amigo to medicare. -- let me go to medicare. one of the most successful government programs there are. medicare is a health care program. it is not immune to what is happening and what congress was talking about. the high inflation rate continues for health care. medicare uses the same hospitals, doctors, mri's. although it is sufficient, it is not perfect, it cannot pull the tide of inflation. it is important that any health care reform bill strengthens medicare and is not weaken it. my group has not taken a position on health care reform. do i want health care reform? of course i do. if you look at the three bills, they were all different. they have to go to the rules committee. that is the procedure. they have to be melded together. then they have to vote on the floor of the house. senator kennedy's health committee, they have a bill i love. i just love it but it is very expensive but talk about the finance committee. -- but it is very expensive. as talk about the finance committee. they do not tell us what they are doing i c

medicare is to slow the growth of medicare and finance it. you can get into the debate of hospitals, honestly have proportionately and historically, relatively small cuts they are talking about. hospitals have great political support in congress. congressman rangel in the house is the major players. very close to the hospitals. senator bacus, very close to the hospitals in montana. cuts in nursing homes and health agencies. on a proportionately basis. i don't want you to get into debate here, for the point of seniors, benefits are not changing. paying nursing home less for their posthospital stay, ising that go to affect your care? they're trying to slow the growth rate saying, if we are going to cover 47 million people the money has got to come from some place. ising that going to affect benefits -- is that going to affect benefits? it could. host: what's a d.r.g. guest: diagnosis related group. host: what is it and how is it part of medicare part a? comboip there was reform in the early 1980's. if you were a hospital you sent in your costs

there were about 7 million people in 1977 on medicare on medicare choice plans.ess made some changes. they cannot agree upon the name. in 1997, congress passed a bill to improve it. it pushed more money into rural areas. it kind of backfired. it reduced the money in urban areas. the payments in new york, chicago went down significantly. the program went from 7 million to 5 million seniors. we made changes in 2003 and made payment changes trying to lower the premiums a little bit. it was overdone accidentally. the trend has gone back the other way. 10% of the population on medicare advantage went up to 22%. in a lot of areas, it is a great option. if you are low income, the hmo is a cheapest option. you have lower co-payments and deductibles and out-of-pocket costs. and if you can get a dual coverage, you do not have to generally by a medigap insurance. it the cost $300 a month which many seniors have to buy. you do not have to buy that. for a lot of people, it is more attractive to low income people. it is not for everybody. i think it became less attractive in

there were about 7 million people in 1977 on medicare on medicare choice plans.s passed a bill to improve it. it pushed more money into rural areas. it kind of backfired. it reduced the money in urban areas. the payments in new york, chicago went down significantly. the program went from 7 million to 5 million seniors. we made changes in 2003 and made payment changes trying to lower the premiums a little bit. it was overdone accidentally. the trend has gone back the other way. 10% of the population on medicare advantage went up to 22%. in a lot of areas, it is a great option. if you are low income, the hmo is a cheapest option. you have lower co-payments and deductibles and out-of-pocket costs. and if you can get a dual coverage, you do not have to generally by a medigap insurance. it the cost $300 a month which many seniors have to buy. you do not have to buy that. for a lot of people, it is more attractive to low income people. it is not for everybody. i think it became le attractive in the late 1990's. when a payment adjustments that have affected the attrac

i also found that medicare, when it approved the medicare qualified hmo's which now call medicare advantagethat is when everything went to pot. i believe that through the hmo plans because they have a gatekeeper and try to corning care, they actually reduce care. the get incentives for not doing certain things. you know that that is true. -- they get incentives for not doing certain things. it seems that in order to revise medicare -- i do not think medicare per se is the problem. i think our seniors deserve that care. i think that part a works well. i do not believe in what they call the -- i am sorry, the diagnostics, the drg's. that is how hospitals get their payments. they are restricted in what they can actually do. they come up with clever ways of going above that. i remember when durable medical equipment was not covered at all. host: what kind of reforms would you like to see to medicare part b? and i have a follow up with you. caller: first of all, my thought on the whole health care reform is that medicare part b should go back to c for service in that durable medical equipment sh

medicare is to slow the growth of medicare and finance it.ou can get into the debate of hospitals, honestly have proportionately and historically, relatively small cuts they are talking about. hospitals have great political support in congress. congressman rangel in the house is the major players. very close to the hospitals. senator bacus, very close to the hospitals in montana. cuts in nursing homes and health agencies. on a proportionately basis. i don't want you to get into debate here, for the point of seniors, benefits are not changing. paying nursing home less for their posthospital stay, ising that go to affect your care? they're trying to slow the growth rate saying, if we are going to cover 47 million people the money has got to come from some place. ising that going to affect benefits -- is that going to affect benefits? it could. host: what's a d.r.g. guest: diagnosis related group. host: what is it and how is it part of medicare part a? comboip there was reform in the early 1980's. if you were a hospital you sent in your costs fo

there were about 8 million people in 1987 and medicare -- in medicare. the reason it was medicare plus choice was because there were two bills and the combined them. that is the way congress works. in 1997, congress passed a bill intended to improve it. it puts more money into rural areas. it backfired. it puts more money into rural areas and reduce the money in urban areas. the payments in cities went down but rural areas, people don't sign up as much for the program went from 8 million seniors down to about 5 million. when i came in, i was determined to turn that around. we put a number of changes through congress. we made a lot of payment changes, intending to lower the premiums a little bit. it was overdone, accidentally and to make the plans more attractive. the trends have gone back the other way. you have gone from 10% of the population in medicare advantage in 2000, back up to 22%. it has become more attractive, maybe too attractive. essentially, in many areas, for low-income people, it is a great option. if you are low-income, the hmo is your ch

now, in medicare, medicare today covers 45 million americans under the medicare system. now, of the medicare system, 10 million are in private insurance plans. these are private insurance plans that write medicare. in traditional medicare, which is fee-for-service, run -- paid for by the public option medicare -- it's all paid for under the public option of medicare -- 34 million are in traditional fee-for-service medicare. of that amount, 24 million have some form of supplemental insurance. in many cases, these are retiree benefits that they have from work n. other cases, it's -- from work. in other cases, it's supplemental plans that they buy commercially. under the medicaid program and the children's health insurance program, which are government plans, another 40 million americans get their health care needs paid for. and then there's 47 million who are uninsured. 47 million. [shouting] >> that number has increased by 20% -- has increased by 20% in the last decade. the vast majority of the uninsured, the vast majority are younger workers, people who are working, in m

and medicare guide. and learn more about aarp medicare supplement insurance. you'll enjoy a wide range of coverage options... to help meet your personal needs. and competitive pricing to meet your budget. you'll receive service you can count on. and, plans travel with you nationwide. that's why no matter who you are, if you're on medicare, you should consider... an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. aarp has a long legacy of commitment to bringing... its members the choice and freedom they deserve. that's exactly what this card can help you achieve. so call now, see for yourself. if you want a plan that lets you choose... your own doctor or hospital, helps you budget your medical costs, and saves thousands of dollars out-of-pocket, do as jack and millions of others have done: get an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. because when it comes to medicare, it's easy to see jack is on a roll. ♪ get your free information kit and medicare guide. aarp medicare supplement insurance plans. call now. ♪ >

medicare. sometimes this has been referred to as a medicare massacre.d once again, i want to reach out to the news media to select a representative story that seems to suggest the tone of this is a police that ran in politico last week. the reporter cites the fact that frustrated older americans are a packing town halls, very passionate about their medicare benefits and very disapproving of the health care reform ideas that they appear to have heard so far and the reporters go on to remind us that these people, this demographic votes in larger numbers than other demographics, which is part of the reason their voice is taken so seriously. at the tuesday of last week town hall event in new hampshire, president obama made a point to reach out to many of these seniors, he took note of the low support if polls for his health proposals and said we're not benefits. however, the reporters go on to point out that obama is talking about hundreds of billions of dollars in savings for medicare, cuts supporters say will trim fat from the program, including slashing

have to cut medicare. medicare from the start has been unable to meet its promises. in 1965, they said that by 1970, that that would cost about 3.-- 3.1 billion dollars. it came in at 6.5. in 1967. they said by 1990 that it would cost 12 billion. it costs almost ten times that. so, you know, basically what happens when something is free, paid by the government, the demand is always going to outstrip supply and the only way to ration that is to have someone come in an arbitrator and this is too expensive, you can't have that and i think that seniors see that coming. >> and medicare rations in numerous ways, doesn't it? >> that's right. certain procedures that diagnostic, again, something called a virtual colonoscopy. >> and certain asthma medications, all sorts of restrictions on what type of care doctors are allowed to deliver or reimbursed by the government for and those strik tours will have to be tightened down once-- >> let me talk, let me ask you about another program. medicare it, something created a

medicare is broke. social security is broke, and you want us to believe that a government that can't even run a cash for clunkers program is going to run 1/7 of our u.s. economy? no, sir! glenn: ok. totally reasonable argument. you are not going to see those people on t.v. you're going to see more people like this. quick, had let's make sure a flag is in there. dr. keith ablow is here, a fox news contributor and psychiatrist. keith, i am fascinated by this, because i have never heard the president or the white house or any of the spokespeople ever call americans an angry mob for coming out and just speaking their mind. >> well, we're treading very dangs russ ground when the president does that, or when any substantial leader would do so, because what does it do, glenn? you know what it does. it dehumanizes those voices. it suggests that they're staged and not real, and therefore you can ignore them and think of them not even as people. this sounds familiar. it sounds like a slippery slope to me, a littl

medicare. sotimes this has been referred to as a medicare massacre.once again, i want to reach out to the news media to select a representative story that seems to suggest the tone of this is a police that ran in politico last week. the reporter cites the fact that frustrated older americans are a packing town halls, very passionate about their medicare benefits and very disapproving of the health care reform ideas that they appear to have heard so far and the reporters go on to remind us that these people, this demographic votes in larger numbers than other demographics, which is part of the reason their voice is taken so seriously. at the tuesday of last week town hall event in new hampshire, president obama made a point to reach out to many of these seniors, he took note of the low support if polls for his health proposals and said we're not benefits. however, the reporters go on to point out that obama is talking about hundreds of billions of dollars in savings for medicare, cuts supporters say will trim fat from the program, including slashing an

is medicare socialism? >> i'm not sure you want me to answer the question, lawrence. >> is medicare socialism? >> of course -- no one is suggesting that anyone -- >> is medicare socialism? can you say yes or no? >> of course not, it's a program that's been in place for many, many years. >> because it's old it's not socialism? because it was done in the '60s? tell me what is not socialism about medicare. >> i think, lawrence -- for your listeners you're illustrating why msnbc's viewership is in the tank because you don't allow your people you're interviewing to answer questions. >> is single-payer health care socialism? >> you know, lawrence, this is why katy and everybody else is going to facebook. everyone is going to the internet because why listen to msnbc when you won't even let the people you're interviewing answer the question. i'm a very serious jer sonnian -- >> i don't want you to spin your time away. i want you to get serious, okay? >> i am serious, lawrence. you haven't -- you're not serious. >>

how you can accept medicare? is medicare socialism? >> i'm not sure you want me to answer the question, lawrence. >> is medicare socialism. >> no one is suggesting that. >> is medicare socialism? can you say yes or no? >> of course not. >> it's not socialism? tell me why it's -- because it's old it's not socialism? because it was done in the '60s. >> lawrence, i think -- you illustrate -- for your listeners, you are illustrating why msnbc's viewership is in the tank. you don't allow the people you're interviewing to answer. lawrence this is why katie and everybody else is going to facebook, why listen to msnbc when you don't let the people you're interviewing answer the question. >> i don't want you to spin your time here. i want you to get serious. >> i am trying to get serious. you are trying to change the subject, my friend. >> let's delete the over 65 part of medicare and make it available to everyone. what's your argument against that. >> no one has ever suggested repealing medicare or -- >> why not? they're both socialistic progr

the medicare system -- if we did not have medicare, but for the passage of medicare, the majority of our seniors had no health insurance. seniors have the most expensive health care of any age group. that is natural. as you get older, you need more help in -- health care. medicare has were. it is more cost-effective. look at one number. the taxpayers of this country pay over the next tenure as an extra hundred $50 billion because of the private insurance option in medicare. it is cheaper. the government runs at more effectively than the private side. [booing] that is a fact. >> question on the side of the room. >> i want to congratulate you, senator cardin, on all your leadership on health care issue over the years. you mentioned, which is very true, that every time you pay your insurance premium, $1,100 at that coasted hospitalization of the uninsured. that is a hidden health care tax that is now imposed on small businesses like my friend brian england who owns an oil shock in howard county. that is why the businesses had endorsed a plan in maryland will make sure it that all busine

medicare. sometimes this has been referred to as a medicare massacre.d once again, i want to reach and once again, i want to reach out to the news media to s a representative story that seems to suggest the tone of this is a police that ran in politico last week. the reporter cites the fact that frustrated older americans are a packing town halls, very passionate about their medicare benefits and very disapproving of the health care reform ideas that they appear to have heard so far and the reporters go on to remind us that these people, this demographic votes in larger numbers than other demographics, which is part of the reason their voice is taken so seriously. at the tuesday of last week town hall event in new hampshire, president obama made a point to reach out to many of these seniors, he took note of the low support if polls for his health proposals and said we're not benefits. however, the reporters go on to point out that obama is talking about hundreds of billions of dollars in savings for medicare, cuts supporters say will trim fat from the p

today, with 45 million seniors on medicare, 26 million have signed up for medicare part d. another 15 million have private prescription plans, leaving just an estimated 4 million without any drug benefit. "they either choose not to have coverage or maybe they're not spending that much money on their prescriptions and they want to wait or they just don't want to buy into it. but for the most part, there is this group of 26 million who have definitely been helped by medicare part d." university of illinois chicago's joann stubbings credits the program for increasing coverage, but also points to its shortcomings. "the unintended consequnce of medicare part d it that it has been very confusing. very confusing. its a good program but its been very confusing not just for patients but to providers and to everyone dealing with medicare part d. we have physicians here at the medical center and they can't do it." but medicare part d has helped seniors save money. research shows that during its first year, the benefit resulted in a 16 percent drop in out-of- pocket spending for drugs

medicare pays him $88.01.when i go to my primary care doctor, he charges $73, and they pay him every penny of that. i have another couple more statements and then i'm going to hung -- hang up and you can answer for me. i was forced into medicare part d because i was a salary retiree from general motors. when we started getting our statements back and how much they had paid and how much we had paid, i was so amazed what we pay our co-payment is or whatever you want to call it also goes against us on our doughnut hole thing. that to me does not make any sense at all. i got a thing here that says plan paid $774.92. and i paid $223. and that goes still a doughnut hole. i don't understand that. you can explain it to me. i'm going to hang up but i want -- host: parts a, b and d. you don't have part c. ok. thank you very much. what's your response to him? guest: first, response on the doctor payments . he said my specialist -- bills me $220 and pays $83. medicare made a determination that that the doctor can charge h

the original bill tied that reimbursement to medicare. while that may sound good, in rural america that will not work. our hospitals are very small, generally. anywhere from 65% to 75% of everybody that walks in the front door of these hospitals is either on the kate or medicare. they are losing money on those patients.gn)n h@ @ @ this is insuring or almost ensuring that many of those hospitals will go out of business. not only will that be disastrous to the quality of care in rural america, our primary interface, it will be a financial and economic disaster as well. these hospitals employ more than any other organization and the counties that they are located and they are economic engines that they depend upon. this change in the legislation as incorporated in the amendment will have to -- will help these small hospitals survive. >> the gentleman's time is expired. mr. barton, recognized for five minutes. >> i want to make sure they have the right amendment. is the amendment being considered the amendment that was noticed at 3:34? >> i b

in terms of just medicare. >> that's true. and medicare needs to be cleaned up and fixed. but i don't think it's an and/or. i think part of the whole health care reform or national health plan will include fixing medicare. in the boat analogy, you do need to paint the whole boat at one time if you don't want to be able to put the boat out of service for such a long period of time. i think it needs to be fixed together. terry: you're a trusting person. is this the opportunity, jonathan to fix medicare as we branch out to offer everyone health care? >> terry, we shouldn't fix it. we should kill it. we should get rid of medicare. we should get government finally out of the health care game completely. medicare has been -- people say it's been this big accomplishment. it has been an abject failure. for those who want a big single payer system, hello, medicare is the biggest. it is broke. it has killed the free market in health care. even now government accounts for 50% of all the spending on health care in this country. medicare is already 60% of the budget! >> you know why pe

in fact, if we qualify you for medicare reimbursement and medicare denies your claim, we'll give you your new power chair or scooter free. i didn't pay a penny out of pocket for my power chair. with help from the scooter store, medicare and my insurance covered it all. call the scooter store for free information today. call the number on your screen for free information. >>> here we go, back to montana. the president of the united states is now entering the room. there seems to be a serious storm going through the area. that storm is causing the shot to break up somewhat. chad, before the president speaks, are you there? >> it is really just a rain shower. we are trying to shoot this satellite signal up to the satellite and down to us. it will be gone in literally two minutes. it will be gone. no problem. >> let's listen to the president. >>> hello, montana. [ applause ] >> thank you, thank you, thank you. it's great to be here. everybody have a seat. thank you so much. thank you. i am excited to be back in montana. where is michelle? come on. what am i, chopped liver here? michelle

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on medicare. that is why we have to keep thinking about what we're doing. the donut holes, no insurance policy has a doughnut hole, and we should not have it in medicare. the good news is is the house bill close the doughnut hole. the bad news is it takes 14 years to close it down a whole. what has happened is very interesting. the drug companies have put on the table $80 billion to say we will get 50% discount for nay brunn's -- 4 name brands when you're in the doughnut hole. obviously they are making a lot of money. we have to look at closing that doughnut hole. some people get in it and it is so hard to get out, you never get out. it improves benefits for low- income people. is it perfect? of course it is not. we fought very hard to have annual out-of-pocket expenses capped. that is what you have in private insurance, not medicare. i have to tell you something. i think when we get older we need help. so the bills are not perfect, but my message to you is do not close the door on health care ref

right now for a $150 office visit, i am paid $14 by medicare. $40 by medicare. they made $3 billion lester. what we need to do is allow our seniors to take $300 that they are paying right now to the secondary insurance, put it in savings, so they can pay us, hearing aids, other medical devices without a bunch of government bureaucracy. people should be allowed to do help savings accounts but if that is one of the things we need to change. [unintelligible] several of my colleagues have dropped of the medicare. there are other different things i would like to see. one is business offices for patients that cannot afford the health savings account to allow us as physicians to write off these losses as business losses. none of these things will cost the federal government a penny. it would pit the control back in the hands of the patient and of the physician. we also need to reform malpractice. that is not addressed in any of these issues. [cheers] i have already been built -- >> thank you very much for your comments. you reached your two minutes. that was great. >>

there's no showing that seniors are healthier using medicare advantage than using regular medicare. but taxpayers, you fork over an additional $177 billion to them. over ten years. >> reporter: and today, the aarp launched its own ad campaign supporting healthcare reform legislation. >> lehrer: judy woodruff takes it from there. >> woodruff: for a closer look at what health care reform might mean for senior citizens we turn to gail wilensky, a former director of the federal agency overseeing medicare, and a former adviser to president bush. she is a senior fellow at project hope, a foundation for international health education. and joe baker, president of the medicare rights center, a national non-profit advocacy group. he is a former new york state deputy secretary for health and human services. before we talk about that broadly i wouldn't deal with this charge that's out there. gail, to you first, this so-called euthenasia charge, something in this proposal that will have somebody from the government go visit people and say, you must decide right now how you're going to die. what'

medicare. sometimes this has been referred to as a medicare massacre.d once again, i want to reach out to the news media to select a representative story that seems to suggest the tone of this is a police that ran in politico last week. the reporter cites the fact that frustrated older americans are a packing town halls, very passionate about their medicare benefits and very disapproving of the health care reform ideas that they appear to have heard so far and the reporters go on to remind us that these people, this demographic votes in larger numbers than other demographics, which is part of the reason their voice is taken so seriously. at the tuesday of last week town hall event in new hampshire, president obama made a point to reach out to many of these seniors, he took note of the low support if polls for his health proposals and said we're not benefits. however, the reporters go on to point out that obama is talking about hundreds of billions of dollars in savings for medicare, cuts supporters say will trim fat from the program, including slashing

medicare.e part of medicare called medicare advantage of that is private sector, a managed-care program, and seniors can have a completely private-sector experience, and medicare, he wants to shut it down. i am telling you, he wants to pull it over into a government- run plant where he can control health care. greta: it is alienating the american people, and when they are protesting to insult them, i think it will backfire on them. >> it is backfiring on them. greta: thank you. coming up, a doctor treated president obama for 20 years. does he support his former patients health-care plan? this may surprise you -- his former patient's health-care plan? and get at your hand mirror and take a good luck. this report will set you on fire. i guarantee it. (announcer) this is nine generations of the world's most revered luxury sedan. this is a history of over 50,000 crash-tested cars... this is the world record for longevity and endurance. and one of the most technologically advanced automobiles on the

for medicare. i get the same health care that we often hear about members of congress get special privileges if terms of health care, so when i got to congress, i was kind looking for those special privileges. where is the line to sign up for them. and i got the same health care benefits package to sign up for any federal employee gets. there was not a single he thing offered to me other than for an extra payment, i could use the services when i'm in congress, physically there, of the capitol hill physician, for a fee. i chose not to do that because i've got pinkerton own doctor and i live here. unlike many o my colleagues who have to live far away, i live here and i thought if i get sick, i can just go see oscar, but i don't get any special health care benefits any other federal employees doesn't get and the whole point of health care reform isn't to make sure everyone has de minimis health care, it's to improve everybody's health care and everyone's access to health care. so tnk you f yr question

-- of the medicare price --off the medicare price? how does medicare set the rate?> i do not know. >> do not know? >> no. >> does that frustrate you? >> i am past being frustrated. it is the law. it is different than what it used to be. >> what did he used to be? -- why did it used to be? >> anesthesia and respiratory therapy, stat to room 738. >> even if you were deaf, you could hear that. >> there used to be more money in the system. >> why? >> medical care gets better and better. new technology is expensive, but it is better and better. things used to be cheaper. we are of the mind that there is nothing that is too expensive and we want the latest and greatest and we're willing to pay for it. and we have. that occurs in parallel with when we are getting paid less. >> every year? >> absolutely. >> why? >> that is part of what medicare has the ability to do, is to lower what they pay you. we have nothing to say about that. physician fees, every year they have a 10% decrease in our reimbursement and for the past several years, they do not do it and we have a sigh of

in terms of traditional medicare to medicare advantage which is people over 65 to people over 65 you will find very similar satisfaction rates, in some cases higher satisfaction with medicare advantage. if you compare the specific co--population cohorts. if you look at the kinds of cost containment and quality improvements, none of the elements that we have introduced with physicians in a clabtive way, namely disease management, care coordination, paying for quality has been actually successfully introduced in medicare. g.a.o. did a study saying that imaging in medicare is rising, excess utilization in traditional medicare and they ought to adopt the techniques that private sector plans have. unfortunately another members of congress said don't incorporate those techniques. so government has a difficult time getting through the politics. during patient protection we brought health care costs, this is post the 93-94 period, we brought health care costs down to zero. and in some cases below zero. the message we got from politicians was that we were too aggressive in using utilization r

plan, there already is one called medicare, would medicare go away? would that be slashed? >> there's no plan for that at all, the claim we've seen people make is that medicare benefits would be slashed and we've said that that's false. there's actually proposed savings to get out of medicare, out of projected increases in payments. >> okay. thanks, lauer lori, for all that we're going to be talk about the dental care provisions, we talked about eye care, now dental care, we're going to be look at the top stories in about ten minutes. so what do you think? i think i'll go with the basic package. good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. >>> okay. this is where our town hall opens up, we've got josh levs in the truth squad, lori robinson, and angie holen from politifact.com, answering questions about this health care stuff. let's talk now about dental care. a woman who visited a free dental clinic here in atlanta, she's afraid, your, that reform will only provide dental co

like medicare for all. that is a single payer plan. i have not said that i was a single payer supporter, because, frankly, we historically have had an employer-based system in this country with private insurers and for us to transition to a system like that, i believe, would be too disruptive. so what would end up happening would be a lot of people who currently have employer-based health care would suddenly find themselves dropped and they would have to go into an entirely new system that we had not been fully set up yet and i would be concerned about the potential destructiveness of that kind of transition. all right, so i'm not promoting a single-payer plan. i am promoting a plan that will assure that every single person is able to get health insurance at an affordable price and that if they have health insurance, they are getting a good deal from the insurance companies. that's what i'm fighting for. now, the -- the way we have approached it is that if you've got health care under a private plan, if your employer provides you healt

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in medicare, medicare today covers 45 million americans under the medicare system. the medicare system, 10 million are in private insurance plans. these are private insurance plans that right medicare. in traditional medicare, it is paid for by the public option medicare. 34 million are in traditional medicare. 24 million have some form of supplemental insurance. in many cases, these are retiree benefits they have from work. under the medicaid program, which are government plans, another 40 million americans get their health care needs paid for. then it brings as 47 million who are uninsured. [shouting] >> that number has increased by 20% -- has increased by 20% in the last decade. the vast majority of the uninsured, the vast majority are younger workers, people who are working, in many cases they could buy health insurance, they choose not to today. these are young workers. maybe some are in your own family. in maryland, our numbers are slightly different and i want to point this out, because we have a different demographic than the national. our number in private

it's called medicare. and all of us will get it eventually. and all of us know someone who's happily out right now. 43 million americans are covered by the program today. we've already heard, don't touch my medicare shouts in the health care debate. medicare faced steep opposition in the legislative stage in the early '60s. critics warned of the dangers of socialized medicine. you might recognize this face. courtesy of a 1961 american medical association campaign. >> write those letters now. call your friends and tell them to write them. if you don't, this program i promise you will pass just as surely as the sun will come up tomorrow. and behind it will come other federal programs that will invade every area of freedom as we have known it in this country. until, one day, as norman thomas said, we will awake to find that we have socialism. and if you don't do this, and if i don't do it, one of these days you and i are going to spend our sunset years telling our children, and our children's children, what it once was like in america when men we

so if i do on medicare operation, the medicare coronary bypass surgery, i accept what medicare pays me. >> what is that? >> about $2,000. >> what do you do for $2,000? what is the total amount of your time spent doing? >> surgeons are paid globally. if i operate on you, i get one payment and you and i are married. for that month, or until i get you well, that is what i get paid. i can see you 10 times a day, and if you have publications, come in at the middle of night, -- if you have complications, come in at the middle of the night, whatever it is, i get one payment for the hospital, they get what is called a drg payment, based on the diagnosis. for bypass surgery, i think it is about $18,000 the hospital would get for medicare to pay for whatever happens to the patient. >> total cost of $20,000 for a bypass, that medicare will pay. what does it really cost? >> well, it costs more than that. i'm not sure exactly how much more than that. we are way beyond what we charge. we charge and what we collect is totally different. >> but if medicare is going to pay $20,000, who determines what

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[applause] medicare is a terrific program, giving our seniors security, and i want medicare to be there for the next generation, not just this generation. but if we do not make some changes in how the delivery system works, if we do not eliminate waste and inefficiencies, seniors will be vulnerable. what we have proposed is not to reduce benefits, they will stay the same. not to ration. we're asking to eliminate some of the practices that are not helping. subsidies and insurance companies under medicare amount to $177 billion over 10 years. insurance companies are offering what is called subsidies that do not offer more than medicare does. if we took that $177 billion pass. right now, when you go into the hospital, you get a procedure under medicare. if you end up having to come back a week later because something went wrong, they did not do it right, a hospital does not pay a penalty for that. they just get a pass. think if auto repair shops operated the same way. you take your car and, get it fixed, a week later, it is broken again, you go in, and the guy says, let me charge to again.

and in terms of satisfaction, if you compare traditional medicare to medicare advantage, people over 65 to people of 65, if you will find very similar satisfaction rates, and in some cases, higher satisfaction with medicare advantage. if you look at that types of cost containment and quality improvements, none of the elements that we have introduced with positions in a collaborative way, disease coordination, pay for quality, has been successfully introduced in medicare. gao just did a study said that imogene is rising, excess utilization, and ought to adapt a technique that the private plans have. but a number of members of congress have said, over their dead body. government has a difficult time getting to the politics. during patient protection, we brought health care costs down to zero in some cases below zero. the message we got from politicians was that we were too aggressive in using utilization review and networks, and the kinds of things that people now seek to replicate in accountable health care organizations. so what we did was send a message that if we take out all of th

so if i do a medicare operation, medicare coronary bypass surgery, i accept what medicare pays me. ñ>> it's about $2,000. >> and what do you do for $2,000? what is the total amount of your time spent doing? >> well, surgeons are paid globally. so if i operate on you, i get one payment. and you and i are married. ok, for that month or until i get you well, that's what i get paid. so i can see you 10 times a day, i can, you know if you have complications, come in the middle of the night, do whatever it is. i get that one payment. ok. and for the hospital it's similar, they get what is called a d.r.g. payment, and dia for bypass surgery, i think it's about $18,000 that the hospital would get from medicare. to pay for whatever happens to that patient. >> that's the total cost of $20,000 for a bypass that medicare will pay? >> yeah. >> what does it really cost? >> well, it costs more than that, i am not sure exactly how much more. my -- we are way beyond what we charge. what we charge and what we collect is totally different. >> but at that point, if medicare is going to pay $20,000, who

over a period of time. >> and medicare -- >> this is your position. >> the medicare law that was written -- >> this is very important to understand. >> the antireform lobby, antimedicare, antisocial security. of course direct confrontation is not the only means for exposing the right's radical agenda. there is also time travel. in 1961 the part of dick armey was played by actor ronald reagan whose jeremiahed against social medicine was unearthed by the right last week to attack obama's reform. as media matters and others report the socialized medicine reagan was attacking then was also medicare which passed over reagan's objections and became one of the government's most popular functions. more popular than private insurance despite the dire warnings which have failed to materialize in the 48 years since reagan like armey warned what the tyranny of medicare would entail. >> first you decide the doctor can have so many patients. they're equally divided among the various doctors by the government. but then the doctors aren't equally divided geographically so a doctor decides he wants to pr

amigo to medicare. -- let me go to medicare.been one of the most it continues for health care. we have to limit medicare use the same doctors and facilities -- we have to remember that medicare uses the same doctors and facilities burd. it cannot hold the tide of inflation. if any health care reform bill strengthens medicare and does not weaken it. my group, we have not taking a position on health care reform. to let one's health care reform? of course i do. the three bills, they were all different. they have to go to the rules committee. that is the procedure. they have to be melded together. then they have to vote on the floor of the house. senator kennedy's health committee, they have a bill i love. i just love it but it is very expensive but talk about the finance committee. -- but it is very expensive. as talk about the finance committee. they do not tell us what they are doing i cannot endorse that bill. we do not know what the bill is going to look like. the house bill that is voted on in the floor, then it goes to congre

i have a disabled family on medicare, and grandparents on medicare.ecause of their low incomes that this, they are also on medicaid and cannot afford the different options like part d. the fact that there is no dental coverage is such an issue. everyone talks about wanting the choice for private insurance. there are people who want the choice for the government option, the medicare, but really the issue is that you have to go the private option to give dentil coverage. it is such an issue for preventative care. i have to drive a family member 50 miles away from home just to get dental work done under their medicaid because there are no providers in the area close by. host: thank you. guest: one of the problems in the medicare system that need to be addressed is for those people enrolled in medicare advantage which is private plans that offer medicare benefits, the average taxpayer and other beneficiaries are subsidizing what is in many cases are richer benefits package they enjoy to the tune of about 14% per year or about $1,000 more per year to provi