shantanu agrawal from cms to discuss how cms can improve medicare oversight and integri integrity. i look forward to their testimony. the american people deserve a government that protects their tax dollars and uses them wisely. we must do more to strengthen the integrity of government programs overall. but particularly medicare given the enormous size and scope. clearly more needs to be done to improve the federal government efforts to recover $50 billion in overpayments and other improper payments. i hope today's hearing will provide the subcommittee with clarity about these areas. the process cannot drive up the cost of health care for seniors and reduce their options for care. i look forward to the conversation we'll have today. with that i recognize miss grisham for an opening statement. >> good morning. thank you chairman lankford for holding the hearing. i agree with the chairman that reducing waste and fraud and abuse in the medicare program is critically important, not only to protect taxpayer funds, but as you just heard, it's also incredibly important to protect the heal