. -- health iurance. >> i want to ge congre the ability to do the thing and not step on their toes, probably left too much ambigui out there which allow the opponents of reform come out there a fill up the airwavesith a lot of nonsense. >> the publi meetings over the opponents of health re reform de it clear that they we incandesce. >> do not nt this untry turning into russia, turning to a socialt country. >> some compared to counism, other said it was nazi. a government -- goverent run insurance plan inompetition wi the big companies. >> and august, the american people spoke loudly and clearly. they did n want goverent messing with their healthca. >> we will not see a governmen auction. we wil not see a gernment trigger. we will not see a governmt replacemen of the health-care system in this country. >> we do not want our health care hijacks. >> a stent and part-time waitress from west virginia as part of the president's figh she has called up for people to come forward with her own stories. she may loo younger than her 24 ars, but looat her hands. she has rheumatoid arthris. her our origin

she wants banks to prepay $45 billion in iurance premiums. >> susie: another kemeasure of the housinmarket is showing improvement with pces marking monthly gains. what does it mean for th housing recovery we'll get some answers from noted economist. >> the dand will go wild in twto three years. so holon to your horses, everybod real estate is coming up, there's nooubt about it. >> paul: this south florida homebuilder thinks hpy days will soobe here again. he'll ll you why. >> susie: then, 's all about revenue en it comes to eaings. while cost cuts lped companies ke their numbers during the recession, wall stre's now lookinfor revenue growth. >> pau i'm paul kangas. >> susie: and i'm susie ghar. this i"nightly business report" for tuesday, septemb 29. "nightly business rert" is made ssible by: this programs made possible by contributions to yourbs station from vwers like you. thank u. caioning sponsored by wpbt >> sie: good evening, everyone. prepay us $45 billio that was t message today from the government agencthat insures e nation's bank deposits, the federal deposi insurance corporion.

it was the biggest fe lunch offering in thhistory ofhe countr n the one hand he says ifou have iurance, it will be lifetime, can't taket away, guaranteedno caps, if you don't ha it, you will get insurance. the detail i le -- erybody is going to get a fr conoscopy. 80 years ago it used tbe a chicken in every basket d now it is a colonoscope. >> don't go the. in the dark. >> and what is the ct here? alof this is going to be done at the cost of ls than $1 trillion - >> he said 900illion over 10 years. > how did he say we will get back? he said morehan half will come from squeezing waste fraud, and abuse out of medicare. when richard nixon us that rase in 1971, it was already a joke. that is an insult to the inteigence of the american people. wast fraud, and abuse, half a trillion dollars. if that is so, w hasn't he wrung out? what is heaiting for? why does he have have a bill if he could save hf a trilln dollars, - >> rardless of the opposition -- he was behind the curve when he started his speech. will g ahead? >> politically at leasin the short term but i have move the ll quickly, other

health iurance in massachusetts are growing 20 to 40% faster in t rest of the country.ey are not fling. there are projectis that came out recently tha premiums wil grow by 10% in massachusettin 2010. next year. whereas they' going to grow probably about 5-7% projected for the st of the country. health insurance premium are t falling in masshusetts. the opposite is happening. as for whethe a mandat is a tax, the president... what the president said was nobo thinks it's a tax. actually i think most economists would agree thait is a t. the prident was ovlooking the writings of princeton health insurance reinhart, his owndvisor larry summers who has written th mandates are like a benefits tax or i'm sorry a public programs nance by aenefits tack. his n appointee to the assistansecretary for planning and evaluation at the depament of health and hum services has wrien that mandates are like a tax. the congressionalbudget office h said that the penaltiefor not comy ing th the mandate are atax. >> ifill: professor gruber, let me askou a little bit about how this would work. for

. >> rose: iurance companie will have to meet a competition from a public option? >> we cannot contie. i thought the presidt saying that heah care is theeficit issue, you kno, when we look at the defic... if we d't reign rein in our health ce costs we won rein in our deficit. and so i think the plic option needs be a component. >> rose: ony, wherere we today? >> i think the preside did a great job oflaying out why the status quo is unsustainable. one of t first questions i got in my town hall meetingss from people who hadealth care they thout they liked and s fine and was wdering why we're doing anything that impacted them. i think made a gooargument that it's a national imperative that we act. i was one of the peoe that got a little finger in e eye when he said he di't support single player plans that iupport. i thinfrankly we know for example the that hureds of billions of dollars e taken ouof the heah care system anput into profitsand overheads by insurance companies that want to bring in as much as theyan and pay outas little as they can. he made a good argumen

well, i think he's g to be specific on ese iurance reform points that i think actually theay there ma be moress on that tha on some of the other issues. fo example that you can't deny coverageorpre-existing conditions. there that should bennual ps on what insurance companies will pay ou or lifetime cap so that when you t really sick y're screwed, you'reut of luck. i think he wants insist tt there's no discrimination agait women as there is in the current systemparticularly in the individualarket. but beyond that, think he wants tobe specic aboutow this exchangeill operate. i think he'll na case for a puic option. the white houshas incated that they will make that case, i think, hoping to convince congress that th is a good option tt should be in the exchge. but i thk that the very specific details of that he'll probably still leave to some me osh united nations on capito hill. the house has s version. the senate health committeeas its version. the finance committee wants to do it as ao-called triggeas we've heard abt in rent days. so ihink he'll leave some room r that to be me gauche@

somef the problemsn terms ofomef yo smaller companies not ing able to a vord rht now, health care iurance, not onlyhe small employers but also the lf-employed well. >> some of the feedback coming o fromashington today reveals that the demoats and republicans are still digging in their heels on this who debate about heal-care reform. doou think a compromise is possible? >> i think a coromise will come about. i think at you will see th there will be givend-take on this, that ceain aspects of the plan will probay fall by the wayside in terms of excess abity, in terms of perps the vernment provision care, in termsof perha the mandatory aspects of the plan, in terms of mandatory participation by employers and also by private citizens. some of those are gog to be some of the areashat will be probably hotly debated over the nextew months but io think that something will be coming out ofongress at this point in time. >> if somethin doesn't come out of congreswhat is the threat to the economy? >> significant. significt threat. you are looking from estimates i've seepwards of 68 million uninsur by

how g is is the iurance packagthat they're going to have to buy is one issue. how much of eir income do they have to p out for the premms is anothe issue how much do they have to pay deductibles and co-pays is a eshoo and wheres t t of pocket limit on their costs. all of those things determine effordable. >> woodruff: we were watching senatobaucus moving to make itore affordable to some of these peoplen the middle income gro to be able to get insurance. >> yes. woodruff: it will cost the government more under his prosal. >> it is. he basally took $50 million morend spread it aund to make these affordability credits mo generous. he offset that with som changes on the tax side. as betty an mentioned he also lowered the penalties at e high end for the... if you don't oblige with the mandate. then h changed numbers on the high cost excise tax on insurance. as betty anne said, but h also lted the rates. the ratego from 30% to 40%. lots ofmoving pieces around to make this package hang together >> woodruff: derlyingll is we kn e sator's desire to keep t oerall number

tais and natiwide iurance, workg to improve fincial literacy dhe economic emperment that comes wh it.and by ntributions to your pbstation from viewers like you. thank u. [captioning de possible by kc public televisio

. >> rose: iurance companie will have to meet a competition from a public option?we cannot contie. i thought the presidt saying that heah care is theeficit issue, you kno, when we look at the defic... if we d't reign rein in our health ce costs we won rein in our deficit. and so i think the plic option needs be a component. >> rose: anony, wherere we today? >> i think the preside did a great job oflaying out why the status quo is unsustainable. one of t first questions i got in my town hall meetingss from people who hadealth care they thout they liked and s fine and was wdering why we're doing anything that impacted them. i think made a gooargument that it's a national imperative that we act. i was one of the peoe that got a little finger in e eye when he said he di't support single player plans that iupport. i thinfrankly we know for example the that hureds of billions of dollars e taken ouof the heah care system anput into profitsand overheads by insurance companies that want to bring in as much as theyan and pay outas little as they can. he made a good argument

young, it is going ost huge amountsf subsidies, and all the taxes that areoing to be iosed on the iurance companies will be passed on in hier premiums. at is what youhave all the sqwking on the left an the right. finay, the costs areut there, and they are huge. there is one thing it does not do, create cpetition, evan. there are these regional cooperatives and it is a public option. you have a huge amount of concentrati in the industry. >> the has been some talk om senatoron wyden out creating competition. i wish that wod find its way into the fin bill. it does not sounlike it wi. onthing that has cracterized th whole tng is a complete lack of honest aut cost in thsense that people will pay more about something. thepolitics has been amazing, om the presidentn down, about just not ever addresng the elepha in the roomthat you cann have meaniful health rorm without someby giving up something or payi more. ey arnow going, oh, my god, were doubling at the casi and it will st us something. >> you ll be paying more without anything happening. >> first of all, it is not a finance committee ll. th

tavis a nationwide iurance, working to improve fancial literacy and the economic empowermt that comes with it. >> nationwide is on your side. >> and by contributions to your pbs stationrom viewers like you. thank you. [captioninmade possible by kcet public television] tavis: senator jeff bingaman of new mexico hds a unique seat in this heah care reform debate. as a member of both e senate finance smith and the hlth, education and labor commite. if all goe according to plan, the enate finance committee could begin voti on a health care bill this week. senator bingaman joi us tonight from capitolill. senator, nice to havyou on the progra sir. >> nice to be with y, tavis. tavis: how rlistic is that that we might start votingn that this ek? gh i thi we're going to start voting on amendments tomorrow. on tuesday we will be ting to complete all of the proposed amendments somewhere this week and finally report a bilby the ends othe week. i think that's senator baucus' hope. >> last i read, there arebout 564 of these amendments. how do you weed rough allf that and get to a vote by t end of th

i ink you can dog that by alwing insurance companies and ople to contract for health care iurance that recogzes th rewards them fo doing so. but i think one of the concerns people have you're still taing about in the overarching goalof reducing the supply of healthare to reduce the cost. at is reallyhat we're looking at. and the problem is with the demographitrends that mr. califano pointed out with the people living longer, the ba boomers, the largest genetion in american history ling on, whatyou're goingto see is a continued rise in demand. and if theovernment tries to ntrol costs through addressing the supply issue, you're going to see costs goup. that's why t projections that we've seen for other health care that are the governmentas provided thrgh medicare and mecaid, those expenses are in unfunded trillions over the coming years. >> rose: didhe predent's argument today abouthis is the right time, t urgency argument this is wha we need to do that thiss an iss of humanity a all ththings that he eloquently said make a difference to you or to other republicans? >> well, i thi the key

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coittee, today released his much-anticipated heah care reform bil the proposal wou provide health iurance for nearly 30 milln americans at a cost of $856 billion over ten years. the bill would also impose stcter regulations on the insurance industry, cut medicare spending, and provide subsidies for low-income americans. senator bauc said the bill represented true compromise effort tha could pass congress. >>we've do everything imaginable to ge the most generous, most aordable coverage that we could within president obama's target of $900 billion. there are honest and principled differences amg all of us working for reform and this packagmay not represent allf our first choices. but athe end of the day, we all share a common purpose: that is to make t lives of ericans better tomorrow tha they are tod and to t heah care reform done. ich means the te to come for action is now, and we willct. we will act and pass health reform legislation this year. >> this probably one ofhe largest pies of social legiation in history since the depression. it affects everybody i our country. it affects erybod

thatanyone who has been fhting to bring stability and serity to our health system to help ge real health iuranceeforms for ople who have insunce and genuine option forpeople who don't so they can geit at a pre they can afford, and they'll get tax credits if they can't afford it, i think tat is what we've been working for, for a ry long time, and i think yoll find broad nsensus for it. >> woodruf david axelrod, we'realso hearing from administraon officials today that there's n real surprise if wh the president is going to say do you really expect people to move in yr direction after toght? >> judy, as i said before, thinthat more than anything, the ameran people have hed the ports of various committe of congress. they've heard the distortions of opponents health reform abouthose proposals. what they're goi to hear tonight is the presint's plan in someetail, and i thinit will have an effect. every poll i've seen suggests when peop hear the facts, not the fiction, buthe facts,that there's rong support for this. an you know, i think most americans understand that we're on unsustainable path re. that

>> the first problem you mentioned the fact there are people without iurance and it isn't portable, those problems stem from a single cause which as weely on private insurs to provideealth insurance. that is a failed business model effectively for this enterprise. the prhvate insurance companies imperative is to not sign up as clients people read medicare. they want to find all the people to ensure whoon't need medical ca so much of their budget is devoted to identify anwho is going to need care and thdn taking steps to exclude those people from the policy role. another part of the budget is bad on aggressive efforts t deny reimbursement claims so if you do have a policy and you do get a procedure and seek reimbursement they have experts who get bonuses if they deny claims and extra salary of dating my a proportion of claims. that is a field business model for providing health care. that is called the adverse selection problem and why no othemajor economy provides health care along the lines of th model. every other country has a universal access system that is ughly speaking a single per

we have toold the iurance industry's feet to theire. however, i think it's important to set the record straight because the questions leave the implicati that the mark is esy onhe insunce indury. it is not. >> repter: still, rockeller's proposal found support from some fellow democrats like newersey's robert mendez. we are not talking about an entitlement, we are talking about a self sustaed, self financedntity th is fundamentally differt. so it's good to talk about medicare being aublicly run insurancprovision for those who qualifybecause of their age and otheronditions, but the boom line is that's far different than this. this is not a entitlement and therefore a mandate. >> the clerk wl call the role. >> reporr: but in the end, the rockefeller amendment faed 15- 8, with baus and 4 other decrats joining all 10 republicans on the committ. suorters of a public plan will have ather chance to bring the issue , and that's when the sete's health care reform bill comes to the flo for debate, someme in the next month. meanwhile th say, at lea

." >> butn additional step we can take to keep iurance companies host is by making a not-for- profitpublic opti available in the insurance exchange. ( cheers and applae ) >> reporter: many of tho we spoke to agreed it was important. deboh martin was on her way to work in minnealis. >> i was a ltle worried that was gonna take off the publ approach to it the public option,ecause i was hearing that that was nna be dropped. i was rely inspired to hear that he is pnning to go ahead with that. >> reporr: but still others were dubious about the possility of a government pl. >> i haven't cnged my position on healthce, i'm not for the public option, anyway,nd haven't been. so it seems, i might be seens more skeptal, i'm no more skeptical than was. >> i don'tee how it can work in aational plan in the current rm that the president's presting. >> reporte in oklahoma, inrance agent john gumerson said something must done, just not what the presidt outlined. >> wl, president obama is a very smooth eaker, and i thought he can be very peuasive. he is a wonderful orat, i'll give you tha used to be in

subsidies for workingoor ople have to be sufficienso if we're goingo say the need to have health iurance that they can actually afford healt insurance. so she's been actually pushing the process, is i would say, in a progreive direction, from my perspective, on that issue. but i think shs been a strong..and been for several months on sing l's see whether the private secr, the private insurance mket can actually deliver products that provid a "covege before we trigger the national public option. d if ey don't, then let's make in those aas a public optionvailable. so that is... she' been clear abt that. d i think that people are gointo take... have to take into csideration does that prode not only her vot but some repubcan votes. does it satisfy the moderate democrats in the sate? can you forge a comprise with her in t... with members of the house ofepresentativesto find responsie action? maybe you n combine the ide i just put forward on whe states where a governor wants to trigger public plan i that state combined with a tional plan. i n't know exactly where the final produ's going to lie

we need health iurance reform.my stepfather has medicaid without which he would have died some time ago. as a young man he had routine shoulder surgery but was transfused with blood that was contaminated with help tights-c. he suffers from other problems he suffers from other problems thank goodness he had medicaid because he would not have been able to pay for his care and recovery. please help the people, not the insurers or pharmaceutical companies. mr. president, your comment about the insurance or pharmaceutical companies, i was here in the house of representatives when the medicare partial privatization legislation was writpen five or six years ago. by and large it was written by the drug and insurance companies. it provided a lot of public dollars that went to both those industries. frankly, there are -- there is a very strong insurance lobby here in this congress today. the insurance industry and a lot of the opponents of this bill are spending up to $1 million a day lobbying against it. this leglation, the

when you think about it, it is so much more difficult to imagine getting information about the iurance status of people who do not want to have discussions with people who are from the census or anywhere else that is part of the offical, so i think the answer is there really are parts of the cotry along the borders who face stress because when people are in acute illness, hospitals may not turn them away. it's one of the serious charges fell law requires hospitals that provide medicare services to not turn anyone away if they are in an emergency situation and they will come get you as a hospital if you are charged with pushing people away for whatever reason including th didn't have coverage or anything else so it isn't that there isn't care particularlyrovided in communities along the borders or where there may be unusual congregations. but there is very ltle that is known accurately about the impact of illegal immigrants. the house then some work i think actually robert johnson may have found it there has been some work looking at the impact of immigrants who are in a legal status an

them -- if small businesses have to pay a tax on every employer to make sure they get cotered with iurance if the pharmaceutical companies are goin to have to pony up i have forgotten how many hundred million force more drugs for seniors, if everyone else sacrifices why can't we ask the poor trial lawyers to give up a little bit? we are not saying malpractice claims couldn't be filed. that's the way that doctors and hospitals and others are kept honest. you headache a mistake, you have to pay for it. but we can make sure the system works to prevent the kind of jackpot justice i talked about. there are five different kinds of medical malpractice reforms thatorked. one was offered in the "help" committee by senator enzi called "health courts." the state of texas and the state of arizona have both adopted certain kinds of medical malpractice reforms. in arizona it has begun to work and in texas something like 7,000 doctors have moved into the state; something like the premiums being reduced either by 21% or 23%. in other words, medical malpractice can reduce the cost to provide care. by reduc