john rother. >> good morning, everyone. this, unfortunately, is turning into an annual exercise because the reason we're here is the costs in the medicare part b program which pays for physicians projected to go up 22%. when the social security cost of living is practically flat. and so we have a serious imbalance, and that's the focus of today. so nigh name is john rother. i'm the ceo of the national coalition on health care. we are a non-profit, nonpartisan organization that represents consumers, providers and payers, purchasers in health care. and our mission is health care affordability. and today, i think we'll just reinforce the need for us to take more steps in medicare and in the system of health care more generally to keep health care affordable. so let me just introduce our excellent lineup of speakers. starting with longtime colleague and friend trisha neuman who at the kaiser family foundation will lay out the facts for us. there's no one who is better able to do that. tricia is the director of the program on he