you for questions about where we go from here. as you acknowledged in your opening statement and your written statement, the problems of healthcare.gov were far greater than what you anticipated before october 1. we are well aware of the administration's efforts to fix the problems. i was wondering if you can tell me as we sit here to a what problems do you see with the federal website and what steps has the -- is the it ministration taking to remedy that? >> thank you. we continue to address specific wayes with respect to the the site is functioning, and that effort has not flagged at all. it is ongoing. anye continue to identify aspects of the way the system is

not performing as properly as it should, whether those be designed an architecture or software types of problems where we are not getting direct result, we continue to address a lot of those issues. the major one we are dealing with now i would say in terms of big picture has to do with the financial management, making sure that plans are getting paid, and we are using a mitigating process right now because we do not have full functionality for that process. >> we heard the administration was focusing first on getting nrolled,nd rolled -- e and then worrying about the back and. -- end. what are you doing to remedy that? weekyments will go up next for the first time, for the tax credits, but we are using a

process where they are providing us with the data from the issuers based on their records as opposed to being able to use the records that are generated by the ffm. that automated process will be going into place in the next month. is the administration working with the insurers to make that happen? >> absolutely. we have had tremendous responsiveness from insurers and they have said they are pleased with the way the process is going. it is not ideal, but it is working. >> i would be a good follow-up, to bring in insurers, and see if that is working. we have heard about the number of people who have signed up both on the exchanges and in states like mine that have state exchanges and healthcare.gov. what is your opinion about the number of people who are signed up and the age groups? >> there is no question we got

up to a slow start. inhad tremendous response december, and we are continuing to see good numbers as we go into january. i think in terms of the total, if we are able to maintain the pace we are at now and if we see ofther uptick toward the end march, as everyone expects, because that is the deadline, we have three months ago, so we are encouraged by the enrollments we are seeing. there's tremendous demand for this product. we saw that from the beginning. >> i will say because of the glitches with the website in the been days, enrollment has lower than the administration projected, correct? >> attitude. we are encouraged by the response we have gotten from

younger people. the percentage we reported of younger people this week is actually comparable to the percent of that age group in the general population. that is looking good. can briefly tell me what the administration is doing to bump those numbers back up between now and the end of march, but for the general population and also for the younger enrollees? >> absolutely. you will see a step up media campaign. obviously, we as well as the health insurance companies, helped pack at debating getting because it was not working well, but now it is, so we will see a significant increase. it will be targeted at the younger audience. we have magic johnson's ad is coming out now. we will be advertising during olympics. we will advertise through social media as well ways that are

targeted toward that younger group. >> thank you very much. >> you might want to say something to jimmy kimmel about this because he is not saying good things about this. >> also the super bowl. >> there you go. i recognize dr. burgess for five minutes >. you said consumers will be able to go online, go into this determination of what subsidies they are eligible for, he able to look at the plants where they live. they will be able to see the premium that of subsidies they would have to pay, and they will be able to choose a plan and get enrolled in coverage giving october 1. you recall that? >> very well. >> would you like to revise that

answer? wrong, but it was was what i believe and what i understood. they start what i have been told -- i would like to answer your question, if you would permit me. i knew i was going to be asked a question when i came here on september 19 and that it was closed october 1, and i was careful to get a thorough briefing from people who were responsible for overseeing the build of the website, and the answer i gave you was exactly what our functionality i was told it would be on october 1. >> i have to tell you this. i simply do not understand why no one has been held accountable for an error that egregious. if i were you, i would fire someone under me and it would have happened in october. if i were the second terry, i would've fired you and i would've happened in october. if i were the president, i would be so mortified and embarrassed

at what has been the disaster at my signature piece of legislation signed into law, i would fire the whole lot of you. youthat was that tact -- have to understand why we -- why should we believe you now when nothing you said over the past year, year and a half has been accurate? >> because the site is working, congressman. >> i would submit to you it has not been working, because it has not been built on the back end. a result are coming as of a paper process, being entered by hand. this thing is a disaster. providers are going to be the one to take it on the chin, because we are obligated to see those patients when they show up. verify benefits at 3:00 in the morning. the secretary says she will not

be responsible for paying those bills. i ask you, doctors and hospitals around this hunt tree -- this country, who is responsible for paying these bills? [indiscernible] >> the insurance company that is enrolled a person responsible for paying those bills, and the payments of reductions will be flowing next week. they will begin next week. >> i would submit to you that website has not been built and that is a painfully slow process. i have been told numbers as low as 10% of those payments are going through. i would appreciate if you have additional information, you will make it available. i hope we have an opportunity to discuss that in future. it concerns me a lot. our providers are at risk from your mismanagement of this problem. there is something that is receiving a lot of attention, a concept of risk orders and adjustments. are you are aware of that?

>> yes. >> the risk car door revamped is corridor --isk will you seek a change in the language? omb with theer to spec to those issues. >> will you share with us the discussions very between you and omb on that? is there information you can make available to the committee? >> i will take that request back. >> it appears you will be needing and sending taxpayer dollars to be spending the risk corridors. can you tell us today that this risk adjustment will be done within the balances of the affordable care act and those amounts you are collecting from insurance companies and not come from the taxpayer? >> i do not have an answer. i understand it is an issue.

we are working with omb. i will working with you and understand it is an important issue you are entitled to know about. >> if you have a legal memorandum that has been prepared, will you share that with committee? >> that is not a decision i get to make, but i will take your request back. i have not seen a memorandum like that. >> you have not? >> i have not. >> this committee needs that memo and i need you to take that request back with you. we will have an opportunity to talk again, i believe. i yield back. >> i want you to give an opportunity to answer one of the questions. have those parts of the payment website been built? thehe automated process of website is being built, and payments will be going out. >> do you anticipate a date when it will be built? >> i cannot anticipate that. >> mr. chairman, could he

supplement that when we find that out? >> yes, we need to know that. >> good morning. the headline back home in florida this week was florida enrollment surges under health .gov. during october and november, we only had 18,000 floridians sign up. in december, we had 100 40,000 floridians sign up for coverage. florida continues to lead the nation in an roman amongst the three dozen states that are using the federal marketplace. this is good news. on monday, in tempe, the mayor of tampa -- in cap, the mayor had a great announcement, and this is something that other members can use and work on with their elected officials. all the parts and recreation

centers in cap would be available to host obligate or's -- or a sisters. i think this is a very creative move. secretary sebelius aid him a pat on the back. we have got to make it easier for people to set up, and one of the things that is a good problem to have, and we have such a competitive market base. -- we have over 100 plants that people can figure out what is asked for them. that can be wanting for folks if they just go on -- there are people that can go on the site and figure it out and analyze it and determine why it works best for them. there are many people across the country that need to sit down and work with a real person and sort through those options, understand what the tax credits due in florida. 2/3 of those eligible for

coverage will be eligible for the tax credit. already over 80% of the people that signed up have used those tax credits. what can we do to get more help out on the ground to help people understand the options? >> thank you. it is very important as you say fromt some port -- support state and local officials, from congressional officers, to help get the word out, to direct people, to assist them. lpere is a fine local he section of the site where people can get a list -- >> if people do not have a computer and do not know about that, how are you going to reach them? >> for the people who do not have a computer, the effort is to bring them in to a location where a navigator is working or

ssisters are available. the more assistance we can get from people in the community the who know these folks rather than just coming from the federal government is a big help. >> our community help centers have been active. it is a community-wide effort. i appreciated it that you said, talking about the millions of folks who have signed up, these are not just numbers, but real people. one of the biggest obstacles right now for many of our neighbors to realize health care coverage is what republican governors and state legislators have done in blocking the medicaid expansion. in florida we have almost one million floridians who are being blocked to the access to the doctors office because they will

not accept the $50 billion available to the state of florida over the next 10 years. that is our tax money. we want that tax money back to work for our neighbors, to help our families get to the doctors's offices, create jobs. esther chairman, i think we need an oversight hearing on this dates that have locked medicaid expansion and what that is going to do to the health care marketplace. tos' plan continue to work with states on this issue? >> we encourage every state to take up the medicaid expansion. it is a great deal for the state and that people in the state, for providers in the state who all see a decrease in uncompensated care, a tax that falls on all us. and we have been working as

creatively as we can with different states to come up with you for ways of doing this. some states have different approaches that we have been working with on. he continued to work with all the states and hope more will pick up the expansion. >> thank you very much. >> the gentleman yields back. mr. chairman. you just said that your testimony to mr. burgess on september 19 was incorrect and you had based it on set reports, am i correct? >> i said it turned out being wrong. >> if you are basing your testimony today on staff reports, how do we know that this is correct? >> i think there has been an intense focus since october -- >> have you changed your process of dude... -- of due diligence? >> we are receiving more and

more thorough greetings -- briefings -- >> how do you know that? --automatically, i have ultimately, i have to rely on the people who work under me. >> you did not fire them? >> we were having regular and detailed briefings -- >> ok. >> we also brought in a general contractor -- >> do you want to quantify those pre-things for us -- why don't you let us know what briefings you're having. i want to ask you one thing. you said the website is fixed. and you define "fixed"? >> it is fixed in the sense we are no longer having problems that we had in the beginning -- >> it is not 100% operational. it is a qualified fix? >> that is true.

is an amoeba and that will change. let me move on. in had three promises obamacare. it was going to save families $2500 a year him and the second two promises, one, if you like your pride you can keep it, and if you liked your dr. you can keep it. let me ask you this -- since the president promised the average family would reap a premium decrease of $2400 a year under the law, has that happened? >> i am not sure what the president said. >> yes, that is. >> many people are able to obtain that are covered for lower-cost -- , that is not what the president said. >> the law permitted insurance companies to maintain

grandfather plans in effect. that was their decision. whether to continue those plans -- >> no, sir, that was not the promise. he promised enforcement relief so these people could get -- not was about to say -- all americans were able to keep the plants that the decisions the industry had made. we announced a conditional policy that enabled more of the plans -- >> how long will that transitional process last -- forever? >> for a year. >> a lot of those people could not keep their plants, and let me tell you about an emily from tennessee. emily lives in polaski. she has coverage because emily has lupus. guess what -- under obamacare, her plan was canceled. emily does not have health insurance right now. times having a tough getting it under obamacare.

i am having her in for my guest as the state of the union. maybe you can help emily work this out to cause your promises that were made by you and this administration have not been kept, and then you want to give us a qualified definition of "fixed," and you are still depending on your staff. so you all are just running in circles, and you cannot give us definitive answers. let me ask you this fax aily in polaski, she had doctor she lacked. is she going to be able to keep that dr. even though she has no insurance because of obamacare, her insurance was canceled, and she's being treated for lupus and works 40 hours a week? usif you will get information, it emily is willing to talk to cms, to understand what her options are

-- >> i would appreciate that -- >> we will be happy to do that. >> she is a classic victim where the government says all these plans that work for you, we are not going to let you keep them because we think we know better. how you emily can handle your lupus. that is what you have done to the american people and when you come in here, you give us misinformation and then when we ask you a question, you cannot be specific. i agree with dr. burgess. you ought to be fired. >> the gentlelady's time has expired. >> thank you. hen, there are a lot of things in the affordable care act, but many of the provisions are about consumer protections to ensure that americans have a diverse choice of health care

providers. thereh many new laws, are wrinkles in the implementation and disagreement between did the eight about rational intent. i want to ask you about one of those with respect to the aca. somee been hearing from providers, and my colleagues have been hearing same concerns, about the interpretation of the provider nondiscrimination provision in section 2706 of the public health service act. what these providers are telling me is that your agency's sub regulatory titans in their view, in the view of many legislators, is inconsistent with the statute and legislative intent. and the concern is this, that the guidance could lead to discrimination against some providers by health insurers, which this provision is designed

to prevent. are you aware of these concerns. my question, what are your plans to address them to ensure that the statute is implemented as intended? yes, i am aware of those concerns. i have had meetings with a number of provider groups who have expressed a concern that you raised. been a wildhas since we looked at that issue. what i would ask is that we could have folks talk to you wind your staff and move forward to understanding what the concerns are and seeing whether there something we can do to clarify the guidance so we make sure there is not discrimination. >> that would be helpful, and there may he collects on the other side who are hearing these concerns. i would welcome the opportunity to follow-up up with your agency and try to work this out to make

sure we stay on that intent that there not be discrimination. thank you. a couple of things. one of my concerns from the very beginning is we got to get health care costs down. whether it is individual base, the cost is going up a lot faster than wages. we are not going to have an affordable system. what we're learning now is medicare spending is growing slower than the inflation rate. this is recently, and that is a welcome development. % perogram only spent .7 beneficiary in 2012 versus 2012. an overall global health care spending, the rate of increase is slow. in 2000 12, less than half the growth rate a year ago. two questions -- one, do you

attribute any of this to the law, and, number two, what are the implications for the deficit period?0-, 20-year >> there are a number of provisions that are attacking the health care costs. that is an issue that we need to continue to work on, and i think the law gives us tools to continue to do that. i look forward to using our process of certifying a qualified health plan going forward. we were quite liberal and took them all the first year, to get the market up and running, but going forward we can at least look at what we can do to encourage health insurance companies to work to keep costs down. and certainly, we know that health expense is a huge part of the american economy and what

the federal government spends. as we are able to attack that problem, it will have a great positive impact on spending and the deficit going forward. i recognize dr. green five minutes. >> i asked you the last time whether you have concerns whether young people would not sign up for obamacare and would cause an increase in cost to the rest of the risk pool in the following years. you responded that your research shows that most people want health care, and the barrier has been the costs, and that you were looking forward to people, including young people, a rolling in coverage. figure thatest shows young people are enrolling

at a much lower rates, are you worried that creating men's will increase -- that premiums will increase next her, that there are other concerns such as maybe these overwhelming number of mandates with which we knew 10 years ago were driving up the cost of health care insurance in the individual states, probably all 50 states, including georgia. we knew these age-baiting roles that were put in obamacare 1 maximuman save 5- premium increase for older people are compared to younger is now 3-1. community ratings -- these things are there, and i am concerned. do you continue to be concerned about that? >> we want to do everything we can to encourage all americans and in particular young americans to get health care. it is important to keep in mind

that the risk pool is not just a risk pool and the marketplaces. risk full is in the entire market. youngou have 3 million people who have been able to get health coverage on their parents' plans, those are not necessarily on the marketplace, but those are 3 million young people who now have insurance and are now part of the risk full. dy bynt to a stu the kaiser foundation it says the reduction of the people am a young people who come into the risk pool is -- will have an impact on health care premiums that is pretty modest. >> that is anecdotal. i understand. let me move to my next question. i have concern. i have heard that navigators are actually going door to door. this came up last time, too. you said that navigators would not be going door to door. they are. if you recall, during that same

hearing, you told us, this subcommittee, that you would be issuing instructions to navigators that they should not be going door to door. did you issue these instructions? >> yes, we have, and if you are stances where they are going to door, we want to hear about them. >> thank you. we are aware. i want to put up a video clip right now ofwe to an average enrollment for the aforrable care act. >> she's a navigator hired by taxpayer dollars to help people enroll in one of the new health insurance plans. her grant came through the nonprofit southern united neighborhoods in new orleans. she canvases neighborhoods --

good.y, that's you say to that? >> i have not seen that before. thank you for calling it to our attention. my dad told me one time when i college and my grades came in they weren't so good, thei said dad, i'm doing best i can. job, you knowig that, we know that. board.k to the drawing you have to do better.

>> welcome back mr. cohen, and you again. i'd like to start off by getting something clarified for the record. this relates to ms. blackburn's questioning. recollection that what the president said was that actr the affordable care was implemented that insurance premiums, people would save a year. opposed to what they would have to whatnding, compared they would have been spending if it weren't for passage of the affordable care act. is that your rex length of what he said? >> that's my understanding, yes. >> not that people's insurance could cost $24 less. >> that's my understanding, correct. >> in fact, has has been alluded to earlier in the various costsoning, health care are rising at a much lower rate historically. so while the numbers may not be precise, there's evidence to wasest that the president actually correct in that insurance would have cost more

affordable't for the care act? >> i think there's no question about that, and i think it's also true that many americans seeing actual reductions in what they are paying over what they were paying. manyvery american, but americans are. >> right. let's talk about the enrollment history, because it gives me an boast about my state, kentucky, which is widely recognized as having had one of most successful rollouts of the affordable care act. currently the numbers are, we've had in the state of 4.4 million visitors to000 connect our website. enrolled, inhave either medicaid or private plans. 559,000 kentuckians have been screened to determine whether they were eligible for medicaid under private insurance and many of those have not yet selected their plan even they've been told that they qualify for private

insurance. of 1283 small businesses, as january 2, have gone and started theirocess to enroll employees as well. so we're talking about already 20% or moreed about of our entire uninsured halfation in just over the, well, this would have been exact half the enrollment period. way, 40% of those are under 35. so in terms of kentucky's think there's reason to be, as you said, optimistic that going forward we will have adequate numbers of young people in the risk pools, toowe shouldn't be concerned yet about that. kim weeks ago, there was in one of the major national media there was a chart that broke down the enrollments according to three categories of states. the 14 states and the district of columbia, which had medicaid and set up their own exchanges, states

that have expanded medicaid but federal exchange, and then states that had not expanded medicaid. do the math, it was pretty clear that at least maybe 75 mrs of all the enrollments, the enrollments,so were in those 14 states plus the district where there was concerted government support for the program. you to comment on that, and whether you're seeing enrollmentgree of seems to be correlated to the degree of support at the state the program.el for >> i think that's absolutely right, and it's true for many reasons. a great example where the governor has been a stalwart advocate for health reform, and for the kentucky marketplace and getting it going. that contributes to the success that those states have of developing their

marketplace and their i.t. systems. if the administration in the itte is solidly behind that, helps. it helps with outreach, it helps with sending out positive of hows to the community important this is and what a great benefit this is for people. so i think there's no question. >> we saw video there of navigators going door to door. there's another side of that as well. and i know i talked to some people for instance in florida handing outave been flyers discouraging people from signing up. thatyou seen much evidence there is a concerted effort to discourage people from exploring their options under the exchanges? >> i've heard some of that. i wouldn't be able to stay how extensive it is. it's very unfortunate that anybody would try to discourage people from taking advantage of an opportunity to care.alth >> last question, is there any effort in your organization to try and find out or get evidence as to whether that's happening or not? think that would be of interest to us.

>> i don't know that we're investigating that, i don't know. >> thank you. i yield back. five.ognize mr. olson for >> i thank the chair and welcome mr. cullen, i hope you had an enjoyable holiday season like i did with my family. you.ank >> my first question about the exchange user fee. fee,ou familiar with that sir? >> yes. >> that's the fee that's imposed providerss or the that have not chosen to, that have chosen to be in a federal care plan like my home state of texas. thatat required under law, fee? >> i think it's authorized by the law. and we set the fee. on insurance companies, based on premium that they get in the market. >> were priced that h.s.s. rules fee?ed that >> yes, we issued a rule that

implemented that. >> is it 3.5%? >> yes. the administration fully using that fee? do the plans and states have to cover some slack? >> i don't believe the amount of that fee will fully cover the cost of operating the federally marketplace. i don't think it's going to be enough to pay all of the costs marketplace.e >> so you are tapping the resources of the private sector and the states to pay the from this fee, correct? >> no, no. we're tapping resources from our budget. but the fee is the fee. >> and the fee is authored for year. do you expect to extend it next year? >> yes, i expect there will be a year.xt >> my second line of questions are about the navigators. froms you know that video my colleague mr. gingrich is pretty damning. he remembers back home in texas

that they were having cards going door to door. and you said, and this is a quote about the navigators, we issuing instructions to navigators that they should not be going door to door. quote. my question is, this is serious, have you issued those instructions? yes or no. >> yes. >> can we get a copy of those instructions? get a copy so we can see them? >> sure. i can go back and tell you how that.municated i know we have regular communications with the navigators and we put out that to them, that was something that they were not supposed to go door to door to people. they could drop off information, but they were not supposed to go enroll people. >> and you've heard stories from new york and florida in the "new times" that people have been coming out with these toigators what have you done address this and make sure fraud doesn't happen? because it's a big window of opportunity for people who want to do harm.

>> any situation we've learned about that involves misconduct a navigator, we have responded to. requiringing individuals that were involved and not, anded corrective action plans to any navigator organizations that, if we feel supervising their employees adequately. >> one final line of questions disaster fallout of obamacare, when the problems continue. delays and misinformation are happening today all over america. i gotten rolled in the exchange here, the d.c. well.ge, my staff as but when i called up last week, keep to make sure we could this doctor, a specialist. it took her 30 minutes to talk phone and she the got a new card there, read it proudly and they said we have no record of that.

so she didn't get the old card, and work with this agency to confirm that yes we could keep that doctor on our plan. my question is, given this disastrous rollout and the problems, have you ever been part of a conversation discussion about delaying the launch or putting a hold on it with all these problems? discussion, ever been part of that? >> no. okay. i yield back the balance of my time. thank you. >> mr. green, you're recognize forward five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. again, welcome back, mr. cohen. news shocked to see the report in new orleans, because in houston our navigators do not go out and go door to door. we do have nonprofits that are not federally funded who are encouraging i'm them to come into our district, to go out and let folks know they are this ability to do it. but the federal navigators we

have, and now they will come out someone's house, whether it be at their request or they need something, so i'm glad you're going to investigate that happening, because i want helpingrs actually people do the paperwork. the effort.ut as one who supported the act and continue that we need the law, i'd love our committee to be able to work it fix some of the flaws that we have discovered. but i'm pleased with ten rollment increases in the last few weeks. h.h.s. released some earlier this week and we know that nearly 2.2 million have signed for the private insurance plans through the federal and state marketplace as of december 28. 4 million more were signed up for medicaid, and let's not forget that 3 million adults under 26 are still being able to get insurance through their parents. enrollment estimates sound accurate to you?

>> oh, yes. they're as accurate as we can make them. as much as we would like and i know the administration, but i have a from our democratic staff on our committee that puts these enrollment inxt, the affordable care act exchange is ahead of the part d at a similar time in 2006. republicans then called part d a now they insist the affordable care act is a failure. more work to a lot do in the months ahead, but there is a doubt, there is no doubt that a lot of people are finding access to quality affordable health care, and i colleaguesublican will sit down and work on legislation that will fix some of the problems we have. nothing congress ever passes is perfect, and we know that. this.ularly with and instead of just throwing rotten apples, maybe they should look back on what happened in

2003 when we passed the prescription drug plan that i didn't vote for. but i was also helping my for it, and up encouraging people to do it even though i thought the law was in 2003. some of it has been fixed by the affordable care act, but we want to make sure those folks get it me.that's what amazes mr. cohen, based on past experience with implementing would you expect enrollment numbers to look like over the next few months? what're very encouraged by we saw in december. i think we're encouraged by the tremendous interest that there the plan. clearly americans are now very of health care.gov, as a result of what's happened months. last few and i think everyone expects move toward the, and have two and a half months left to the open

enrollment period and i think expects as we get towards the end of march when deadline we'll see another real uptick in the enrolling, ande if that happens i think we'll have some very good total enrollment numbers by the end of the period. >> well, we know that the seven timesange is as many people signed in december as did in october and november, partly because of the website, and a lot of them had concern because that website was down. event in houston in november and we had about 800 paper applications, and we had applications, we had paper applications both in spanish and english, but that's not the way we can get to the numbers we need. the website has to work. finally, can you talk about outreach plans the administration has in place to people ast as many possible learn about the signup for the new health coverage of thethe remainder enrollment period?

>> i think we'll be seeing media.cantly more paid i know there's a plan, as i mentioned, to advertise during eventsmpics and other that are particularly geared sportingunger people, events and those kinds of things. i know the social media pickinges are very much up and i think from what i'm seeing we're going to be very significant investment by the private health plans in asketing and advertising well. a number of them sort of held back because of the issues early with the website. but now that they see the enrollments are coming through, see significant investment on their part as well. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> i recognize mr. griffith for minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. cohen, thank you for being here. responses to ms. blackburn you indicated that many americans have better plans cost.ower do you recall indicating that to

her? >> yes. >> under oath? >> yes. many americans have better health coverage than what they had before and it's costing them less. think i mentioned at least one of them in my oral testimony. you actuallyid, mentioned a couple, one from my district, and i understand that. too, you would have acknowledge, under oath, that many americans have lesser a greater cost. isn't that true? >> no, that's not what i said. what i said was -- >> yes or no. i'm asking you a question, under oath. that many americans have lesser coverage under the care act at a greater cost than they had before, isn't that true? that. i don't know >> you don't know that. let me tell you i received an e-mail today from a constituent well,e who i know very his premiums in march are going his deductible is doubling. that's lesser coverage at a greater cost. so there's one. i will tell you that i have

received numerous communications from members of my district, people who live in my district, those lines. and yes, there are some winners. losers,e are also many and it shocks me that you cannot whenwledge that here today you're testifying under oath in front of this committee. there are losers under obamacare, aren't there? >> can i answer? >> it's a yes or no. losersw that there are under obamacare, do you not? >> if i'm not allowed to answer -- is either yes you know or no you don't know that there are losers. a yes or no, sir. >> would the gentleman yield? >> i will not yield. the witness is not being responsive. >> i think you immediate to define losers. payser is one who has to more for coverage than lesser, and i just gave him an example, acknowledge -- do you know of fib in the nudz that circumstance, sir? sure there is anybody in the united states under that

circumstance, yes. >> and do you acknowledge that as you read the reports on other people who have had successes under this, you've the mediareports in of people who are losers under obamacare, have you not? >> the problem that i have, that i don'tis know what the all of the options that might be available for that person. so it's difficult for me to answer without knowing the full situation of what might be to that person. i understand that there are people who had had coverage and received a notification from their insurance company that they were being put to a more,ent plans that costs absolutely, that's happened. >> and you have reason to believe that those people are lessermore and receiving coverage? >> bury don't know the details of what the plan is that they were in, what the details of the plan is that they were being offered and i don't know the details of what other plans to them thatlable might enable them to avoid that situation. it's a little bit more complex than you're presenting it to me. that's all. >> i would submit that it's more

complex on all these situations we have a 2,000 some pain bill that's very hard for aroundto get their arms and very hard for this administration apparently to operate and to run. that being said, let's talk about the shop exchanging for small businesses. that is another part of the plan that has been delayed for a year, is that correct? >> the online capability for delayed for a year, yes. >> and many of the other delays weeks or months. why was this program delayed for a year? everything that we needed to do to get the system working well for people in the individual market, we made a ofision that in terms allocation of resources we couldn't get the shop online time forlity built in this year. and so we are relying on the agents and brokers who historically have always way that small -- >> it was a complicated

situation that you had a hard aroundtting your arms and maybe if you sat down and learned all the aspects of it -- had to make a choice. >> i'm being sarcastic, i apologize. here's my problem. and this happens so often with this. the delay was announced the day thanksgiving, wasn't it? >> i believe you. remember, but i believe you. >> do you know if there were conversations before that day before thanksgiving how long in, advance was the decision made to delay the shop plan? >> i'm sure that there were conversations before it was announced. i wouldn't be able to tell you exactly when. novemberw that into there were conversations and then when a decision was made then it was announced. >> there's a great concern for a lot of us that a lot of these come, we've even made it in other hearings that these announcements come at that people won't pay attention to the fact that there's been another delay, the rollouture in of this program. do you agree that that's not an

appropriate way to run the operation and it really ought to be coming out when people can know what's going on instead of during the holiday time when nobody is paying attention? with you thatee it's very important that we put out accurate information so that people can understand what's program, yes. the now recognize mr. t for five minutes. for your testimony, mr. cohen, before this subcommittee. i believe we should have civil discourse with you, so i'll try to conduct myself accordingly. i get to my questions, i just wanted to share with the committee an obamacare success recently received from a constituent. brian from the city of schenectady wrote to me that he been playing almost dollars 360 per month for a plan with no coverage.vision through new york state's online exchange he was able to get a comparable medical plan and also purchased dental coverage for $290 per month. it to me, this is more coverage for rest money.

-- less money. brian was able to complete the process in less than two hours and makes he makes only $11 per difference in premiums is having a huge impact on his budget. asan is not alone, january 1, more than 241,522 new enrolled in now quality low cost health insurance coverage through my exchange.'s in addition, more than 6500 young adults in my district now throughlth insurance their parents' plan and more than 12,100 seniors in the receive prescription drug discounts worth $16 million. 124,000 seniors in the district are now eligible for medicare, preventive services, without coinsuranceopays, or deductibles. i could go on and on, but the affordableat the care act is here to stay and it is providing an enormous benefit already to the people of the 20th congressional district of new york which i have the good fortune of representing. to amaze me how hard my republican colleagues

the to avoid acknowledging benefits of a.c.a. i've never heard them admit that helps million who have pre-existing conditions who can longer be discriminated against. mr. cohen, can you tell us some in place. provisions >> thank you, absolutely. the issue of pre-existing a huge one.s previously people could be altogether, not because they're sick at the time of their applying, but because they had some condition in the past that caused the medical underwriters to say that they a good risk. then if they were offered insurance, not with standing that condition might be, they could be charged significantly more as a result of that. and one of the impacts of that, of course, was the fact that subjectre being charged tanksly more than men because being a woman was deemed to be a pre-existing condition. so all of that is gone.

the last one i would mention i that is very important is in the past, people could find that if they did become seriously ill, their insurance would run out because they had either an annual limit of how lifetimeould pay or a limit over how much it would pay middley might be in the of a course of treatment that was necessary to save their lives and find that all of a the insurance company stopped paying and that they were responsible for those costs own.eir and that can't happen any more. >> thank you. the stories of people signing up for coverage would drive home how important these new provisions are. i know some stories have recently been posted. i read a story about nick from he's 29 and was deny coverage last year because of a pre-existing condition. to enroll in a short-term catastrophic plan that costs him $280 a month, and a termination date. because of the a.c.a. he now has with lower out of pocket costs and a guarantee

that he won't be kicked off his or denied because of a pre-existing condition. now he's covered and he does not are more ofy there. these stories every day. albert from texas got cover forward the first time in his the a.c.a.e of he got a plan for only $23 per month, he said it's the right do, you never know what could happen to you. heard otherave you stories like these? >> yes, we're hearing stories like that all the time. seeing them through social media, we're seeing their are sending us stories on health care.gov, there's a place where you can story, and i must say they're extremely heartening. >> what do they say to you about the importance of the affordable act? >> the affordable care act is literally going to be life saving for many, many, many americans who without it would not have had the ability to get the health care that they need, going to be a financial

americans whomany otherwise would have faced bankruptcy as a result of medical costs, which was the leading cause of bankruptcy in the country prior to the a.c.a., we're going to see that change dramatically. >> i just wish our colleagues just admit at this moment that this law is helping millions people and maybe then forward and have a national conversation about the affordable care act and any additionallism proavments that be required. so with that i thank you, director cohen, and thank you for appearing before our committee. >> the gentleman yesterdays back, now to mr. long for five minutes. you, mr. chairman. one person that does not think a life saving endeavor is brenda from my district. a veryhas been fighting rare form of cancer for the last and she leaves springfield, missouri to go down to little rock, arkansas to seek treatment. in high risk pool. she was in a high risk pool.

insurance, she found out that she could no longer go to little rock, arkansas to seek treatment from this very specialized doctor that has literally kept her seven years. last they gave her three months to live when first diagnosed. active, she's mid 50's, late 50's, and back then she was early 50's, i guess, 50 years old and decided it wasn't time so she wanted to get active and find a treatment for this, so she did. rock, arkansas. and she called me from her chemo or texted me, e-mailed me from her chemo chair, telling me insurance ander when she found new insurance, because of the high risk pool, new insurance, she was told that she could no treatment in little rock, arkansas from this doctor who is one of the few in the that does it. so i know you say it's life

saving, i know that my friend that he wantssays people on this side of the aisle to admit there are good cases. are, there's people that picking up insurance, there's good cases, but there's also this could very easily cost them their life. likem concerned for people brenda. let's talk about those high risk -- >> we would like to hear from brenda's situation if there's anything we could do to work with the insurance happy to, we'd be very do that. >> i gave a floor speech on the subject a month or so ago, when ever she first e-mail me and she was literally in the chemo chair in little rock taking the treatment, and she said all the myses stood up and cheered floor speech in the rooms, but there are serious concerns for brenda sticking with the high risk pools for just a minute. this new national high risk pool, as opposed to ran out thees that end of december or whatever, have been extended to the end of

what period? of march. >> end of march. for?re those being paid where are you getting the money to pay for those? we cannot get any answers, at has not been able to, on how this is being funded. >> that's very clear, there's a $5 billion appropriation in the affordable care act and that's the entire amount of money is that 5 billion-dollar appropriation that was in the affordable care act that has for the pcip program. >> i hate to interrupt you, but theot my style, a billion, wasn't that for set amount of time, we keep getting these extensions that paid for. to be >> so the statute says this we that money to ease the pcip enroll hes into the new market, so based on

the number of enroll hes we had and the costs that were en kurring to allow those benefits through march and at the end of march, by the end of march everyone who is in that needs to get private program --nd that >> or they won't be able to seek care in little rock, so that's think. there, i earlier,ng member said and my friend from florida may reference to the fact that there all these people that have new, all these people that have affordable care act that didn't have coverage before. how can we drill down and figure out what that number is? just because 146,000 in up in december, how do we know that those people have insurance before? how do we know they're not like

brenda that was forced off her can finehopefully another plan. is there a way to ascertain if numbers, if these are people that are covered for neverrst time ever that had health insurance before? >> that's a really good question, and we're working on to provide data as to the number who were previously uninsured versus the number who may have been insured before and are switching to new coverage, and we understand that's an important issue, we don't have data today. >> okay, if you can work on that, because one side tells one story, one side tells the other, and usually as you know the truth lies in the how manyso when i hear people that never had coverage before, i question if they didn't have, lost it and bought new. so thank you for your time here today. >> thank you. >> gentleman yields back. now mr. butterfeel for five minutes. mr. chairman and thank you, mr. cohen, for your testimony today. it want to assure you, the historyhat when of this debate is written many years from now, i promise that

you will be regarded as one of many people in this administration and across this country who were on the right millions ofped americans get insurance. you are doing the right thing and i want to thank you for what you do. >> thank you. >> but mr. chairman, this is ridiculous. my friends just won't let go, i refns to itnko may a few minutes ago. let me try to put this in somewhat of context. yesterday's "new york times" wrote that north carolina faced morean has than 3500 negative ads about the affordable care act since june 1st. that amount of negative ads is more than three times as much as any other member of congress. five million dollars has already spent on negative ads stated to obamacare in my of north carolina. careact is the affordable act is the law of the land.

state.orking in my the brenda in my district is named carlton stevens jr. to an exxon station a few daition ago, little carlton, out of his, jumped car and told me how excited he was that he had signed up with act, told mee care that he was paying $700 a month for he and his wife and two that the premium was going up to $800, that he affordable care act and is now paying $240 per month. reason, is and the mr. cohen, i had difficulty in trying to describe winners and that each case is unique. you have to compare the coverage, you have to compare to come mayorhave the circumstances. so the brenda in my district is gettingstevens and he's insurance now for $240 per month. participating in the federal exchange, my state, elmer's state as well, had more than 107,000 enrollees from

october to december, which constitutes the most enrollees perhe federal marketplace cap that. 89% of those enrollees are low and qualify for a tax credit for their plans. carolynians are having tremendous success with the federal marketplace and health care.gov, in fact north carolina leads all the states in health region fourrvices with more than 61% of who completed applications selecting a marketplace plan. nationwide the trend is very similar. december, nearly 2.2 million had enrolled in hundred thousand more have enrolled since then. tuesday's washington post cover stated, quote, the data show a seven-fold, seven-fold enrollment in the federal exchange from the first two months as the website's improved, end of quote.

so mr. cohen, i want to ask you, theyou describe for me trend in the number of adults 18 selected these marketplace plans? >> i think we reported that the to 34 was about 24% of the and that that was very close to the percentage of that age group in the general population. so we were quite pleased by that to see that number increasing as we move through enrollment the open period. >> talk to me about some of the national campaigns which will begin to get youth enrollment up higher than even 24%. perhaps to 40%. >> so, i know that we are going more paidg a lot media, specifically around the olympics, which will be starting weeks.uple and around other sporting events and other activities that we would expect young people to be

particularly interested in. i know we're doing, have been and are doing an increased amount of outreach through the social media, you know, facebook, twitter. all that sort of thing. all ofnow that we are our advertising is very targeted populationsach the that we most want to get. obviously we want everyone to enroll, but we want to particularly focus on the young people, as we've talked about. >> thank you. lastly, i made reference to my home state of north carolina in my introductory statement and i'm very proud of the enrollment rates there. in my 700,000 people congressional district, and i tell you that 100,000 of those uninsured. and this is making a difference. you, what factors do believe contribute to north choosing marketplace plans at such awe high rate compared to the national norm? >> i have to believe that in places where the need is the

you know, is where we're seeing the biggest response. rate ofaces where the uninsured was high, i think that's where we're seeing the biggest response. you.ank >> in pons to his question, do you know how much you're on the olympics advertising? >> i don't, but i'm sure i can get that. let us know.please now i recognize the lady from north carolina, miss elmers. >> thank you, mr. chairman. to my colleague from north carolina, mr. butterfield, i'm to kind of extend some of mr. cohen,ns to you, where he left off. >> anded ajoining districts, i might add. >> yes. my colleague pointed out that 107,000 have enrolled in north carolina, that's the figures that we're seeing. however, 473,000 received cancellation notices for their that theye policies already had. so even though that 107,000 may

sound impressive, we are way behind on those who have had their policies canceled. up tore's a lot of making do. i do want to get back to some of those numbers. now, correct me if i'm wrong, how many people in america do you believe have signed up for coverage now? >> well, the most recent figures out wereut 2.2 million. and that's just in the marketplace. whoously there are people are -- >> so the 6 million figure that i keep hearing today, where is this 6 million figure coming from? >> that's taking the 2.2 and adding 3.9 million who enrolled medicaid. >> okay. so when, so basically what we're we're culminating. are you aware that the "washington post" gave three pinocchios to this number? are you going to keep this figure? pinocchios,see the i'd have to take a look at what they called into question. theo you agree with 6 million figure, you believe that there have been 6 million?

wei believe that, as reported, 2.2 million have enrolled in marketplace plans, about 3.9 million had enrolled in medicaid. and i think the medicaid number was actually only through november. >> now, of those who signed up for medicaid, how many of them could have previously signed up for medicaid but did not before obamacare was instituted? don't have that number for you. >> you don't have the number. can you get the number? certainly ask my colleagues in medicaid if they have that number. i don't run medicaid, so -- >> that doesn't fall under you? >> no. weighings we have a where we have a number of medicaid signed up, wonderful, sure that people have coverage that's applicable to them. but isn't this going to play factor especially for those states, when we don't really know where the numbers as which, those who could have signed up before

but did not? whatever reason, and now have. the statese states, that expand the newly eligible be paid 100%. >> right, the newly eligible. but those who could have received coverage before, the states are going to be responsible for a percentage of that, correct? under the usual match, yes. >> now, you said you don't have the number, you don't have the figure, when we had secretary sebelius, she see she did not have that number, and i believe she actually said they could not get that number. would appreciate if you could get that to us in the committee. think the thing of it is, and i'll just quote the checker,on post" fact what he said is this number tells you almost nothing about law is health care affecting medicaid enrollment, it,rters need to stop using because basically, and that's a

quote, because it's very misleading. do want to get back, i've got a little bit more time here. we're all sharing stories about constituents and some of the stories that we've heard have been positive. the issue of on the change for women. theuse i keep hearing about issue about, you know, bringing down costs for women. who was i have a woman formerly in my district, is not in my district now, from rocky carolina who reached out to my office and lostgh personal situation her health care coverage, and now the plan -- paying d254 a month. now she's going to have to pay $610 a month. she simplefully cannot afford it, she's probably going to have to choose to not take coverage. when we continue to claim that health care has improved for women with, you know, mammograms, when we call these free, how did we go from

to $610 a month and we can still claim that she's services?ee >> again, i really can't address an individual situation without knowing more of the specifics. we'd be happy to have folks talk she's interested. >> i would appreciate that. thatve my staff get information to you, and your office, so that we can work. because if we are really going care of women in this country, health care issues for on it.let's be straight let's make sure that we are getting the points across. health is very, very important. and this is very misleading. so with that i yield the of my time. >> now recognize -- mr. chairman. i want to talk a little about constituent service when it comes to health care, because long before the affordable care a lot office spent time dealing with insurance

problems. who suddenly weren't able to get the medication that they before, reallyg tricky issues. that sometimes we could solve couldn't solve. so the private insurance market as it was before was very to navigate. i think that's really important to remember. but i have to tell you, mr. cohen, we have done yourituent service with office on many occasions now act ishe affordable care in place. and i'm happy that you were able friend, congressman long, that you would look at the situation and work to get her the health care that she needs. would suggest that, my haveience has been that we been able to resolve through your office many of the problems. confusing time. but i guarantee you that before

very confusings every year. and by the way, still is with d.icare part and we really encourage all of programtituents on that to look every single year to make sure that their medications are still on the form you lary. >> if i can just say, have gottenn, we tremendous response from the insurance industry, from the industry, asl we've tried to resolve these problems this january. and i have talked with the issuers, i've talked with the pharmacies, the hospital association. and what i'm hearing from them the nature of the problems that we're seeing as we moved into january and people nong their coverage are different from what has happened every year as people get new coverage, change coverage. there are always issues in terms to verifybeing able their enrollment, being able to see their doctor, all those kind issues. we have caseworkers in every

region of the country and we ifnd ready to help anybody we possibly can. >> i know that in my state, and republicans are working very hard to help their constituents and so i'm hoping that everyone on the other side of the aisle on this committee taking advantage of the constituent service that's available from you, and then the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical companies. wanted to again go over a bit on the issue of these letters of termination. company we've talked to said they expected almost all of their current customers to covered. have you seen evidence of that? >> oh, absolutely. it really is not accurate to was, that because a plan is no longer being offered that that means the person is not getting coverage. clear, it's not offered because it doesn't meet

the criteria of the -- >> that's right. so in every instance that i'm offered, the carrier plan that andew in some cases automatically soolled them in a new plan. there would be no gap in coverage. and then in addition to that, of course, through our transition l al policy we've made it possible for people to keep their existing plan if that's what the insurance company wants to offer them. >> my understanding of the issue of the grandfather option of those who half received cancellation notices to renew their plan. has this been happening? >> that's right. and roughly half the remaining group that got cancellation letters, my understanding is are better get actually a deal through the federal and state marketplaces because they are eligible for tax credits or medicaid, so they get better

oftenge for a lower and much lower cost. >> so, for people who are subsidy,for the absolutely. we would expect that they would pay less and they would in many cases get better benefits than what they had had. >> finally, in december the announced that individuals who had canceled policies would be eligible for a hardship exemption so they could purchase low cost catastrophic plan. will this change the options available to those that got cancellations? that basically means is anyone who got a cancellation and feels that the plans that to them are not therdable can claim hardship exemption and can enroll in the catastrophic plan deductible plan but will cover them in the case of any serious illness. and those plans are generally very afford around. >> thank you, i yield back. >> chair recognizes mr. johnson minutes.

>> thank you, mr. chairman. would like to thank you for being here today. arduousd a long and journey since this all started, and the american people came under the affordable care act last october, the website going up. you mention in your that the problems that we had, that it wasn't time to give up, it was time to roll up and get to work. well, i respect that, but i'll that we've got a little bit of a different idea roll up your what sleeves means. you see, the american people, businesses, individuals, hard working taxpayers across this country, who are increasingly spending,y the big overregulating policies of this , not very many of those folks get a second chance.

only in washington d.c. and with administration do we see a redo.nt pattern of at somebody else's expense, in this case it's the american expense. so i submit to you that what we should have done, what the administration should have done roll up its sleeves and do this the right way in the first place. doctors and patients manage their health care. sectorot a private health care system that has provided the best health care in the world. it did not have to be done this way. me get to a few specific questions. since the launch of healthcare.gov, mr. cohen,s that been subject to any security breaches? >> no. >> no security breaches? >> there have been no breaches anybodyense of

attacking the site and being -- >> there have been no incidences people attacking -- >> no, where they were successful. said.t's what you just >> because you interrupt me, congressman, i don't get a chance to finish. there have been no successful attempts where people have been system andack the penetrate it. >> though is contrary to what we heard in other testimony and known in they media. >> mr. chairman, i respectfully disagree with that. myclaiming my time, claiming time. what is the difference, in your opinion, between a security incident and a security breach? >> you could have a security incident where because of an error or a mistake or somebody to the wrongg place, that was an isolated specific incident where was transmitted in the way that was incorrect. breach --hear >> how do you let that back to the testimony we heard before the energy and congress committee that cuter was never even factored in and tested

up theo standing website? can you promise the american thate today right now their personal information is secure on website.gov? >> yes. i can't promise that there won't ever be an incident. theircan promise that information is secure -- >> that sounds like an oxymoron to me. you can't assure that there's not going to be a breach, but their information is sewer. i said.s not what >> one followup question. can you promise to this congress ist if health care.gov subject to a breach or a hack or any security failure, that the congress as soon as you fine out about it? >> we follow normal procedures and protocols for when those incidents happen. >> but the american people need congress needss to know, so can we get your notifynt that you'll congress if that -- >> we'll certainly work with you to make sure you get that information. >> whose job is it to inform

congress and the american people occurs?ecurity breach >> c.m.s. has an office of security,information that's responsible for that. and is today in the case of the medicare system where we have enrollees whose -- >> i got it. c.m.s. is responsible. responsible for the overall cyber security of the healthcare.gov site? >> i think that's the same. >> do you know how many people in c.m.s. are dedicated to protecting the security of healthcare.gov? >> i couldn't tell you a number of people. know we have a dedicated secure team. we do continuous monitoring, we actually have people watching the site 24 hours a day. >> do you know how many contractors are involved? don't. >> do you know how much money is to provide security? >> i would have to get that number for you. >> does anyone report to you security of the

site? office is not responsible for the security of the site, on --am given reports >> okay, can you give us examples of those reports so we reportswhat those include? >> i can certainly take that request back and see what we have. soi mean, they come to you, you ought to be able to release them, right? certainly take your request back and see what we have. >> mr. chairman, i yield back. >> chairman -- >> i was just going to say that a number of the reports on attempts to hack the system are classified, and we can make that available to all members to know that there have been multiple attempts. there's not been a breach yet. but i'm sure the attempts will much of that is classified. >> mr. chairman, on that vein, last week democratic staff of the subcommittee and full committee prepared a memo of was provided in the classified briefings which is not classified. information, i was at the classified briefings, a

lot of that information was not of a classified nature. and so what that information said is there are no successful hacks of healthcare.gov and it further said that surprisingly there have been no additional other government websites. so i would ask unanimous consent to put that memorandum which is january 9, 2014 into the record. also remain vigilant because we will suspect there will continue to be attempts. some time left on the floor for votes. we can adjourn to go rote and complete this. >> i think we have time. continue?ou like to >> mr. harper, you're recognize minutes.ive >> thank you, mr. cohen. it's good to see you again. done.local i'd like to ask a few questions if i could. you touched on earlier in pons about riskstions

corridors. one, it's a program to offset huge cost increases being the risk corridor program. where within the administration is its program housed, h.h.s., c.m.s. or where? under myorridors is program. >> and the individual in charge be who?program would >> the person who works for me who is responsible for that sharon arnold.is >> so is it just that one person in charge of that? >> she reports to me. i'm responsible, but she works for me and that's her program that she's managing. people, with her staff. >> and there are other staff would helpple people her to run that program? >> that's true. >> would you be able to provide the complete list of staffers who do perform any service connected to the risk of corridor program? >> yes. >> thank you.

under this program, if insurers greater thancosts 103% of their premiums, the government will give them money, am i correct? >> that's right. and there are, it's a little that, buticated than yes. >> i've got a couple of followup questions that may allow you to that. how will the determination be made of what these costs are? there a form? >> the insurance companies will present data to us on .heir health care expenditures and then it won't be until 2015 that we actually make any program.under the >> so can you tell us exactly how the insurers will report this? i know it has to be, they've got to report it, but how are they report it? >> there will be forms or templates or whatever that us,'ll have to provide to the accounting information that will tell us what their health care spending has been. a followup ont some enrollment questions, if i

can shift over to that. >> sure. >> the most important number as has been reported by many news outlets is whether individuals have paid. does the administration collect this information? do you collect, this information? >> right now we are not. be.we will >> when? >> as soon as that functionality is built. i think my answered some questions about that earlier. functionality is built yes. >> will that mean that we have those who to all enrolled and find out whether they paid? as itnot collecting it occurs? >> we ultimately will reconcile th advanced that premium tax credits, for withle, are not paid didn't pay. >> what department would have this data? myit's going to come to office.

>> who would be the individual that?ould be in charge of >> that's also sharon arnold. >> so we don't know at this point how many people have paid for coverage? >> that's right. you telling me that you don't have any data, you haven't received my information who paid or you just haven't compiled it yet? >> we've government en enrollment data from the issuers with respect to the payments next week,be making but it's not an an individual basis. so they've told us though, the number of people who are en rommed who have paid, but we it on the individual basis. itly we will. cut you off.ean to are you telling me that you'll be paying insurers without knowing whether or not the insureds have been paid? >> no, we're going to be relying hasata from them as to who paid, but we don't vet why an automated system to get that. relying --u're >> and we will reconcile that as

soon as, make sure that those reconciled and your correct, once we do have the thebility of receiving additional -- >> do you know the total amount of paid from each insurer at point? >> yes, we have information on what we're going to be paying to this first group of payments that's going out next week. >> can we go ahead and get the data that you do have? >> i'm sure you can. >> all right, i believe my time expired, i yield back. >> the chairman recognizes the gentleman from colorado, five minutes.r >> thank you, mr. chairman, thank you, mr. cohen, for your time today. received my insurance cancellation. have you ever met anybody who canceled?insurance >> you may be the first. shocking,pretty because 335,000 people in colorado alone had their insurance canceled. the letter that i got that told me it would be canceled included this option. includes purchasing

another individual health plan from us, purchasing a health another carrier or purchasing a new plan through health connect colorado. was the presidents promise that i could keep my plan upheld, the wasident's promise to me, that upheld? >> we've talked about this a lot. the law provided that insurance companies could keep the existing plans as long as they changesake significant to benefits and cost sharing. insurance companies made different choices. are still a lot of grandfather plans out there and those maintain. there were other plans that did not continue into 2014. >> so -- >> in some cases those plans were canceled. >> so was the president's me?ise upheld to i don't remember the president saying there's qualifications if plan.ke your health care >> the law made it possible for everyone who was in an existing as of the time it was passed for that plan to be maintained, but it didn't require insurance companies to offering them. so what we did in november was

offered another opportunity to say to insurance companies you can keep those plans in even if they didn't meet grabbedirements of the father. >> but these are big changes or would ahave to, $5 change require them to discontinue the plan? changeas a percentage that was in the regulation as to how much, and it wasn't a change inpremium, it was a change benefits for cost sharing. >> so a copay of $5, that would require you to lose your insurance then? >> i that was one of the requirementings. >> is that a significant change to an insurance policy in are opinion? >> if a copay was 20 and it goes up $5, that's pretty significant, yeah. promise, president's so really in your mind you shouldn't have had to apologize because he didn't do anything wrong? president said that, he recognized that what he to beid did not prove true for many americans. and as a result of that, we offered another transitional

policy to make it be more possible for more americans. >> do you have legal opinions that give the president the authority to make these changes?s and could you provide me with a legal memorandum? >> i honestly don't recall a legal opinion on that provision. >> you testified in september as about, talking about everything going fine. when did you first know that it fine? going was it september 27, 28, october 1? >> october 1. no indication prior to october 1st that things weren't going well? had no indication prior to october 1st that we were going to have the major problems website that we ended up having. >> when did you first know that people would have their canceled? >> i think we've always known that not all of the grandfather going to continue. i don't think we had a necessarily a sense of how many would and how many wouldn't. >> when do you expect small plans to start canceling insurance?

>> that will likely happen throughout the course of the small business plans don't tend to all come up for renewal in january. renewed earlyere will13, so that they continue -- >> how many do you anticipate being canceled? >> i don't have a number of that. can look to see -- >> if you could provide an estimate of how many additional think would be canceled, that would be great. so do we have an idea of how through theup federal exchange so far? i know some of the this we've before.bout >> we reported that through december 28 it was 2.2 million in the federal and the state, it was something over 1.1 million were in the federal. >> so about 1.1 million in material, 1.1 million in the states? yes.ughly, >> how many of those who signed up in exchangings were not previously insured? >> i don't have that. >> how many were previously

insured but had their insurance canceled and now signed up in exchange?l >> i don't have that number either. >> how many saw that are insurance rates go up? >> i don't have that number. said that you know of a significant number of people mo saw the rates go down. been hearing, you know -- >> you don't know for sure if their rates went down. you're hearing anecdotes al evidence. hearing anecdotally -- >> so we don't have any concrete ratess as to whether the went up or down? >> i think we know that people subsidy eligible for a that, for those people, it is, certain thatost their costs would have gone down. >> so you have some numbers, but don't know how many went up, okay. so of the supposed insurance,without how many people now have insurance? >> i don't think we have that number yet, but certainly we're asng to try to come up with good data as we can.

>> how do we know the law is working? >> well, we mow the law is working for many people and -- manyt you don't know how of the uninsured are now insured, you don't know how many gople saw rates go up versus down, insurance companies aren't being paid yet. about the risk consider door provisionings. what is the probability of the provision being ?ctivated what is the probability of the risk corridor language being utilized? >> i think there will be a risk corridor program. >> but what is the provision of that -- what's the probability of that? >> that will happen. >> so you're saying that the government will be paying companies --ance >> oh, how likely is it that there will be claims on the program? >> yes. >> i think we anticipate that there will be claims on the program, but there also may be lower thancosts are what they anticipated and there will be payments into the

program, and i think the estimate was that it was budget neutral. expired.man's time is do you have a followup question? interested in any legal mem ra da that you've been briefed on that depine the under the afford around care act to delay implementation or the authority enforcement discretion over enforcement provisions. that wasow this law signed in march of 2010 bears no resemblance to what is actually on today, because of the variety of enforcement delays that have been implemented by the administration. we'd like to know under what legal authority you are operating or what you have seen that gives you the legal do so.ty to >> you'll provide that for the record? >> we'll take that request back you.ork with >> i'd also like to you follow up with the other questions that theers on both sides of aisle asked.

themany people of 45 million are signed up and if it's more or less expensive for them. i ask unanimous con somebody that the written opening statements of other members who introduced into the record, in conclusion i'd like andhank all the witnesses, members that preaped at today's hearing. you have 10 days to submit the record.r and i ask mr. koa doan if he would agree to respond promptly to the questions. with that this committee hearing is adjourned.

>> in 20 minutes we'll take to you lansing, michigan, republican snyder gives the state of the state address, atll have that live 7:00 eastern. looking on the our prime time c-span athere on 8:00 eastern a senate hearing on president obama's climate change policy. 2, remarks from secretary of state john kerry today on syria. c-span 3, house members hear testimony from cyber security experts on whether is securenformation on the health care website.

>> when you go behind the scenes as a photographer, you're there to see, not hear, not listen and not really repeat anything that you hear. and it's kind of a mutual agreement, because we are led in to meetings, when you're behind are sensitive. obamathere when president was at a rally and at the same time the hurricane had just come up in,east coast and was newark and he was on the phone director athe fema the same time he was running the campaign. really unique time to be in there and hear him in a really heated, you know, or serious wasersation about what going on on the ground there and how he wanted things to take place and organizing that. and on the other side of the wall people are banging, four four more years. so it's a unique time to be, any

time you're behind the scenes with the president. >> "new york times" staff photographer doug mills, sunday 8:00 on c-span's q and a. >> the michigan state of the state address coming up in about minutes, 7:00 p.m. eastern. earlier today the senate passed the 1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill funding the federal government through the end of the fiscal year. should sign that, and the senate will be done as is the house. earlier senate democratic leaders briefed reporters on a number of issues including the failure to reach a deal with republicans on extending benefits.unemployment >> we had it all set for you and flopped. flopped.

to say i'm disappointed is an understatement. of rhode island, state of nevada lead the nation in unemployment. that's why jack reed, dean hiller, offered the legislation, to give these people the extension they deserve. every week of the republicans stalling adds 70,000 more people unemployed inrm america. get these people the benefits that this government should provide them with. over we're going to continue to work on this. we're going to continue to work on it before this present thech, after the state of union speech, we're going to continue to work on this until people.ustice for these importantk that it's

that the republicans can go home going the few days we're to be here, be there next week, and explain to the people in respective states, these republicans, why they didn't the benefitsople because of process, because i them,.n to filibuster. they have done everything they could to disguise what they're doing. even stuck in here an effort to help veterans. those veterans. that's why the efforts made by and young took care of those that are disabled those are -- what's the right word. what's the... and the survivors, i'm sorry. of.hat's taken care the one percent doesn't start for two years. we're going to take care of

that. senator sanders is going to introduce a bill likely today, issue. not an the issue is, why are they forbustering the benefits these long-term unemployed. they said they wanted it paid to, so we figure out a way pay for it. it wasn't something we dreamed up, it was an idea that representative young, representative ryan had. that well what they wanted is to address an issue of double dipping. thatok care of that, wasn't enough. then they said they wanted amendments, we gave them 10 on side, that's a lot of amendments. they said that wasn't enough. said that that, in addition to that, then they got that, i repeat, as indicated in the "new york times" editorial today, that i them.an to the only conclusion anyone can is that they're looking for any excuse there is to deny that people the benefits

they should have. goingeek republicans are to go home, as i've indicated, let them explain to the people in their respective states how they did this for the process reasons. these are people who are out of work through no fault of their own. nevada, i read a statement on the floor yesterday. a republican, 54 years old, worked all of his life, he lost his job. he's beenind a job, looking for jobs for months. and he said he is a life long republican and he said it is absolutely wrong that the republicans are saying people like him are lazy, that they're from a systemfit that shouldn't be helping them. and he said i'm being punished, they should be punished, they the republicans, for not helping us. they want a compromise, we're happy to work with them. i talked to dean hiller today,

he said he's having a meeting today to try to come up with some other way of moving forward this. we have moved in their direction, but you can move in direction enough because they have one goal in mind. they don't believe in these extended benefits. do. durbin? >> if you ask the american people and those who observed it a defining moment in the mitt romney campaign, it was probably when that bar tender his little video camera and captured mitt romney 47%, the 47% the of americans who are receiving government benefits and want more. that was that defining candid moment from mitt romney that defined republicanism that was unacceptable in america. it may be one of the major lost that election. 47%. what do you see on the floor of the senate today? you see a mentality among the republicans and their leader thp

that basically says when people are down and out and need a helping hand, we're not going to them because they're lazy. and the only way to get them up off the couch and off to work is to stop sending unemployment checks. what other conclusion can you opposition tor unemployment benefits for 1.4 or americans? think about this. our unemployment system now pays knowor 27 weeks, yet we the average length of unemployment in america is 38 weeks. for, in a're asking helping hand of about $300 a month, for those who are unemployed, is just a chance to find another job and to keep their families together while they do. but this 47% mentality of mitt romney is now the mentality of senate republicans. and we're seeing it play out on the floor. what's even worse than this, as far as i'm concerned, are the things they brought forward. senator mcconnell of kentucky says the first thing we want to do is to eliminate the personal

theonsibility section of affordable care act. you no e what that does? that eliminates the protection fornst discrimination pre-existing conditions. so he would damage the health overance policies of 300 million americans to give temporary relief to 1.4 miami. idea of a good pay for. he wasn't alone. said no, we have to cut people on disability off 2010 --loyment benefits. visited ae you ever shelter workshop where people who have mental challenges are do simple man up tasks and are so proud of them sends, they want to work, they'll be time, because nay get a chance to earn up to $1,000 a month in their sheltered they lose and when sheltered workshop job they draw unemployment benefits for time off. of the republican ideas to pay for unemployment benefits for the rest of america the benefits for those disabled people working in sheltered workshops.

the mostast one is outrageous. cutting off the child tax credit in a million children america, to pay for temporary unemployment relief. of a modernition political party, that they think the only way we can help those are unemployed is by hurting children, hurting the disabled, american families across the nation the protections they deserve in their health insurance plans. issue is not going away. we may be leaving for a few days, but simply to take the back home to rally our troops, to rally our people, in support of this. we return, there will be another vote. we'll have another opportunity for the republicans, if they're listening, to come join us in what used to be a very issue.san >> thank you. well, right now as they continue to filibuster an extension of unemployment insurance, seablicans are ignoring the change that's happening in our politics across the country.

used toes that dominate, deficit, obamacare, fading further from the forefront every day, and the middlec future of the class has taken their place as the top issue we face today. the country want democrats and republicans to gridlock,her, end the and focus on job creation and boosting middle class incomes. are angry at government, they're not angry at government doing things, they're doingat government not things. and our republican colleagues as their m.o., obstruction for the longest of time. extending unemployed insurance job creationcus on and get our economy going, and help.hose who need and deserve help. it would create 240,000 jobs this year and put money back into the pock tote the middle

class. can certainly choose to stand in the way of growing the economy and helping people unemployed.-term but they do it at their peril. that's why i think at the end of the day republicans are going to come around and help us pass an unemployment insurance. the longer they obstruct, the on ourthey act as a drag recovery, the more pressure they are going to face. back toublicans head their states this week they're going to hear from people who theirost or about to lose unemployment benefits. and they may well change their minds. hear from small business owners who need to have people spending money in their stores, that whatl realize americans want us to do more than anything is help our to recover.inue politicales on, the price of failing to join with us to pass unemployment insurance thenly going to rise for republicans. hopefully sooner or later too'll realize the price is

high and they'll do the right thing. >> just a little bit ago i went out on the senate floor and told the heartbreaking stories of some of those who have lost their unemployment benefits in are reallyd who distraught. these are people who are losing their homes, they're applying for food stamps for the very first time, never thinking that might happen to them. people whose lives are really coming apart at the seams. in aare people who never million years believed that they would have to ask for help. happenout.want a they don't want to be a burden. but they've paid taxes all their nowhere elsey have to turn right now. they are now looking to us here dumb founded by when they see, and that is olduse what they see is the republican play book once again. it's the same play book in fact for 16 days in october, and it's the same one

firsthand 21 times when i was simply trying to get to a budget conference. they say no for as long as they can. they play politics for as long as they can. they obstructand for as long as they can. from the public pressure angry americans finally reaches a fever pitch and then when it far too late, hopefully, they come to their senses. gettinghave to say it's far too late for every single american who has now lost their unemployment benefits. and now because republicans have to every reasonable offer we made, we are heading very people the whose stories i just talked about. normally don't come here and give advice to my friends on the other side of the certainly i would suggest when they go home and talk to their constituents next the, that they do not use

same excuses we have been hearing from them around here. don't go home and stare into the eyes of someone who just had to apply for food stamps and explain that they can't get help until obamacare is destroyed. i hope they don't tell those who their homeo lose that they are not going to get any help unless we agree to cut child care credit for american kids. i especially hope that they don't go hope and make arguments procedure and amendments and arcane rules that only people here in washington d.c. attention to. as an excuse for walking away americans at an time when all they want is a result. what i do hope is that they are coming face to face with these families and that will bring here with a changed tone and they will feel the pressure that americans are us, and hear that public

outcry, and help us pass these extensions that are such an important life line for today. americans >> i understand the president made a very strong argument the senate passing the ... did shall have an effect you? >> he told us for two hours a lot of things. he did spend a little bit of tile on the iran issue. concerned, i feel very strongly that we're going we can,erything that and iran needs to know that. they are not going to have a nuclear weapon. as i said on tuesday, that was before yesterday, i'm sorry, as i said tuesday, we

this issue presented to us. we now have the six months start running on the 20th of this month. people on both sides of this faithare working in good to try to come up with a result that's favorable. is going to bet effective, iran is not going to weapon.clear others? >> (inaudible question). >> i don't think we're anywhere that. we hope that something will work. we've made progress on nominations, we'll see what the next few weeks brings on that front. we have, as a caucus, have announced to our republican want to starty doing relevant amendments, and a

number that isn't outrage us, we're happy to to do that. as indicated, unemployment compensation. we had 20 amendments that are available with that. made withhe deal we them, offered them. of course that wasn't good mean., because i was too 10 on each side. that.happy to do we have been, this is an issue we've danced around for a long time, i think this is, we're not asking for jermaine amendments, which is a higher standard, we're willing to do relevant amendments. cann't know how they complain about that. so we've shown that on flood is anotherwhich piece of legislation, we've agreed to amendments on that. take up as soon as we can, we're going to take up unemployment insurance, we're to have some on that, so i hope things will get better. >> republicans have sort of alleged that you never wanted this unemployment bill to pass

you want to think campaign against their instruction, what is your that?se to have 9% unemployment, as i indicated, we're tied with rhode island. these are people i know, who work.find leader laughed about this, as you know. thinks it's funny. funny. not ofent through a litany excuses they've had as each of my fellow leaders did just a few minutes ago. is assinine that they would that.uggest >> you, oh medicare sequestering -- say that again?

if you would... (i audible question). with our payisfied for. it is something that congressman up with, we've extended this and we think it's a good pay for. >> house democrats said in a ...ter to peeker boehner >> i don't know if each much us addressed us, but nearly every one of us has if we haven't here today. under a procedural posture where we can move to this want.ation any time we yet the republicans have a proposal, or my democrats have a proposal, that they think would get 630 votes, we can move forward on that. expeditiously. as i said and my fellow leaders ive said here this morning,

think it's probably a pretty good idea that the senators go senators, andan including those that have laughed about how funny this was not getting the extension this they deserve, and explain to the american people their states that they're opposing unemployment insurance because, i repeat for time here this morning, i'm mean to them, that they don't like the pay for, even though it's a pay for that paul ryan came up with. have run out. they have no reasons for fewsing us except we have a republicans who have been very honest. publicly they say they don't want this, they don't believe in program. we believe in the program, and we're going to continue to work it. >> right after you come back, corner, is around the how quickly will you move on a let limit increase, what's the next step on that? >> that is not urgent. we keep getting different numbers on that.

but we think sometime in may it will be necessary. february? >> i'm just telling you what i heard yesterday. maybe that's wrong, but that's heard, maybe it's april, i don't know. but we'll deal with it. the one thing the president did very clear yesterday and he emphatic, the last go around on this, we will not extending the debt limit, period. thanks everybody. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014]