>> jon kingsdale. thank you. mr. kingsdale, thank you for being on c-span.annot stand what the did tocan consultant your governor back in 1988 just when i got out of college. aboutthings i am curious as a person who is self-employed with a home-based business, but who has had two mental illnesses in my past. temporal lobe epilepsy, asked burgers syndrome. bergers syndrome. thank you for having temple grandin on book tv. a volunteer for people with worse meta-conditions, do you --w what mental health whether or not mental health problems have been written into howacare and the second, are these exchanges the same as or different from blue cross blue shield? i am worried about my stay because i heard that 21 republican state governors have said no thank you to medicare and medicaid increases. let me take both of those questions. on mental health, behavioral health issues, that is one of 10 essential health benefits that the affordable care act requires be covered by individual and small employer plans. if you are eligible and go to the exchange to buy coverage

host: jon kingsdale has spent most of his career doing with health care issues. he began his career as a reporter for forbes magazine and spent many years working for blue cross blue shield. he is the manager at a consulting group. this from john in carolina. why were rates in massachusetts much higher than most states prior to romney care? guest: we have two separate -- sets of rates. one is for group coverage. that reflects our typically higher costs for medical care than the average in the country. our administrative costs are in line or somewhat lower than the rest of the country for administering insurance. most of the dollars, about 90%, go to doctors and hospitals for medical care itself, which is a high ratio. a good sign of efficiency. the cost of hospitalization here, the cost of some of these medical services has been traditionally higher than in the rest of the country for a number of reasons that have nothing to do with health reform. part of our insurance market that was broken was the individual direct purchase market. that had high rates, which ac

host: jon kingsdale has spent withof his career doing health care issues. he began his career as a reporter for forbes magazine and spent many years working for blue cross blue shield. a is the manager at consulting group. this from john in carolina. in massachusetts much higher than most states prior to romney care? guest: we have two separate rates. one is for group coverage. that reflects our typically higher costs for medical care than the average in the country. are ininistrative costs line or somewhat lower than the rest of the country for administering insurance. 90%,of the dollars, about go to doctors and hospitals for medical care it self, which is a high ratio. a good sign of efficiency. the cost of hospitalization here , the cost of some of these medical services has been traditionally higher than in the rest of the country for a number of reasons that have nothing to do with health reform. part of our insurance market that was broken was the individual direct purchase market. that had high rates, which actually came down 25% with the implementat

we will be joined by jon kingsdale. is live at journal" 7:00 a.m. eastern every day here on c-span. and commercergy subcommittee heard testimony about healthcare.gov from an i.t. official with the centers for medicare and medicaid sentences -- services. the hearing ran about 2.5 hours. >> good morning. i convened this hearing to talk about healthcare.gov. americans want to know the answers to two simple questions -- is my information secure if i use healthcare.gov, why should i believe the administration that it is the echo it has been nearly 50 years since the launch of healthcare.gov, and the website is not function at an acceptable level. this is in spite the numerous problems and assurances the public was given by the administration leading up to and over several months leading up to the launch of the website. this committee heard directly from secretaries to bilious -- lius,ecretary sebei tavener, and cohen that they would be ready by october 1. those projections were not just limited to the website. we've also been routinely promised the website with a thin that americans -- w