dr. romer will be leading pretty close to 1:30 p.m. that means not everybody's going to get to as great question. we will go as rapidly and as quickly as we allow. welcome to the committee. your entire statement will be placed in record. you can proceed in a manner in which you are most comfortable. >> thank you very much. >> you will have 10 minutes. in 9 minutes, an orange light will come on and any concerns summarizing. thank you. >> chairman miller, ranking member klein and members of the committee, it is an honor to be with you today. the president has identified comprehensive health-care reform as a top priority. the administration is grateful to congress for working so quickly and tire sleep on the issue. in my remarks today, i will discuss the economic imperative of reform that satisfies the president's dual goals of slowing the growth rate of health care costs significantly and providing quality at affordable health insurance coverage for all americans. the figures in the analysis that underlie testimony are contained in the c

. >> dr. romer, a lot of americans are betting their house. that is their problem. it is the coverage in their house and everything they have. we are betting on fixing the problem. i want to come back to the question about the president's commitment that if you like your plan you get to keep it. dr. prized posed an example where if a plan that an employer provides fall short of the minimum coverage that is in the house draft what would happen. the answer is that the employer would have to come up. that is true. is someone likely to like the plan? the presence and if you like your plan needed to keep it. >> i think most people like something that is better. >> let's talk about what that standard is. it is my understanding that in the house draft that the minimum coverage is based upon 70% of the actual value of the federal help employee benefit plan. that is a pretty modest number. if you think it would be likely that a plan of that -- below that number may not have access to primary care, like ob/gyn care checkups -- >> there will be limitations. >> what a fan of os

dr. christina romer. i think some may want to submit questions to you. if you could respond to those in a timely fashion, we would appreciate it. >> thank you very much. >> i would be happy to. thank you. >> our second panel will be made up of several people. if these people would come forward please. i think we have places for you. one person is the research professor at georgetown university where she directs research on health insurance reform. she served at the u.s. apartment health and human services. she has a b.a. from oberlin college. our next guest is a very distinguished. she serves as a board member of the commonwealth of authority. she holds a b.s. from the university of massachusetts, boston. in james is a member of an organization that was withheld and retirement benefits for fortune 500 companies. he went to george washington university. he retired in 2001 from one particular organization. robert is from the heritage foundation. he is involved in a health insurance reform initiative in 2005. he received his degree from the university of ar

dr. christina romer. small business jobs will be lost. small businesses are the engine of our economy. we should help them weather the storm and create jobs. this'll be a real stimulus. republicans encourage investment that allows families to keep what they earn. we need a real stimulus plan. our health care will put forth a better alternative that will reduce costs and increase the quality of care in a way americans can afford. this without new taxes, costly mandates, or a government takeover that would bureaucrat in charge of medical decisions. this week the president and democrats continued their push for a speaker pelosi's energy tax. by imposing this tax who drives a car or flips a switch, this plan will drive up the prices for food, gasoline, and electricity. even president obama has said that energy prices will "skyrocket." the consequences will be severe in rural communities. the democrats' bill will give millions adjusted competitors like china and india. a recent study estimated it will cost is between 2.3 and 2.7 million jobs every year. we should be creating american jobs,