democrats' plan and not. mr. obama said he would never go there. apparently, he is there now. mr. rangel said it would never be part of their plan, and now it may be. i do not think it is necessary to tax that benefit. i think is helpful to give employees more input as to how that benefit is used. that one thing helps create a more competitive marketplace. we have a marketplace now, but it is not the kind of competitive marketplace that really improves cost. 61% of the american people under 65 get their insurance from work. their employer is only talking to a couple of people about whether or not you continue with them or go to somebody else on an annual or triannual basis. they're only talking to a couple

of people. i can see a much larger marketplace than that. it makes people who offer policy at work want to be more competitive with the policy that is offered at work. if you're a big entrance company, and you're offering a policy through general electric or anybody else, you will want people to stay with that policy. the competitive dynamic is substantially different than it is today. competition, savings and the system itself, new technologies, and you can bear -- new transparencies are all part of keeping costs down. there are more ways to get people in the current system that are not there now, by making things like having to opt out of your insurance at work rather than having to opt 10. that would be the kinds of things we're looking at. we will bring you a bill that costs far less than the democrats and will provide better results for the american

people. thank you all. >> now white house chief of staff rahm emanuel on health care education issues. he spoke to the democratic leadership council for 20 minutes. >> a good morning, everyone. if you could take your seats, we are extraordinarily fortunate to have rahm emanuel as a special surprise guest to kick off things today. every morning, the entire united states government snaps to

attention to get its marching orders from this man. we're privileged to do the same. rahm has always been a force of nature, but he is a man of action who believes in the power of ideas. he gave up a job he loved in congress to run the executive branch, because running things and getting things done is what rahm emanuel lives to do. every day, from the time he hits the pool at 5:00 a.m. to as last round of phone calls at night, he is fighting for the ideas we care about to make health care reform happen, to create a new energy economy, to give every american the chance to -- to get the skills they need and finish college. he keeps a copy of our book "the plan" at his desk. those of us that had the chance to work with them over the years always knew what he was capable of doing. it is wonderful to see the sheer

force of his personality sweep this town off its feet. i am glad washington has finally learned to do what rahm wants. i consider myself lucky to be doing it the longest period is a pleasure to introduce a man of ideas, the architect of the president's arm, and was the greatest champions the democratic cause has ever had. leeson gentleman, rahm emanuel. -- ladies and gentlemen, rahm emanuel. [applause] >> i appreciate that, bruce. speaking of being busy, i have to be back at the white house as we start our briefings in the morning on intelligence and economics. those to do not go to gather all the time. that is a joke, you guys can laugh at 9:00 a.m. in the morning. well, you guys are serious.

i will do one point of overview. then i will talk about two subjects, education and health care. one topic is dominant in the news, the other one is not dominant lly in the news. it is being led by the administration and by arne duncan, top to bottom. is it me, am i to closo close? exactly what the middle child like me with love to see happen. if you have not seen the president's interviews he did yesterday with "the wall street journal"