and this week, our secretary of health and human services, kathleen sebelius, wrote a letter to all states urging them to investigate other rate hikes and stop insurance companies from gaming the system. to help states achieve this goal, we've set up a new office of consumer information and insurance oversight, and will provide grants to states with the best oversight programs. in the next month, we'll also be putting in place a new patients' bill of rights. it will provide simple and clear information to consumers about their choices and their rights. it will set up an appeals process to enforce those rights. and it will prohibit insurance companies from limiting a patients' access to their preferred primary care provider, ob-gyn, or emergency room care. we're holding insurance companies accountable in other ways, as well. as of september, the new health care law prohibits insurance companies from dropping people's coverage when they get sick and need it most. but when we found out that an insurance company was systematically dropping the coverage of women diagnosed with breast cancer, my

caller: our insurance commissioner, osmgen hediner said he sent a letter to kathleen sebelius saying that georgia would not participate. i'm one of those people that needs insurance because of preexisting conditions. is there -- is the federal government going to take that over? guest: yes, sheila. you're right. he was the first commissioner to come out and say he would not go along with the high-risk pool in his state, sort of another aspect of the states' rights opposition we're seeing in a lot of states which has mostly taken, manifested itself in people saying they're going to sue about this mandate that's in the law, the mandate that everyone carry insurance. when the insurance commissioner came out and said he would not help in setting up the high-risk pooght, kathleen sebelius said the federal government would be able to do that for the state, that there is a provision in the law that high-risk pools, states will not be left without them just because their state is refusing to cooperate. there is going to be everyone more of a problem with states not being cooperative when it

caller: our insurance commissioner, osmgen hediner said he sent a letter to kathleen sebelius saying that georgia would not participate. i'm one of those people that needs insurance because of preexisting conditions. is there -- is the federal government going to take that over? guest: yes, sheila. you're right. he was the first commissioner to come out and say he would not go along with the high-risk pool in his state, sort of another aspect of the states' rights opposition we're seeing in a lot of states which has mostly taken, manifested itself in people saying they're going to sue about this mandate that's in the law, the mandate that everyone carry insurance. when the insurance commissioner came out and said he would not help in setting up the high-risk pooght, kathleen sebelius said the federal government would be able to do that for the state, that there is a provision in the law that high-risk pools, states will not be left without them just because their state is refusing to cooperate. there is going to be everyone more of a problem with states not being cooperative when it

kathleen sebelius and nancy pelosi -- you can just imagine how trinity college felt about that.ust right. let's look back in recent history. in 20008, with your help, we build stronger -- 2008, with your help, we built strong majorities. president obama puts women and children first. [applause] now working with president obama, congress is taking america in a new direction, where health care is a right not a privilege. we are proud of that. in doing so, we ran inspired by millions of americans who voted to was in shared their stories of struggle to afford health care for their families. we made history by passing health care reform and in doing so, we are making progress in the lives of the american people. their stories made a difference in our fight. people were moved. we made a difference for children after hearing about those stories. we heard from a family with an 8 year old boy who had a stroke, throne of his parents' insurance plan. he was declared to have a pre- existing medical condition for the rest of his life. it would be almost impossible for him to get coverage and

some of the guests, cbs has betty white, rahm emanuel and morgan freeman, kathleen sebelius.jon bon jovi, tim geithner, madeleine albright. abc, leon panetta. cnn, ashley judd, dennis quaid. fox news, vanessa williams, marlon wayans. new yorker, david remnick at the at dinner. he's the editor, but he also wrote a book about president obama. "time" steven spielberg and michelle phieffer. "the washington times" has the owner of the redskins, dan snyder, and the redskins' new quarterback, donovan mcnabb, who is also at that dinner in 2005. in fact, if you go to politico.com, you can see a picture of then-senator obama talking with donovan mcnabb when he was in the super bowl that year with the philadelphia eagles. that was at that dinner, the white house correspondents' dinner. and tom brady of the new england patriots was also at the dinner that year. "the washington times" also invited dennis kucinich. you may have seen news reports that "washington times" is up for sale and john solomon could be the buyer. huffington post, which has a critical column about the white house cor

this week, kathleen sebelius wrote a letter to all states urging them to investigate other rate hikes and stop insurance companies from gaming the system. to help states achieve this goal, we have set up a new office of consumer information and insurance oversight and will provide grants to states with the best oversight programs. in the next month, will be putting in place a new patient's bill of rights to provide simple and clear information consumers about the choices and rights and appeals process to enforce those rights and prohibited insurance companies from living patients access to the preferred primary- care provider, ob/u in, or emergency room care. as of september, the new health care law prohibits insurance companies from dropping people coverage when they get sick and need it most. when we found out that insurance companies systematically were dropping coverage of women diagnosed with breast cancer, my administration called on them to put an end to this practice immediately. two weeks ago, the entire insurance industry announced it would comply with the new law early and

tthis is when he said in miss letter to secretary of health and human services kathleen sebelius. goings the state of wyoming has operate add very successful high-risk health insurance pool for years." we have. i have a been involved in this. "a very successful high-risk health insurance pool for nearly 20 years which has served the citizens of wyoming very well.", "based the -- the necessary requirements have not been set out with the new program, and key terms have not been defined. with such guidance," he said, "i find it unwise" -- unwise, mr. president -- "to further consume my staff and the department of insurance with guesswork currently necessary to implement this program." these governors are just guessing. guessing if it will work, guessing if it won't work. nobody knows. that's why in an interview with the associated press yesterday, the governor of wyoming said with the $8 million the federal government offered the state to run the high-risk insurance program until 2014, he said wouldn't be enough. he also said he's concerned the state wouldn't have been allowed to adm

kathleen sebelius said we need more primary care physicians.s health-care law does nothing to give us more providers. we will continue to say, let's have some hearings on the law. i want to end with this. a recent individual who served on my staff left and went to colorado and now works in the private sector she sent us an e- mail. as a direct result of the passage of this health-care law, her insurance company folded, her child who had a pre- existing condition has no coverage. as a direct result of this law, she cannot purchase insurance for her family, because her child has a pre-existing condition. we can have a hearing today. we can draft legislative language tomorrow. we can move it to the floor next week. why do we except a gap in this period of time. we were promised that that would not be the case. as chairman, hopefully you will raise this issue, but we will continue to say, i think it is time to look at this more. i yield back my time. >> thanks. the gentleman from illinois. >> thanks. [unintelligible] can i have my time back? thank

come up to the floor to also mention that recently the secretary of health and human services, kathleen sebelius had an epiphany about the doctor shortage in america. last week she said, a nationwide primary care physician shortage had to be addressed before over 30 million americans get access to subsidized health insurance coverage. and this is her quote. she said, "how are we going to be ready when we already have a shortage in too many parts of the country?" well, this shortage should not have been a surprise to the secretary of health and human services. the american association of medical colleges tells us, at the current graduation and training rates, we are facing a shortage of 150,000 doctors in the next 15 years. over the past year, medical experts warned congress -- warned this body, warned the administration -- that any health reform bill should tackle the issue of physician shortages. but instead of helping doctors the new law actually discourages the next generation from becoming doctors. this new bill cuts payments for doctors and cuts payments for patients on medicare, and it doe