kathleen king director of the accountability office is our first witness. dr. james cosgrove director of health care u.s. government accountability office. our second with this mr. robert vito original inspector general for evaluation and inspections office of inspector general u.s. u.s. -- thank you very much for coming today. your wit testimony will be made part of the record he will have five minutes to summarize your testimony. at this point the chair recognizes ms. king for five minutes for opening statement. >> chairman pits ranking member pallone and members of the subcommittee my colleague james cosgrove and i are pleased to be here today to discuss the role that contractors and private plans have in the medicare program. cms relies extensively on contractors to assist it in carrying out its responsibilities including program administration management oversight and benefit delivery. contractors have played a vital role in the administration of the program since its enactment in 1965. in fact congress designed the original medicare program so that it wou

kathleen, thank you for joining us this morning. appreciate it. and kingmaking his first appearance on "squawk on the street" later. don't want to miss that. joe? >> we're just a few minutes away from durable goods data for february. they expect an increase of 0. 8%. we had a drop of 1% in january. first, the morning buzz stories from the wide world of sports. including rule changes in the nfl and of course the news from coldplay. andrew likes to listen to coldplay. opportunities aren't always obvious. sometimes they just drop in. cme group can help you navigate risks and capture opportunities. we enable you to reach global markets and drive forward with broader possibilities. cme group: how the world advances. this is mike. his long race day starts with back pain... ...and a choice. take 4 advil in a day which is 2 aleve... ...for all day relief. "start your engines" you are gonna need a wingman. and with my cash back, you are money. forget him. my airline miles will take your game worldwide. what i'm really looking for is -- i got two words for you -- re

secretary kathleen sebelius says your insurance premiums are likely to go up just at a time when democrats are nervous about selling obamacare. good thing the law isn't controversial, right? john kings. how did we do it last time? i don't know... i forget. hello, neighbors. hey, scott... perfect timing. feeding your lawn need not be so difficult. get a load of this bad boy. sweet! this snap spreader system from scotts makes caring for your lawn snap-crackin' simple, guaranteed. just take the handy, no-mess bag, then snap, lock, and go. it's a new day for lawn care, feedings never been so easy. to see a demo of the snap spreader, go to scotts.com. feed your lawn. feed it! and a hotel is the perfect place to talk to you about hotels. all-you-can-eat is a hotel policy that allows you to eat all that you can. the hotel gym is short for gymnasium. the hotel pool is usually filled with water. and the best dot com for booking hotels, is hotels.com. it's on the internet, but you probably knew that. or maybe not, i don't really know you. bellman: welcome back, captain obvious. captain obvious: yes i am. all those words are spelled correctly. so our business can be on at&t's network for $175