let me finish off this initial round by turning to ken thorpe. everybody u.s.spoken so far has talked about health care costs. -- everybody who has spoken so far has talked about health care costs. they have been criticized severely for not doing enough to hold down health-care costs. i wonder if you think that is a fair criticism. if it is, what changes would you advise congress to make and the president to make in this final plan? keeping in mind what the nfib and the chamber were saying. >> it is a top starting point, but thanks, ed. we started this discussion about health care reform trying to address two major issues. one is to move towards universal coverage. i think it is broad agreement about that as an objective. obviously, there's a disagreement tactically about how to do it. but i think we have a broad agreements about moving to universal coverage. 9% of the attention and discussion and reporting on the issue has focused -- 90% of the attention and discussion and reporting on the issue has focused on the discussion of moving to universal coverage. th

at the othernd of theable is ken thorpe. he heads the policy department at emory and is the driving force behind the partnership to fight chronic disease, which is a group of more than 100 national organizations of restripe that is trying to shape the health care system that events and treats-- chronic conditions better. now, let's get to the questions to start this offn dale, why don't we start with you. i mentioned your connection to medicare, and medicar plays a big role in the plans that are beingeveloped from generating savings that are going to be used to offset expansion of coverage, cost to testing new models for payment to improving the drug benefit and a whole range of other things. our most of these provisions likely to survive and how should medicare beneficiaries like me or for that matter the rest of us feel about those provisions? >> i regard the proposals affecting medicare that we have heard thus far in many ways as a metaphor for some of the challenges that are facing health care reform i genal. medicare pr

ken thorpe over here in our neck of the woods and we'll have you back again. >> terrific, thanks forormation, and on our make or break coverage that will continue, because up next, the front lines of health care, when we talk to a doctor who left a comfortable college life to help treat uninsured patients. find out why he has mixed feelings about senator baucus's reform plan. ♪ must have been one of the strangest days ♪ everyone may face the same uncertainty. ♪ some would say that you won't find ♪ protecting yourself, however, requires good decisions. find strength and stability with mass mutual, a company owned by its policyholders. ask your advisor or visit massmutual.com. >>> pay now or pay later. we are seeing that message play out in various ways on the health care reform front and a report by the treasury department predicts that 50% of all working adults will lose health care coverage at least once over the next ten years. another report just discovered that 45,000 americans die each year as a result of not having health insurance. those are more than just numbers when it come

let me finish off this initial round by turning to ken thorpe. everybody u.s. far has talked about health care costs. -- everybody who has spoken so far has talked about health care costs. they have been criticized severely for not doing enough to hold down health-care costs. i wonder if you think that is a fair criticism. if it is, what changes would you advise congress to make and the president to make in this final plan? keeping in mind what the nfib and the chamber were saying. >> it is a top starting point, but thanks, ed. we started this discussion about health care reform trying to address two major issues. one is to move towards universal coverage. i think it is broad agreement about that as an objective. obviously, there's a disagreement tactically about how to do it. but i think we have a broad agreements about moving to universal coverage. 9% of the attention and discussion and reporting on the issue has focused -- 90% of the attention and discussion and reporting on the issue has focused on the discussion of moving to universal coverage. the other t

and ken thorpe estimated 96% of those who voted in 2006 had health insurance poll after poll then in 1993 and '94 and now, indicate that to keep what we have and main change is to pay less for it. vague assurances that you can keep what you have and not have to pay more i think are insufficient to give reassurance to people who are obviously concerned about what these plans mean to them, what they mean to their family. it's difficult for be specific as i -- difficult to be as specific as i would like to be about that. there is a specific plan that i can point to but what if you have a policy you like but isn't offered through the exchange. what if you have a high deductible health insurance plan not uncommon between farmers and ranchers and those policies are outlawed, none of the plans permitted in the individual market will permit a $10,000 die ductib ductible. what if your insurer increases your premiums to try to make up for the new excise taxes talked about being imposed upon the insurance companies. i think i can pretty well sum up what i think we knew then by quoting gratison'