tonight, we talk medicare and health reform with the kaiser family foundation's tricia neuman. >> paul: i.b.m.'s doing it. sprint and amazon too. but does the recent jump in deals mean m&a is back on wall street? yes, and no. >> suzanne: then, we head to china where motorola's taking its cues directly from the consumer and trying to boost its share of the cell phone market. >> paul: i'm paul kangas. >> suzanne: and i'm suzanne pratt. susie gharib is off tonight. this is "nightly business report" for tuesday, july 28. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> suzanne: good evening, everyone. the beaten down u.s. housing market may be showing signs of stabilization. the s&p-case shiller index of home prices rose half a percentage point in may from april. that's its first monthly increase since the summer of 2007. still, home prices were down 17% from a year ago. while a stabilization in home prices could help stem the foreclosure crisis, the white house says not enough borrowers

guest: quickly, kaiser, your insurance company, has an excellent record of making sure that the system is run well and that there is quality and value for the cost involved. it is a good plan. i do think that the record across the health insurance industry, however, is mixed. bottom line, they have not been very effective at managing this extraordinary medical inflation, and they have found it cheaper to keep coverage away from those who need it than to manage the underlying costs. that is what the reasons why insurance reforms are such an important part of this bill, but

this is not kaiserç permanente and. this is canada -- this is not kaiser permanente an.t appreciate it. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert glenn: america, you'll be happy to know our apology andtoutour s continuing. çhillary clinton was blaming te u.s. for global warming. >> we have made mistakes in the united states, and we, along with other developed countries, have contributed most significantly doç the problems that we face with climate change. we are hoping that a great country like india will not make the same mistakes. glenn: yeah, except i am thinking in india will make the same mistakes. they are not rejecting -- they are rejected ministrations call for lower admissions -- emissions because they like to bring people out of poverty -- they are rejecting the administration's call. many do not even have electricity. former ambassador john bolton is here, author of a book. my gosh, john. the apology tour just continues. i cannot take it. al

ining me now with a discussi of the nation's medicarerogram isuest tricia neuman, director of the kaiser family fountion's medicare policy project. icia, welcome. >> thank you very ch. >> suzanne: ll, medicare as you know rns 44 th week and iuess birthds are always a goodime to take stock so i want to as you, let's gin with, do you think the dicare progm is successful? >> i think dicare has been enormouslyuccessful. if you thinkbout the start e program, athat time, less thanalf of all seniors had health insurance. so today, all niors have heth insurance they can g coverage witht regard tany health pblems or thout regard to their income and by and lar, senis are very satisfied wi the program. it's a very popar program, s, yes, i do thinkit's beenuite succesul. >> suzanne: early, funding is one of the major chlenges facing the program. what are some of t other challenges, though, thathey're going to be dealing with? >> well, actually benefits a a real probl. dicare is aually ls geneus than most large employer plans. so one of the issues is finding a way to improve benefitsso thateniors get

joining me now with a discsion of the nation's medire program is guest tricia neuman, direor of the kaiser family undation's medicare policy project. tricia, welcome. >> thank you vy much. >> suzan: well, medicare as you know turns 44this week an i guess bihdays are alwa a od time to take stock so i want task you, let's begin with, do you thinkhe medicare ogram is successful? >> i tnk medicare has been enormously successful. if you think about the stt of the proam, at that time, ls an half of all seniors h health insurance. so tod, all seniors have health insurance. they c get coverage thout rega to any health problems or without regard to their inme and by andarge, niors are very satisfiewith the program. it's a veryopular program, so, yes, i do thi it's been quite suessful. >> suzan: clearly, funding is one of the maj challenges facing the program. what are some the other challenges, though, that they're going to be dealing with >> wel actually benefits are a real pblem. medicare is actually less nerous than most large employer plans. so one of the issues i finding a way to improve benef

something about it senior executives at kaiser are good friends of mine. [laughter] they haven't bought me any dinners, but i do think it is a wonderful model and is a good for everyone? will everyone wanted? probably not. are there lots of people who have experienced it and really like it? the answer is, yes. >> our elected officials are struggling mightily to find ways to increase unemployment, the economy needs. [laughter] providian slip. health care reform will inevitably reduce employment. how you reconcile these two? >> you're made. that is very limited. i don't agree with that promise at all. so the first thing to say is that no one is talking about taking money out of a health care system. no one cared for one thing if you want to cover 47 million americans released to have to keep the system as it is two not only expanded initially. what we want to do is change to the rate of growth from year to year. so from an employment standpoint you're not going to get rid of and that total number of people. you might not have people doing insurance billing a

joining us now the ceo of kaiser aluminum, mr. hawkum. you don't necessarily make aluminum, you're doing sort of a value ad of part of the aluminum process. so you're not essentially taking the risk of whether aluminum prices go up or down? >> thanks for having me, erin, and that's correct. we seek to be neutral and make our money on the value added. >> what is that value added? >> roughly 50% of our business is aerospace. the other 50% is general industrial and automotive. we make mill products and extrusions and pass through the cost of the metal and make our money on the value added above the cost of metal. >> this is karen. i don't know if you heard rockwell ceo we just had on talking about the aerospace industry, and i wonder what you're seeing in terms of demand there. obviously this is a huge end market for you. how does it look? >> similar to what he said, karen. we see the build rates continuing at a strong level. we are seeing some destocking, although in our case, that's primarily in the service center segment that also service

kaiser permanente's first farmers market at its own facility here in baltimore.sing that some of what you are about to show us in this cooking is some the fresh ingredients. >> it's one of the 30 kaiser permanent 'farmers market across the country. >> what is i it that you're makg here this morning? >> we're going to make a snap pea and cherry tomato pasta. >> you can smell that and it's so fragrant. >> the reason we can smell it is because we have a fresh dill that goes into this n none fat dressing. we put a little bit of parsly and le lemon zest and lemon jui, you throw in some parmesan. >> this is easy. even i can do this? >> this goes -- i think we probably won't use the whole bulb but we will put a little bit in here. >> right over the pasta. >> very nice. >> and you can stir that up for a second. >> i sure will, while we get set up with a magic trick with the cherry tomatoes. >> talk about eating fresh. >> fresh local food is the best food for you and your family. it's also good for the families, because it helps to support them and our farmers, our local

stacy kaiser, a psychotherapist steve, let me start with you. you've been on the roads. does that number strike you, 23 times greater, or do you expect that? >> mike, i wouldn't expect it to be that high, but i've got to start by saying i've investigated serious and fated al accidents by people dialing their phone, talking on their phone, reaching for their phone, and texting with their phone. it is a problem for sure. >> ann, as we look at this, that crash risk, so much greater. can we use this, and do we need the ban across this country? it seems so with those numbers. >> i think based on the research, it makes a lot of sense to ban cell phone use and texting. i think the challenge, however, is to be able to enforce those laws, to really get drivers to hang up. >> steve, how do we enforce that? that's a great point. people, as we note, know it's wrong, know it's dangerous, still do it. they're going to be doing it out there. how do we enforce it? >> i think this study is going to prompt legislation both on the local, state and federal predominant group using texting ri

psychotherapist stacey kaiser. and by phone, nicholas, for the dispatch.g me this guy can see his wife and his two sons in a coffin one minute and he's going to be text messaging love notes to his mistress the next? >> that's what police are saying. they're saying on the day of the wake, and on the day of the funeral, that he text messaged the girlfriend on her mother's telephone and he told her he loved her and misses her. >> brother. stacey, how does someone get to that place where evil grips them so much that you can -- he's accused, innocent until proven guilty, but you're still looking at your dead sons and wife and you're going to be texting your girlfriend in the same breath? >> mike, you've heard me talk on your show about sociopaths. this is sociopathic behavior, it's an ability to completely disassociate from your feelings and go a whole other direction. >> okay. you know the follow-up to this. again, when we're not dealing with logical thinking here, it's sociopathic mind, i get that. but why not just divorce? if you're hell-bent on marrying thi

kaiser amiminu ong, the o one warren b bfefet a lot of.. what happened to them?as ririou outperformrmcece f the first 7 to0 0 nths after they emergeged from bankruptcy. and then the stocks dropoppeofof but that's's mtltly e to the ctct tt they're highly exposed to housing. asasbeos went into housing.. for wr grace the bad h houngng news is inin t p pasand later emergence from b banupupy than these others might endndp p rely payiyingffffor shareholders. and d thotothe were pure housing plays with asbestos. grace is not a aouousi play. let me g givyoyosome specific examples, though, soso y c c see why i'm so k kn n onhis. armstrtrg g wod emerged on tober 2006 then peaked at t $57.48. a 47% gain at the highgh. cornrng g le bankruptcy november 06, peaked may 31st ofof 27,7, 31.8% gain, kaiser out o of bankruptcy july 7t7t 2 200 peakededn n ma10th of 2007, up 11111... only usg failed to h hava a meingful move, up 8.1% betweween its emerergee e om bankruptcy anand e peak. ththat p ptty solid. isn't the hihisty y ear? compananiethth emerge from asbestos-inducucedananupt

. >>> kaiser permanente's hospital has been sued for not protecting the privacy of the octuplets of nadya suleman. there was an internal investigation that found that employees improperly access to the records of the babies. in may, the hospital's also find because they released -- the hospital was also fined because they released her information. >>> federal law prohibits commercial activity at rest areas. officials are requesting a change to allow prive businesses to operate the rest areas. the governor supports the idea. >>> a normal day at the beach turns elsewise. ocean city beach patrol guards found a boy unresponsive. they gave him four rounds of cpr to revive him. he apparently has no lasting injuries. he was able to talk about it, and that is a good thing. >>> although, it would have been a good day to be at the beach today. >> another high date tomorrow, but it looks like a good weekend, refreshing. owanother homoda.y toowrr ndi foune one teensy little showers. i will use this to go down into southern maryland. most of those showers did not materialize this afternoon. we will ke

jack kaiser worries los angeles is in danger of losing a good part of its hollywood business. >> we lost over 200,000 jobs in aerospace, and that haunted us for a long, long time. and we don't want to see that type of thing again. >> reporter: california has just started offering tax incentives to stop runaway production. but given the state's huge budget crisis, many worry it will be too little too late. >> last call. >> reporter: carla wohl, abc news, hollywood. >>> and now with a look ahead to abc 2 news at 6:00 tonight, i'm kelly swoope. an ellicott city church is asking the county to approve a tax flu bond. why it is sparking controversy. >>> and a young boy is being hailed as a hero. what he did to help save a woman's life, straight ahead on abc 2 news at 6. (employee 1) subject: urgent!! bob!! i need the baker file stat!! reply!! still making changes. circle back later!! what's with the yelling? oh, our internet slows down during peak hours so sending e-mails and large files just takes forever. so, we just yell. ben!!! thanks for the flowers!!! i thought you hated me!!! lol!!! sem

a fully integrated system like kaiser could benefit from that. the system we have now doesn't benefit from that. >> very smart. howard dean, thanks for your insights. we so appreciate it. governor howard dean joining us here in the studio. we'll see you soon. >>> up next, did a boy wizard make movie studio magic on a big opening day. what it means for this summer's box office receipts. >> she's interested in you because she thinks you're the chosen one. the world'suncer) leading companies thrive on collaboration with the world's leading companies. together, we're helping to shape the exchanging world. nyse euronext. powering the exchanging world. the gold delta skymiles credit card... from american express... it's the official card... of the world's largest airline. and it's the only credit card... that earns miles on delta. miles that take you... to more places than ever before. over 350 destinations worldwide. so switch today. get up to 25,000 bonus miles-- good for a free flight. call now to apply. there's no annual fee for the first year... a

a fully integrated private system, like kaiser, could benefit. the system we have now doesn't benefit at all from that. >> very smart. howard dean, thanks for your insights. we appreciate it. governor howard dean joining us here in the studio. we'll see you soon, thanks very much. >>> up next on "the wall street journal report," did a boy wizard make movie studio magic on a big opening day? what the latest harry potter movie means for this summer's box office. we know why we're here. to redefine air travel for a new generation. to ensure our forces are safer and stronger. to take the world we share to tomorrow and beyond. announcer: around the globe, the people of boeing are working together-- to make a difference. that's why we're here. >>> a boy wizard, an austrian supermodel, and alien robots are battling over consumer dollars at movie theaters this week. "harry potter and the half-blood prince" earned $58 million on its opening day alone, up to $80 million in two days. paul garabedian with hollywood.com. great to have you on the program. than

the california department of health says this is the second fine for kaiser's hospital.ck in may it had to pay $250,000 because employees looked at suleman's medical information. an investigation found eight employees looked at four of the babies' records a week after they were born. >> if your fingers fly fast because you're a frequent texter, you could be actually hurting yourself. why doctors say it could lead to surgery down the road. >>> police clashed with protesters today. tear gas was fired at thousands of demonstrators who were calling on president ahmadinejad to resign. dozens were arrested. inside the service government opponents chanted freedom. the top clerical backer akbar rafsanjani criticized the disputed election. >>> several people who lost loved ones in the september 11 attacks say the time for justice is now. they say the closure of guantanamo bay will prolong their suffering. they visited the detention center in cuba this week. secretary of state has said the obama administration is committed to carrying out justice. >>> an update after a story from

we think the build rates are going to continue to be strong, and we see this as a big market for kaiser aluminum. >> let's talk about autos real quick. ford made some great comments about july. they said units sold may be over 10 million. how important is that to your business? >> it's only about 5% of our value-added revenues today, but it's an important segment and a key growth segment for us going forward. with the kapay legislation and the drive to more fuel-efficient automobiles, that drives manufacturers to design more aluminum exclusion, our products into those models. our growth rate has been in the past five or ten years, and we see that escalating in terms of automobile growth going forward. >> the trade, karen, from what you heard. >> i like the name. i am not sure at the moment. >> aluminum to me we see production cut back about 20%. we're starting to see the beginning of balance in that industry. the minute you do, you'll start seeing prices take off. that's whial cy alcoa has room . >>> they had a ridiculously terrible quarter. the ceo was just in the wall street journal s

kaiser, cumberland and maryland seeing heavy rainfall.o this is why we have this severe thunderstorm watch in affect. now go down to the south. it's a pretty powerful, vigorous front moving through. this area in red here, through portions of halifax county, a tornado warning in affect. not here but down to the south. and you can see the strong storm activity associated along the front. that's a perfect picture. just to the south of the lynchberg area. and we'll keep our eyes on this and see how it develops during the crse of the day today. and now back to the regional radar and there is washington and here is your storm system associated with a cold front. again this is producing a variety of watches and warnings. there is a small craft in place for the tidal potomac and parts of the chesapeake bay because of the strong storm conditions. cld see strong, gusty winds associated with this precipitation. and in addition to that, we have the thunderstorm watch in affect. let me show you that. some thunderstorm watches in affect across the area

i was doing some research, and according to the kaiser foundation, -- i-team's people believe that peopled be taken care of. in fact, i had a friend who died of brain cancer, and he did not have health insurance. catastrophic health insurance. is there some way that we can do that? if such as small percentage is responsible for the spending? >> yes, i think we have gone about as all the wrong way. $15 million -- 15 million or more americans do not have health insurance. provide them with a catastrophic coverage plan. a $5,000 voucher. they could go out, brian, and shop for health care with any insurance company they want to, cover for those kind of catastrophic events. that is what insurance is about. instead, what the democrats want to do here is that a government- run system for everybody, and i think that is exactly the wrong way to go, because look what what is happening in canada and britain. youe1 just do not have high- quality health care. brian: knowing that you live in virginia make sure all the more welcome back. thank you, steve. all right, car czars pushing green cars on us, b

in fact, kaiser, the largest hmo in california, just joined our health care plan. this can be done in the rest of the country. i think this is critical and it's time for mayors to get involved in this debate because we're the ones left holding the bag in terms of cost delay. >> you hear the argument that people say the government can't run anything, that people will be standing in long lines rashenirashe rationing and all those horror stories. >> it's a way of derailing this whole process and it's a cliche. you can write this book, predict every chapter and the conclusion, the reality is those who don't want to do it are going to say that and wave the canadian flag and talk about socialized medicine around the world. san francisco has 36 participants, half public, half private. you still have choice. with private doctors, not just public doctors, but the good news is we're delivering health care at a lower cost than traditional health insurance. you've got to create competition and provide something that health insurance companies may not be able to provide. >> how

gey neerrallstwen stmaryland through romney and kaiser, but also from woodmanek rkw matow and luray anding up 81 to front royal, straussburg, winchester. and you can get some activity over the next hour. the forecast for the next three days. talking about temperatures mid to upper 80s with showers and storms likely this afternoon. tomorrow, i'm going mostly dry upper 80s to near 90 and a few storms with temperature in the 80s. this morning partly sunny at times and mostly cloudy with an isolated shower. mainly west. in the 70s. we will quickly climb to the 80s and mid to upper 80s today and scattered strong to severe thunderstorms. sunset 8:20. tonight a few evening thunderstorms and mostly cloudy. still muggy, 67 to 74. winds northwesterly at five to ten but not looking at a big dryout. the big yellow area, that's the severe threat from the storm prediction center and includes us. damaging winds and large hail the severest of the storms. we have a lot of moisture outside. we are seeing that on radar. we saw a little on doppler 9000 but in western pennsylvania, ohio, kentucky, tennessee

you know, we -- drew kaiser got me involved.atched that show on friday night and said i can figure this out with the help of this man. the baltimore sun wrote an article that called me obnoxious. can't you get meaner than that? obnoxious? what's the stock? >> caller: the stock is your favorite, one of your favorites, first merit. >> listen, here, you have to give the spoils to the victors and first merit is one of them. they've done everything right. it's time to take some of these community banks that are in trouble we keep reading about and eureka. sell them to the good guys like first maryland like fulton and glacier and peoples united. that's a good list. okay. how about bill in michigan. bill. >> caller: a big up north michigan boo-yah to you from glenn arbor and traverse city. you're missing the most wonderful place to play golf, jim. >> i'll take up the game and be there in a flash. >> caller: our stock is ism health inc and symbol is rx. >> i've know this company. i've owned this stock in 1983. but i got to tell you some

corning left bankruptc november 2006, pked may 31st of 2007, 31.8 gain, kaiser ouof bankptcy july 7th on may 1th of 2007, up 111.7%. only usg failed to have a meaningful move, up 8.1% between its emergence from bankrtcy and th peak. that's prettsoli isn't the history clear? compies that emerge fro asbestos-induced bankruptcy seem to get a multmonth boost. and i'm counting on that to lp put wr grace or the top. how abouthe fundtals? the coany's speciay chemicals business, its biggest area is what's kno as catalysts. ese are usedy refiri to reduce sfur emissions d remo imrities. the busine has been helped by overa increase in the refining of what's own as hey crude, a higher sfu coent. and even thoug short-term refining actity is down on lower oil con sumptionnsumptiond of economic recoverys goingo help this business. we don't have wait to buy is one because grac chemical depennchelped cut wn emissis. reduced nitrogen oxide essions by 35% to 50%. th mes a very -- f a very obama-epa friendly stock. a cap and trade stock and the kind of business that should benefrom pro cle air, anticlime

you see them trying to fill in this okayser, harrisonburg -- kaiser, harrisonburg.ust a few overnight showers and tomorrow is a much different day. cloud cover across the area and cooler temperatures on the way. let'go back to the high temperatures today. what a beautiful day it was. look at that. 84 degrees at reagan national. duffel he is, bwi as well. this is the coolest july 4th in five years. last time was 2004. we had a high temperature of 81 but it rained over two inches. the rain held o perfect conditions. temperatures now cooling off. and we're at 76 in washington, 74 in baltimore, overnight lows. we get the clouds so it will be mid-60s for overnight lows in washington. again just cloud cover tonight and then we're going to get into the possibility of showers tomorrow. cls the cloud cover. we're moving into dry air so it's not having much luck getting to the ground but tomorrow this area of low pressure that is well out to the west, bringing thunderstorms at this hour to tennessee and kentucky. all of this mess will push to the east. the good news is it wil

such salon was going to be on health care later this month to be underwritten by 25,000 bucks from kaiser permanente, which was close to signing a contract. soon after politico broke the story, she said she hadn't approved the idea. the post editor said he was appalled and the newsroom would not participate. well, it was a horrible idea. an unmitigated embarrassment for the newspaper. selling access to administration officials and congressmen? other big media outfits, the "wall street journal," the at lanetic and new yorker to name a few stage forums and accept many thousands of dollars from corporations to pay for them. here's the difference. most of those affairs are on the road and open to media coverage. having lobbyists and conglomerates have small, off the record dinners doesn't smell right, and i'm glad the idea was quickly deep sixed. that will do it for this edition of reliable sources. now back for more "state of the union." >>> a startling admission this sunday from vice president joe biden. the president's prescription to create new jobs isn't work, the vice president concedes

west of i-81 moving up to areas around petersburg and kaiser and eventually getting more up around winchesterareas of virginia. so there are showers out there. we may see a few of our own just showers, no thunderstorms coming our way later this evening. 85 degrees, the temperature now. it is 88 in manassas. frederick, too. little bit of heat out there. little likely to get into the upper 80s again tomorrow. we will start the day tomorrow at 74, 75 degrees with some partly sunny skies across the area. it will still be hazy and plenty humid and we will have plenty of fuel for some downpours tomorrow with the thunderstorms that come through. 88 could be some severe weather on tap coming up again tomorrow. saturday's quiet but more storms on tap for sunday during the afternoon. back to you. >>> still ahead on "news4 at 4:00," see just how far some people went to get their hands on the little extra cash. >> and next, a new treatment that's helping some people stop the snoring and could allow you to get a good night's sleep for a change. wyñÑñ lowe's has just been named 2009 energy star retail p

burr kaiser -- mr. brookhiser please steel with their slowness in dealing with our manuscript it was buried on my desk. this i've learned is standard procedure in journalism. [laughter] bills older sister and managing editor, we have read it and are eager to publish it. he added, we do receive manuscripts from people your age but i am sure this will be the first we have never published. anyone who ever submit something for the approval of the world expects in some corner of his mind he will be approved. but when approval actually came i was startled. the world of public events which included the media that reported was out there now someone from out there had a signal back. more surprises followed when my article appeared in the issue dated february 24, 1970, one day after my 15th birthday, it was the cover story, moratorium day at the high school by richard brookhiser the next surprise a few weeks later was a check for $180. [laughter] the question of money had given me some anxiety. it must cost somet

when's you look at health care rose 7.3% in 2007, which is the most recent numbers we have from the kaiserily foundation. that increase was more than any other specific piece of the health care pie, and obviously, as we all know, at current inflation rates -- well, it's much more than twice the inflation rate. controlling hospital costs, therefore, is important if we want to get health care costs in control. will the obama plan achieve that? joining us are two people who know, dr. john mendelson from the university of texas. the hospital was named the top cancer hospital in 2009 for the "u.s. news & world report" annual survey. also with us founder and ceo of universal health services, which is one of the largest hospital management companies in the nation. it's a pleasure to have both of you with us. mr. miller, since you're with me, let me start with you, why is it hospital costs are rising more quickly than any other specific piece of the pie? is it as simple as uninsured people go to the hospital as their first point of care, and that's expensive, or is it something else? >> well, we d

mayo clinic, cleveland clinic where the president was last week, intermountain health care in utah, kaisermanente in northern california, they deliver better results for less money. they have a number of things in common. they focus on primary health care, two, they focus on coordinating the delivery of that health care, number three they focus on not fee for service, but focus on the patient, not on the quantity of service, but quality of service. all the patients have electronic health records. somewhere a pretty good idea as to what's working to reign in health care costs. what we need to do in our legislation and in the future is emulate that to incentivize more of that. >> senator, thanks so much for joining us today. we appreciate it. >>> home sales may not be what they were a year ago but are on the rise in some parts of the country. >> sa new report shows may home prices with the first monthly rise since the summer of 2008. let's bring cnbc's diana olick. i've heard no less than five people trying to press you on a bottom on the market. have you caved in. >> it's not a question if

they can go into a for profit or not-for-profit company like kaiser. as i said, or they can go into the public but that's the choice. that's the choice businesses will have. that's the choice individuals will have. >> sherrod, you must get this question all the time from your voters in ohio. why is it that your colleagues appear willing to give away so much just to please a few republicans who may not be interested in passing health care reform of any kind? >> i wish i could answer that question better, howard. i go back to 40 years ago when the medicare bill passed. people like bob dole, strom thurman, donald rumsfeld, gerald ford as members of congress all opposed it. in those days the fact is the democrats moved forward. they didn't worry about we have to have x number of republicans. their mission was we're going to get a good medicare bill. that's what they did. that needs to be our -- that needs to be our charge, not a bipartisan bill -- though i hope it is bipartisan and i hope republicans vote for it -- but our mission, our charge is we need a

there's been analysts like drew altman of the kaiser foundation who studies health issues who argued from the beginning the key variable would be whether people are insured believe it would hurt or help them. those numbers started positive for the administration, they have moved in the wrong direction -- >> michael moore did a better job with the movie "sicko" than this guy's done because michael moore aimed that movie -- maybe because ticket prices are 12 bucks to see a movie -- and said, you think you're insured? they got experts, doctors down at the insurance company knocking off every benefit you're trying to get. the president hasn't been doing that. >> that's true, although i do think they have now discovered insurance companies are unpopular. health insurance companies. and you hear rhetoric from the white house and from the hill -- blaming and calling them villains -- >> speaker pelosi is now finally doing -- she's trying to -- >> there's some contradictions in that in that the administration and the hill have been working more closely with the insurance industry than clinton

the kaiser foundation survey showed 56% of those polled still support a health care overhaul. but 21% said they and their families would be worse off if it passes. that percentage has doubled since february. for his part, president obama took his health care pitch to a town hall-style meeting in a cleveland suburb where he addressed the senate delay. >> we just heard today that, well, we may not be able to get the bill out of the senate by the end of august, or the beginning of august, that's okay. i just want people to keep on working. just keep working. ( applause ) i want to get it right and i want to get it done, as long as i see people working diligently then i am comfortable with >> i'm comfort with building a process forward that builds as as much con ses us as possible but i don't want a delay just because of politics waiting for this the president also toured the cleveland clinic and touted it as a model for health care reform. cleveland clinic has one of the best health information technology systems in the country. this means that they can see what treatments work a

kaiser in northern california. an outfit called inner mountain health. cleveland clinic, cleveland, ohio. and a company in he in pennsylva and cooperative called puget sound emulating this result, better quality outcomes, better health care, lower prices. what we need to do as we attempt to extend health care coverage to those who do not have it, 47 million, is reign in the growth of health care costs, the idea that health care costs grow at 2% to 3% to 4% over the consumer price index will cripple us economically and competitively and cripple our ability to reign in the large and growing deficits. sit here on the -- said here open the floor earlier, in the last years of the nation we ran up as much new debt in eight year as we did in the first 208 years of our nation's history. think of that, running up in eight years, running up as much new debt in the first 208 years as amation and this year we are on track to have the biggest single year deficit and we are in the worst economic downturn since the great depression and trying to stimulate the economy t

and he also privatized health care through kaiser permanente a, and look where it is now. you know, we need to wake up and stop trying to scare everybody, and really work on this. host: from "the new york times," dateline paris, "ireland to accept two from guantanamo. with the guantanamo administration struggling to fulfill a promise to close guantanamo bay detention center in cuba, the irish justice minister said that his country would accept two prisoners for resettlement." next up is louisiana, independent line. caller: i watched "washington journal" at least five times a week. host: well, great, thank you. caller: they added the representative from north carolina. i had -- i forget his name. it turned out that he was a doctor before he was a senator. how are you going to cure health care when you have doctors who will not step on their buddies' toes by lowering their wages? i had a stand to put in my artery. i charged -- i was charged $20,000 for 20 minutes. nobody -- i'm sorry -- needs to make that kind of money. that is why the health care system is in the mess it is

even analysis by the left-wing kaiser family foundation is questioning whether it will plug the gaping costs for nationalizing health care. bill: stuart varney leads coverage from the fox business network. good morning to you. how does this affect everything? >> the language is being manipulated. a cadillac plan, those that not sound like lavish care for the rich? it is simply not true. the vast majority of plans that cost $25,000 per year or more cover people that are already sick or the elderly. what is going on here is a form of class war. we invented class warfare where i came from. this is a good example of it. sounds bad, does it not? cadillac coverage? it drives me nuts, bill. bill: you can recognize it when you see it. what does that look like? >> it looks like that it is not fair, look at how much of the rich are getting, look at what they can afford. tax them, bring them down to earth, make them like us. that is what is at work. believe me. it will not bring in the money that they think it will. they are talking about $25,000 per year or more in health care benefits. do that

so you could choose aetna, united, kaiser, or the government program but they are not -- obama and the democrats are not suggesting that it be the only game in town. and in canada it's pretty much the only game in town. >> the singer payer option, is that -- i know that's not on the table here -- >> the canadians don't like to call it a single payer option because of the provinces but it's government-run health care and it's pretty much the only game in town. >> so what if our reform is not going to look like the canadians, what is being proposed here? what will health care reform likely look like? >> well, it depends on whose plan gets adopted. but at this point what obama and some of the democrats are saying, again, is this option. they are saying, we're going to change a lot of things about health care including a program out there that will be less expensive and then people who can't afford private insurance, which is a lot of people, 46 million uninsured americans, at least it would be less expensive. >> elizabeth, again, thank you as we try to focus and drill down on this. >> can

the mayo clinic, the cleveland clinic, guessenger, kaiser permanente. there are health care systems around the country that actually have costs that are as much as 20% or 30% lower than the national average and have higher quality. and so the question is, why is that? what is it that they're doing differently than other systems? and there's some patterns that start coming in to play. for example, number one is that they have a patient-focused practice, where instead of worrying about how they're getting -- how they're billing, so how many tests they're ordering or how many procedures they're ordering, all they're focused on is the patient. and they -- part of what helps is their doctors are all on salaries, so they don't even know what the economics of any decisions that they're making are. then it turns out you also have a group practice, so that when you come in, the family physician, your primary care physician, has already coordinated with all the specialists. so, instead of having to go to four different doctors and four different tests, you go tak

larry kaiser said, i likened it to taking out a tumor. there's a time when there's an urge to get it done quickly, but that's when mistakes can be made. that's the time to take it slowly and carefully. why aren't we listening to these health care experts? now is not the time to rush this bill through? i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from covel rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> i thank my colleague from colorado. mr. speaker, i rise today troubled about the democrats' proposed government takeover of our health care system. the congressional budget office, c.b.o., has confirmed this legislation will not reduce costs, but rather drive costs even higher for american families. they confirmed this weekend that a mandate on busiss would tend to reduce the hiring of workers at or near the minimum wage. they also pointed out that, quote, employers would be expected to pass the costs of fees on to workers in the form of low

and there's a kaiser foundation report.some say a 44-year-old with a similar level of benefits and the folks in the h.s.a., that you are costs are 30% less than a fee for policy. this is hard data. something we in -- congress i have not run across very much. there's a 30% decrease. maybe you can see it's a selection bias. only healthy people are going not h.s.a. group. i talked to a man about this. just the other way, i'm a gastroneurologist. my doctor prescribed to me the purple pill. this is $1359 for that script. now i have an h.s.a. is there something cheaper? of course, i thought about that. he twrote a prescription for generic prilosec. he's getting the same result. apologize to the other guys. but that said he saved $139. and that's because, as i think it was fleming or roe, he had skin in the game, it was just the h.s.a. now the thing about this democratic proposal that peter asked what about it. it's not radical at all. it just substitutes a private insurance policy to a bureaucratic insurance policy. it's not radi

that would compete with the private health insurance companies like blue cross and blue shield or kaiser permanente, whatever? >> well, a couple of reasons, wolf. first of all, i have yet to see a federal program that works effectively or anywhere close to the budgets that we talk about but maybe the more important point is if we really want competition between insurance companies, which i have been working for for years, let's just allow interstate competition. right now, the federal government imposes a state-by-state monopoly essentially of insurance companies, where if i live in south carolina, i can't buy a policy in arizona. but if we allowed a national market where hundreds of insurance companies were competing for my business, we could lower costs, give people a lot more choices. but it's ridiculous to say that we need a government plan to have competition when we won't even allow people to shop outside their state. >> are you afraid, senator that a government-run plan would drive some of these private insurance companies out of business? >> well, i'm not just afraid of it. the l

that work, he said if we could get the health care system across the board as a cleveland clinic or kaiser i think we could solve our problems. are we getting close in terms of moving forward? >> i don't think so. i agree with the senator's emphasis on cost containment. i would like to ask the senator, if i may, given your concern about cost containment, why not allow the government to negotiate and have bargaining power to get lower prices? why is that off the table when it comes to what the senate finance committee is willing to do? >> i don't think it should be off the table, and i have voted and many have to do exactly that. we need insurance reform and market reform. there are things we can do in medicare to retain costs. we can use some of those approaches to contain cost in medicare, which is a publicly run system. i don't think people realize medicare is a more public-run system. there are essential reform to the insurance industry, and one of them is they have to be mandated to stop dropping people that get sick. they will not be allowed to jack up premiums on people because they

kaiser foundation, the average cost of an employer health plan for a family of four is about $12,800.t's more, to add insult to injury, cbo tells us that every version of the democrat health plan, even after spending trillions of dollars, will leave millions still uninsured. the democrat plan does not contain costs. it shifts them to the taxpayer, to our children, and to future generations that will have to cope with this crushing debt. by implementing huge premium subsidies and establishing a government-controlled health care plan. in fact, the president's plan prescribes short-term pain relief instead of trying to fix the source of the pain. if adopted, that would be malpractice and this plan is likely to be worse than the plans those americans have now. don't believe me? then believe president obama. on the town hall a few weeks back, president obama refused to pledge he would limit his family to getting the same cures and treatments his plub plan 0 would give the rest of us. now if the president doesn't have faith if his own plan for his own family, how can we trust this plan for

the salem-kaiser school district in the 2009-2010 school year. these jobs would have been elimb dated if not for the recovery dollars. they were -- they are preventing an increase of 2.5% and a reduction in the school year. money well spent. well, we don't spend enough time in this building talking about the jobs being saved and families benefiting from the recovery dollars. more teachers would have lost their jobs and our students would have suffered without this. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. poe: request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. poe: mr. speaker, sammy mayhan owns and operates sammy's wrecker service in baytown, texas. he owns seven trucks, employs five drivers, a dispatcher. his drivers work on a commission and he cannot afford to furnish them health insurance. he says that the new health plan would affect him. leaving out his colorful language, he said, i am

in fact, according to the henry j kaiser foundation, the average cost of an employer health plan for a family of four is about $12,800. what is more, to add insult to injury, every version of the democrat health plan, even after spending trims of dollars, will leave millions still uninsured. the democrat plan does not contain costs, it shifts them to the taxpayer, to our children, and to future generations that have to cope with this crushing debt. by implements huge premium subsidies and establishing a government controlled health care plan in fact, the president's plan prescribes short-term pain relief instead of trying to fix the source of the pain. if he was doctor that would be malpractice, and his plan is likely to be worse than the plans most americans have now. don't believe me? then believe president obama. on his abc health care town hall he refused to pledge he would limit his family to getting the same cures and treatments his public plan would give the rest of us. now, if the president doesn't have faith in his plan for his own family, how can we trust his plan for ours?

say a health maintenance organization, mayo clinic, which is has been in the headlines lately, or kaiser,hey track their providers very closely and if they're going off the scale it doesn't matter whether they are doing something illegal or not, if they're just simply overusing or in some cases underusing or inappropriately using or doing things that are not within what we consider a good standard of care, then they're going to be re-educated or they're going to be terminated, you don't have to go through all of the expense to get very few people and really get very poor results. mr. akin: how many people get busted for medicaid fraud? does that happen a lot? mr. fleming: i don't have a number on that but i think it's a handful. mr. akin: very small number. mr. fleming: very small number compared to the literally billions of dollars each year that medicaid and medicare fraud occur. mr. akin: another thing we could take a look at, because this is an assertion that we're hearing the president make, that this thing is going to help our economy, and yet the congressional budget office took a

guest: quickly, kaiser, your insurance company, has an excellent record of making sure that the system is run well and that there is quality and value for the cost involved. it is a good plan. i do think that the record across the health insurance industry, however, is mixed. bottom line, they have not been very effective at managing this extraordinary medical inflation, and they have found it cheaper to keep coverage away from those who need it than to manage the underlying costs. that is what the reasons why insurance reforms are such an important part of this bill, but they only work if you bring everyone into the system. there is no quick one speck of this bill. it is a complicated, enter related bill, and is producing so much discussion. host: thank you for being with us on our health care discussion. three hours of discussion, but much more ahead on this debate that affects everyone of us. thank you for watching today. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] you may use anyone or anything to come to the aid

kaiser foundation, the average cost of an employer health plan for a family of four is about $12,800. what's more, to add insult to injury, cbo tells us that every version of the democrat health plan, even after spending trillions of dollars, will leave millions still uninsured. the democrat plan does not contain costs. it shifts them to the taxpayer, to our children, and to future generations that will have to cope with this crushing debt. by implementing huge premium subsidies and establishing a government-controlled health care plan. in fact, the president's plan prescribes short-term pain relief instead of trying to fix the source of the pain. if adopted, that would be malpractice and this plan is likely to be worse than the plans those americans have now. don't believe me? then believe president obama. on the town hall a few weeks back, president obama refused to pledge he would limit his family to getting the same cures and treatments his plub plan 0 would give the rest of us. now if the president doesn't have faith if his own plan for his own family, how can we trust this plan