you get back in the arena and get to work. i am so grateful to have been -- for the sovereignty to serve and it is fun to be back in the arena. -- for the opportunity to serve and it is fun to be back in the arena. host: we appreciate your time. senator mccain, thank you. when we come back, linda douglass will be joining us from the white house. and in our next half hour, bob schieffer. "washington journal" continues on this tuesday morning. >> the u.s. house comes and for general speeches. morning our is the 10:30 a.m. eastern and legislative business at noon. several agendas -- several business bills on the agenda today. they're also expected to debate the 2010 defense authorization bill. live house coverage is here on c-span. on c-span2 president obama

walley news conference at 12:30 p.m. eastern at the rose garden -- will hold a news conference at 12:30 p.m. eastern at the rose garden. and health care legislation markup live on c-span3 beginning at 10:00 a.m. >> discover an unfamiliar sight of our nation's first president as rare live from george washington's mount vernon estate with historian and author john ferling. that is sunday, july 5, live on in death on c-span2's "book tv ." host: we want to get your phone calls and just to -- and just a moment linda douglass.

democrats:(202) 737-0002 republicans:(202) 737-0001 independents: (202) 628-0205 the president will be addressing the health care issue in a news conference that will be taking place at 12:30 p.m. eastern time. joining us from the briefing room of the white house is linda douglass. good morning and thanks for being with us. guest: good morning. host: the overall question seems to be, who is going to pay for this and how? guest: the president has put forward a proposal for $950 billion which will make it possible for people to have more affordable health care. right now, the rising cost of health care is absolutely crushing families and businesses and government, state government, federal government'. there will be an initial installment.

no president has already laid out six and a billion dollars in federal health care -- $600 billion in federal health-care spending as well as additional revenues that will be designed to provide an opportunity for health care for all americans that will begin to emphasize quality and care, your relationship with your doctor, as opposed to simply quantity of )sometimes even mindlessly done without any regard for what is best for the whole patient. this is a small, initial investment to improve health care for all americans, make more affordable options available for americans, make it possible for americans who could not get health care at all now to finally get health care for themselves and their families. when you see ceos scoring because at $1 trillion or above, do those numbers correlated with your thinking and seeing in the administration? guest: there will be preliminary

pieces of legislation that are emerging from various congressional committees that are working very hard to write legislation that will bring down costs and provide affordable options. there are preliminary estimates, and as i said, there will be some preliminary, up-front costs, but right now, we are spending one out of every six of our dollars on health care. in 30 years, one-third of our economic output will be tied up in the health care system. that is simply unsustainable. there is tremendous waste. there is a system of perverse incentives that do not reward quality of care in this country. we have to bring the rising cost under control. let me give you an example. and right now, if you are working and -- american up with healthcare from your office, what you realize is that your wages have stayed flat, while the rising cost of health care has inspired your employer to give you payment in health care

benefits read and money in your pocket for your family. an increasing percentage of your compensation as a vote -- as a worker is coming in health care benefits rather than wages. this is one of the reasons wages are staying flat. it is one of the reasons that employers are not able to expand their businesses and hire more workers. this is unsustainable host: can you explain the white house view on a single payer system and whether you think that congress, in particular max baucus on the senate finance committee, will take up this issue? guest: the president has said he wants to build health reform on our existing employer based system. the system has worked very well in this country. this is the kind of reform that says to you with the person as -- with insurance, you can keep what you have if you like. but we want to build on the current system. folks who want a single payer plan really want the same thing

that we are seeking in health reform. they want more affordable options. they want to make it possible for people who cannot get any health care to get affordable health care. we have the same goals, adjusted for ways of achieving them. host: will health care benefits be a taxable benefit for americans? guest: that is certainly under discussion in one of the committees. the president has said all along that he is skeptical of any plan that would tax the health care benefits that you get from your work because he wants to build a health reform upon the existing, employer-based system. they call it the tax exclusion, that is, not taxing health care benefits. that is an important part of that -- that employer-based system. he prefers a proposal that would repeat -- that would give a return of itemized deductions for the wealthiest americans. he thinks this is a very id -- a good idea and has spoken to

members of congress about it many times. this is the idea that the president prefers. host: steve is on the phone from robert p., and mexico -- albuquerque, new mexico. caller: you guys said so many things are would like to question, but -- i get the feeling that the administration is trying to create an insurance plan for the 50 million -- and i believe that number is to be greatly inflated -- at the cost of the to under 50 million of us that have insurance paren. i think as a result of your programs, the insurance costs will go up to employers and their employees. therefore, what we have down the road will not be as good and will cost us more. you say this that and the other

thing, he has told us an awful lot of things that he has planned since the campaign and into his presidency that are not the same as what he says. just to say that he is saying something does not mean a lot to me. guest: first,ç the goal here is to reduce your costs. i'm gathering from what you say you get your health insurance from your work. i'm releasing a report today that is going to show that for folks who get their health insurance at work, those rising costs are forcing you, the insured person, to pay more and more out of pocket. an average family now with health insurance, based on the report we are releasing today, is spending $4,000 out-of- pocket. your percentage of your premium is going up. your deductibles are going up. your copays are going up. the number of your services that you get through your office insurance is going down. the cost of health care is making it harder and harder to -- for families that have health

insurance to afford health care. certainly, small businesses are increasingly unable to provide health care. more than one-third of the uninsured work for small businesses. the insurance coverage that you get from small businesses is often not adequate. more than half of americans last year reported that they had to skip a doctors appointment or cut down on medications that they were taking because they could not afford it. you're absolutely right, one of the goals in the president's plan is to provide health insurance, or access to health insurance and affordable choices for people who buy a turnabout but, for example, have lost their jobs and lost their insurance. perhaps they have a pre-existing condition. maybe their child has asthma and the insurance committee will not cover them. it worked for a small business and the employer has 10 employees they cannot afford. definitely, we want to bring everybody into the system. that will lower costs and young, healthy people will be in the

system, too. the goal is to lower your costs and the cost for all americans. host: linda debose is from the white house office for a care reform. there is a tweed saying, ms. douglas, why does this radical plan have to be implemented during a recession? it will only add to inflationary pressures. guest: i would certainly quibble with the word "radical," but one of the reasons that we're doing this is because we are struggling in our countries. this is -- in our country. this is squeezing our businesses and making it difficult for them to compete globally and to compete with businesses that do not provide health insurance because they cannot afford those costs. they cannot hire more workers. one of the reasons we're having a difficult time digging out of this economic trouble that we are in right now is because there is the way, the burden of

these high health care costs on all businesses in this country. we pay twice as much for health care as any other country in the world. we do not necessarily have better outcomes, but we are spending a lot of money on health care. that is not good for businesses and certainly not -- very hard for families. we have got to free up this money so it can be devoted to wages and to growth, and certainly, for your tax dollars so that we can spend those dollars on creating new, green jobs, building our infrastructure, improving education -- all the board is that americans care about. host: jim is on the phone from redding, california. caller: in the debate on health care, the government's position is always, always going to pay for this? it seems to me, with all of the profits that exchange hands under the name of the health- care industry -- lobbyists,

lawyers, the advertising dollars -- if all of that money in the health-care industry was funneled into actual health care, you know, treating wounds and stuff, it seems to me there would be a big step toward paying for the actual health care instead of the profits of the health-care industry. guest: you have made a couple of very good points. clearly, one of the goals of health care reform is to get rid of the very high administrative costs. the insurance industry, by the way, is eager to shrink some of these costs themselves. they have made proposals to the white house, for example, taking that pile of forms that everybody has to fill out and shrinking it down to a single, uniform form. right now, there are -- something like 25 cents to 35

cents of every dollar spent goes to administrative costs. your doctor is spending an inordinate amount of time on the telephone making sure he can find the right code to describe the diagnosis he is giving use of you can get reimbursement. there is a tremendous procuracy that has to be tackled here. your ups -- bureaucracy that has to be tackled year. you're absolutely right, those things will definitely be part of a streamlining the way that health reform payments are process. you mentioned prevention. this is a crucial part of health reform. preventing people from getting sick in the first place. 75% of the money that we spend it on health care in this country spent on, and diseases, many of which could have been prevented, such as diabetes and heart disease, just with a regular checkups and healthier living. you're absolutely right, these are the kinds of steps that will begin to lower costs for all americans. host: thomas on the line from

connecticut. caller: there is a current economic paradigm giving people a% of what a product offers for 20 percent -- 80% of what a product offers for 20% of the costs. of the 50 million, there are about 10 million who are making over $72,000 per year, so, for the 40 million people that need it, we could offer a program that gives them 80% of what they need for 20% of the cost. we do that by allowing people to have programs where they cannot -- where the doctors are not allowed to use elaborate, off- the-wall medical modalities or treatments. you can do this also by allowing

people like myself -- my banking is controlled by the state of north carolina. why can't we open uppe the stats like connecticut to a lawsuit by a medical programs from any state? host: there are a lot of ideas out there that are certainly being considered by the congress as the various committees are writing -- right in healthcare reform legislation. -- committees are rising health care reform legislation. the important thing is to realize that there is definitely some ways to the system. there definitely has to be an effort to bring everybody into the system. they're definitely have to be after it's taken toward providing more prevention -- efforts taken toward providing more prevention for chronic illnesses. all of these things are being considered right now. i do not know if the specific scenario that you laid out willises are going to be

considered. but there is no question that the system has to be more equitable. it has to bring down costard it has to ensure that people who are not getting access -- bring down costs. it has to ensure that people are not getting access to the system received that. host: here is a tweed from joe. guest: there are many proposals out there. we certainly are looking at the hospital industry and the hospital industry is looking at itself to see how it can be more efficient to, for example, cut down villa america -- readmission rates. something like 100,000 americans are injured every year in medical errors that did not have to take place. hospitals are well aware that they want to bring down the rate of readmission some that are often caused by things that happen in the hospital, such as infections, that could be prevented. hospitals are taking steps themselves and will be a very important part of health reform

to make sure that the care that you get at the hospital is good care, quality care, and makes sense. you know, treat all patients. not aspirin by bede, but treatable patient. from procedures beginning and hospital, to aftercare. there are many reform ideas. one of the ideas for doctors making decisions is to give doctors the tools to make the right decision about the right kind of treatment that the earlier caller was talking about, you know, why does a doctor doing the don teague of treatment that may not be the best treatment -- why does a doctor do a modality of treatment that may not be best for the treatment? we want to do what is the best quality of care for the patient. host: in our final minute, can you walk us through what you think the time line will be for this legislation? guest: the president has asked

ofe congress, to pass its bill, that is, the house bill and the senate bill by august recess, that is when congress goes on its august break. that would be at the end of july or the very beginning of august. they will come back in september and they will work to put the components of the two pieces of legislation from the separate house is to get there. he has asked congress to put a bill on his desk in october. this cannot wait. this is an urgent problem. it is essential that we act now for families, businesses, for the economy, for the governments of states and the federal government. it is essential this happen now and he is expecting to sign a bill in october. host: linda douglass, from the white house office of health care reform, thanks very much. we appreciate your time. guest: host: thank: we want to continue on the topic -- guest:

thank you. host: we have a tweed that says that when one could not pay for it, one used to just die. we have a call from maryland. good morning. caller: and sews or a did not get a chance to speak with linda douglass. i am in diabetic and i have kidney problems. i was beginning to have liver problems and eye problems, all kinds of problems. diabetes is a most monstrous of diseases. i wrote a letter and sent it to michelle and barack obama on march 17 and i have not heard anything of to now, nearly the end of june. and i know kathleen sebelius, but she was just appointed about a month and a half ago.

i'm so glad that you had linda douglass on because i wanted her to go and look for my letter. how can i get her direct number or e-mail or fax number? host: you can call the white house. by the way, you can go to whitehouse.gov. we're talking about the white house health-care plan and ronald is joining us from raleigh, north carolina. caller: good morning, first, let me sarah on vacation and i do not want everyone to -- let me say i am on vacation and i do not want everyone to think that federal employees are the only ones on the phone. my question is, what does what does the government think it has the right to pay for health care

when they cannot even do it for their own federal employees? every year for the past 10 years or more, federal employees insurance costs, including copays and premiums, have gone up by 10% or more. secondly, if the american public thinks that the federal government can run a federal health system, just look at our military health care. when the government can show the public that it can take care of its own employees' health care and cost and its own military health-care in a more efficient manner, then i think they can propose a before the public to buy. host: thanks for the call. two things that we want to point out from this piece about iran this morning, first, mr. mousavi did not appear in public this morning, but he did publish

a statement saying "the country belongs to you. protesting lies is your right. also -- is your right." also, iranian officials appeared eager to flex the military muscle. the air force the start of a low altitude bombing exercise over the persian gulf and the sea of ahman. -- iman. next is a call from lee in alabama. good morning. caller: yes, let me read something briefly out of one of the local newspapers, the arab tribune of in marshall county. in was onç the front page. these are by weekly newspapers. it says, national health care network has singled out marshal

medical centers, north and south, for being the top 1% of hospitals nationwide. these are great hospitals up here. but my point is, i wish i surely could have gone in a discussion with them. we pay blue cross blue shield insurance, and we have the best. witches, we do not pay anything up front. -- which is, we do not pay anything of fraud. it is $304.12 per month, that is $3,649 per year. and the employer pays $5,000, or 6000. the total package cost is $9,649.

this thing has just come out from the senate and house where they have come up with an estimate and said, based on 36 million people, which i think one-third of those are illegal -- but at any rate, that would give you 67,000 people about it would cover. that would average $70,000 per person. how in god's name is that going to beat the public insurance -- the private insurance? host: i appreciate the call. health care and the situation in north korea, iran, some of the questions we will be asking bob schieffer.

by the way, you can send him a treaweet if you like. sylvia is on the phone from broken arrow, okla.. good morning. caller: good morning, how are you? host: fine, thank you. caller: i'm so happy to be eligible to talk about what is going on in our world today and all around the globe. my question is, how is this health care plan going to affect medicare and medicare patients -- medicare and medicaid patients are around the world, some who cannot even afford to pay the code pay -- the co pay like at wal-mart, which is around $4? and at walgreen's, it is maybe $1.10.

i heard the report about maybe getting some of his back. how is this going to help? where is medicare going to fall at? are they going to get rid of medicare, or some of things that you cannot fix, like pick your own doctor? host: the open washington *" a column says the honeymoon is over. the insurance industry claims that they cannot survive if they compete with a public auction. if they do such a poor job, they should go. carolyn is on the line, republican line. caller: i am in the hospital right now for breathing

problems. i had a very bad attack with my lungs and i have been here since saturday. sinchost: how are you feeling? caller: not very good right now. my husband is a disabled veteran, 100% disabled and i have aarp insurance. it is not born to be enough to cover this. host: how long do you think you will be in the hospital? caller: lord, i do not know. i am not well enough to go home yet. host: how old are you? caller: i am 59. host: has thisç been a repeated problem? caller: no, this is the first time i have had to go to the hospital. host: and you are covered? caller: through the department

of defense, but it is not enough. host: what do you think? caller: i do not know what to do. i cannot work. my husband cannot work. we get the checks for free. he pays for medicare and i pay for aarp. we are still not making it with our health care. host: you are paying that per month? a caller: >> yes, vermont -- per month. i'm hoping people can use of it because we are veterans. we have a lot of young boys coming back that our veterans and their families are going to be in the same shape that mine is in and they are young. something has got to change. host: thank you, carolyn. we want to update you with the

situation with the house speaker because one of the developments, in case you missed it, the house of commons has elected a new speaker. his name is john bercow. he is 46 years old and succeeds michael martin, the first speaker to be forced from office in more than 300 years. that cut -- about amid claims that he had curved to -- that he had failed to curb the abuse of the expense system. irina is next from jacksonville, florida. caller: hello, thank you for c- span. host: certainly. caller: i am a medical professional and also in breast cancer survivor and the mother of an autistic boy. i have seen problems from both sides in many ways. and the mammoth in the room that no one t