, plus more to the medicare population for less money than fifa service medicare. i believe that. so it is your position that you can maintain a strong, viable medicare advantage program even though you take that much money out of it? >> initially, you are likely to see a reduction in the number of plans, and a reduction that benefits higher premiums, fewer enenroll yis. it will begin to change the nature of the plan that participate, i believe towards a higher value, more worth while option for medicare beneficiaries. >> over the long term, would you get that there would be more medicare advantage programs? available? >> more individual plans offered. again, it's going to depend on your time. the first couple of years, i would expect that you'll see fewer. the easy money is gone and people will say my son went onto something else. but overtime, i think you could see those numbers start to increase again. >> also, i noticed on page three of the report in chapter one, and i told you i hasn't read it, i read the first page already. but it says in this report that you

medicare sustainibility. payments to hospital. $156 billion out of five years on this new law. payment adjustments for home health. $40 billion. so i would caution my colleagues that there is a $135 billion on the medicare advantage. that's one something they did mention. but i would question to make sure we do a total of in cuts, because some is to hospitals and some to individuals and that's what this law did. i look at trying to find a mission statement and under the front cover it says medicare, you're supposed to help us on medicare advantage program and traditional fee for service and analyze care, quality of care and other issues affecting medicare. but i think for mack crowe versus micro. you've gotten into a lot of the micro aspects of, and you've done it for a long time and i can well respect it. we're worried about some of the mack crowe issues and i know because implementation takes time, it's you have to check the yes cases of the new law, especially in this report, but i think that's an importan

they're charging medicare if you're on medicare.d if you're not on medicare they're charging the insurance company and that's part of what's adding to all these costs. this was a major focus of the health reform bill is, how do we get more primary care physicians, number one? and, number two, how do we give them more power so they are the hub around which a patient-centered -- the medical system exists, correct? and, first, getting more primary care physicians. sadly, young medical students would love to go into primary care but they don't get paid as well as specialists. so they say to themselves, you know what, i don't want to -- i got all these medical school bills that i got to pay. i got to become a plastic surgeon or something. so part of the bill was to -- through loan forgiveness programs and other mechanisms make it more enticing for young medical students to go into primary care, build up the pool of primary care physicians. number two is increasing the reimbursements for primary care. you know, right now you got a situati

mm question is about -- >> for medicare or medicaid? i want to make sure -- medicare? >> medicare. i say medicaid? oh, sorry. >> that's okay. [laughter] >> medicare. my question is about the doughnut hole. i think all of us appreciate the $250, and i think that will help a lot of folks. but my concern is that it's taking so long -- why 10 years to close the hole completely? >> well, here's what happening. essentially, we're going to be phasing this down. and i'll be honest with you, it's just a matter of money. it's very expensive to close this doughnut hole. when the prescription drug plan was originally passed -- frankly, we shouldn't have had a doughnut hole in the first place, but once that hole was created, then each year the budget was assuming that doughnut hole was there. for us to close that right away would have blown a hole through the budget. so essentially what we said is, how do we provide some immediate assistance to seniors who are falling into the doughnut hole, and then how do we ratchet down the cost to seniors each year so that by the time we get to 2020, the do

if they don't act, doctors will see a 21% cut in their medicare payments this week.this week, doctors will start receiving these lower reimbursements from the that could lead them to stop participating in the medicare program. and that could lead seniors tt lose their doctors. we cannot allow this to happen. we have to fix this problem so that our doctors can get paid for the life-saving services they provide and keep their doors open. we have to fix this problem to keep the promise of medicare for ur seniors so that they get the health care they deserve. so i urge republicans in the senate to at least allow a majority of senators and congressmen to stop this pay cut. i urge them to stand with america'')s seniors and americ's doctors. thanks. >> i am john boehner. in these tough economic times, american families have done their best to stay afloat -- spending less and working more while mapping out a financially sound future. they deserve that same degree of discipline from their government. instead of bringing fiscal sanity to washington like he promised, the presid

that means that medicare will be there longer. thing i want to say about medicare and medicaid is this health care bill alone does not solve all of our problems. i do not want to over-advertise. it is very hard to change a health-care system that involves millions of patients, tens of thousands of doctors, hospitals -- all of those systems across the country. trying to manage that from the top is too hard. we tried to create new incentives, find out who is doing the best of treating what. advertise those best practices that others can start adapting them so that over time, it trickles through out the system, so that the system overall it's more efficient. that is going to take some time. it will not happen overnight. it will happen over the course of a decade. that is before we can solve this problem overall. please tell your friends that the long-term fiscal implications to medicare -- the only way to fix those is to bend the cost curve, make health care more efficient. the other alternative, which is often presented by our repub

we owe it to the seniors who were promised medicare coverage and medicare coverage means that they ought to have access to physicians who are paid for the care that they give those medicare recipients. i urge an aye vote. yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. the gentleman is recognized. mr. levin: i understand the senate is about to vote, i think has begun its vote, on the comprehensive jobs bill. helping to pay for it so that companies on't ship jobs overseas. so what we're doing now in view of what seems inevitable in the senate, to take up one piece of that bill, the s.g.r. provision is in the bill now before the senate and that i'm afraid will be turned down. and what the fact is, we have to act, because patience -- patients, military personnel, their physicians need action. but it's the inaction of republicans in the other house that really has brought us -- is brings us to this point. -- bringing us to this point. and despite efforts by the majority leader in the senate in the other house, the finance chair in the other body, it n

one out of four americans on medicare is on medicare advantage. the reason is, there are some advantages. it has coordinated care, preventive care. in "the new york times" this past week there was a story on the cut that would occur. this is on monday, "doesn't of medicare providers plan to cut back vision, dental, and prescription benefits. some plan to eliminate teeth cleaning, jim memberships, raising fees on eyeglasses, hearing aid, all as part of a cut on medicare advantage." the mailer that the president sent out, he said that medicare would not change if you like it, but it will change for 10 million of you. host: next phone call. caller: i want to make a statement first and then the question. it always seems if you tell the same story more than once, sometimes it will stick. i watch the senate every day and i know what is going on. every day they lie and spin. i am from massachusetts. when you are saying is another spin, lie. there will not be a shortage of doctors. i do not know how you can just be on there and lie. host: rates are not go

medicare spending is still going to grow substantially. the last couple of decades medicare has grown 4% per year per beneficiary. in the future it will grow 2% per year per beneficiary. so spending is still going to go up, including for benefits. it's just that hospitals in particular aren't going to see their payments rise as quickly as they would have otherwise. there will be other entities that won't be paid quite as much as well particularly entities that operate so-called medicare advantage plans. their payment is going to change. >> woodruff: an important distinction here. >> an important distinction. we don't know frankly what that means for benefits. when the president said you're guaranteed benefits won't change. he's kreblgt. it's some of the extras that some of these plans have provided that may or may not change. quite honestly we won't know that for several years. >> woodruff: today the president talked about the $250 rebate checks. who will get them and how significant is that? >> everyone who has drug spending high enough t

i have the highest number of constituents on medicare of any member of congress. believe me, i have heard from them loud and clear, that they are disgusted with how long it took because their doctors are indeed refusing to take patients. whether it's the handling of the oil spill or their inability to put together a budget, it seems that even the basic responsibilities of running the government have become far too difficult for them. i'm glad to see this bill finally come before the house today. but i will remind all of our commints that this could have been prevented -- constituents that this could have been prevented. months ago my republican colleagues and i offered and voted for a longer fix that would have been slowly paid for. americans are tired of the credit card mentality of washington. this is a voting card, ladies and gentlemen, it is not a credit card. i thank you, mr. speakkr, and i yield back the balance of my tiie. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: i yield a minute to a distinguished member

this not only strengthens medicare, it saves taxpayer dollars.i am willing to take the difficult steps necessary to lower cost of medicare and put our budget on a more sustainable path. i am not willing to do that by punishing hard-working physicians or the millions of americans account medicare. that is just wrong. that is why in the short term, congress must act to prevent this pay cut to doctors. if they don't acc, doctors will see a 21% cut in their medicare payments this week. this week, doctors will start receiviig these lower reimbursements from the medicare program. that could lead them to stop participating in the medicare program, and that could lead seniors to lose their doctors. we cannot allow this to happen. we have to fix this problem so that our doctors can get paid for the lifesaving services they provide and keep their doors open. we have to fix this problem to keep the promise of medicare for our senior so that they get the health care they deserve. i urge republicans in the senate to at least allowing majority of senators and

program, which fully a fourth of our seniors on medicare get their care from a medicare advantage plan. why? because screening procedures are offered and paid for, annual physical examinations are authored and paid for. nurses call the patients to make sure that they're taking their medication. that and the medication is paid for. yes, it costs a little bit more and our majority party said, well, we shouldn't be paying more for those programs, but look how much more you're getting. if you believe in wellness rather than treating just episodes of illness, that's why you came up with this program, for goodness sakes. that's why we passed med car part d, the -- medicare part d, the prescription drug part. when you criticized us so severely in 2003 and said, oh, you're not paying for that. it's going to cost another $450 billion on the medicare program to provide these seniors with prescriptions for their coverage. well, my colleagues, you know -- i know, i'm one of them, are taking five, six medications a day to lower their cholesterol, to lower their blood pressure, to get their blood su

they had to do is medicaid and medicare and social security. they had to do with a series of structural problems that are not unique to america. some of it has to deal with an aging population, and we have got to look at a tax system that is messy and unfair and a whole range of ways, so we're looking at the gamut of steps that are going to be taken, and one of the interesting things that happened over the last 18 months as president is that for some reason, people keep on being surprised when i do what i ate said i was going to do, so i say i'm going to reform our health- care system, and people think," well, gosh, that is not smart politics. maybe we would -- should hold off. some people would say, what are you doing that? i am not sure that is good politics. i am doing it because i think it is the right thing to do, and i said i've is going to do it, and people should learn that lesson about me, because next year, when i start presenting some very difficult choices to the country, i hope some of these folks who were talking but deficits and

caller: i am on medicare, and i just got a letterw3 from cathere sebelius that my medicare is going toso i'm sure that my medicare supplement policy is going to go up to make of for the shortfall ofw3 cutting t medicare advantage. xdthe deduction for my social security is added back in the $176 iñrxdñr paid to blue crosse shield on a monthly basis, that is not tax deductible. host: what is your point? caller: in maine, new hampshire,3w and tennessee, its not worked there. if it has not worked in these states, why are we experimenting and where are we finding out that all of these costs are going to go iballoon? host:, let me jump over to a republican collar and then we will come back. where are your thoughts, mitchell? caller: i have a 7-year-old kid and he has several medical conditions, but mainly summit condition from [unintelligible] trying to host: let's move on to something more substantive. what do you have, john? caller: i'm a 46-year-old man and permanently disabled on medicare. i have to devote children at home, one about to graduate -- i hhve two children at home, what abou

that would include all medicare beneficiaries as far as i know. you should check with your local office. host: pennsylvania. caller: i think the main problem with obama is that he has not followed the priorities of the american people. they were fix the economy and create jobs and take care of the oil spill. with regards to the economy, the stimulus money was assigned to energy and health care issues. recently, barbara boxer said -- and regarding the energy bill, the basic priority is to take care of this bill. i imagine she was speaking about the payments. this man is not focusing on the priorities that americans have. i thought the promise by jonathan alter -- in both the book and on television, he says almost everybody in the obama it ministration does not want the health care bill passed in the first couple of years. that included joe biden, christina romer. in the book that was written, they wanted it passed beyond the first couple of years. host: let's get a response. guest: i have not read the book. there is some reticence to health care re

to cutown on the wae anfrauin medicare. i ok forwa to connuing to work on this a use the dars in medicare to provide heal benefits t our seniors not allow criminals to run rampan the speaker pro teore: the ntlemas time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman fromexas rise? >>equest permiion to address the use for one minute the speaker pro mpore: wit objection. mr. poe: mr. speak, free eech is under assault from islamic errorts worldwide. they usehrts and political correctness toilence anybody that speaksut about thr violent belis. dutch lawm gre wilder hamade a movie about these slassic clerics who inght violenn the name of relion. but the dutch government is putting him on trial for incitement to hatred thepessive dutch vernment sa it's irelevant the speech in t mov may b true you setheriso fr trade agreement speech inhe netherlas if a pers is critical of radical ism. freedom ofpeech is basic human right. pocal speech and relious speech are the most ntroversial types a speech. that is why th types of speecheshoul

future, adjusting social security to make it solvent and sound will not be easy, but compared to medicaret is easier to make social security solvent for the long run. we have made no decisions like this, but it could very well be that there will say, will take social security first. the problem is if you do all of these short-term and long-term, social security and medicare in one sitting with one bill, i think you would be risking failure. >> let me ask you about a steny warrior's: that he floated, raising the retirement age and -- steny hoyer's idea that he floated, raising the retirement age end -- >> the cells of something that could get discussed, especially if you do not end of with cuts and spending. in an election year, it seems that five of the last seven of the election years that there has not been a full budget process passed. i know that you are pushing the president's proposal and a line of precision, but that is a small issue. >> process is important. when we got to the end of the alliance and the process change in the balance was budget -- the budget was balanced, we reali

many of which, many of whom depend on medicare, for example. well, we know that medicare will be going insolvent in i think just a handful of years. 2016 or 2017 is when it goes insolvent. so here we are borrowing and borrowing and spending and spending and borrowing and spending, are we using that money? is the speaker and is the president using that money to shore up medicare for our senior citizens? are they using that money to shore up social security for our seniors? no. they've now created a new entitlement that, you know, we can call the mother of all entitlements. so not only are they not solving the problems that we have, they're creating new entitlements which is going to add to the fiscal problem that we're already in. so, not only are they borrowing and spinding more, they're doing so -- spending more, they're doing so recklessly. while not dealing with the issues that we all know, everybody knows, we have to deal with. so that just adds insult to injury and when you mentioned that, about, remember what happened in greece? it got to

speaker, of $0 billion t to the medicare advantagerogram. 17a ar. now, whewe startedhis debate it was implied, maybe correctly, that medicare advange nsurance compani that ran the programs for our seniors, got reimbsed on avege 14% more th trational fee for service micare e pendtures on an annualized bas wewhy cut it 17% if they were getting 14%ore? you know, that's -- if your argument is, let's cut the fat out of medicare advantage, you cut the fat and then youe down to theuscle and the grissle and the clage, right down almost to the bone and in the final anysis what it mns, mr. saker, and my colues, is that medicare advaag cannot survive. there is no way. people, these 20%, 11lion of them, many of them imy 11th congressnal district of georgia, northwest georgia, are on the medicaredvantage program, they're going to lose that cerage. it's as simple as tt d i ield back to my friend and i ank him r allowinge to join m th evening. medical doctor,ou've been looking closely at onof the whe series taxes, the thingsork as taxes. let's take health care out

programs like medicare and medicaid.we must raise taxes on the wealthy and cut things like military spending, and get out of the wars we're fighting with the billions we're spending. guest: a couple of different things. you can talk about the concentration of wealth. but when you talk about income taxes -- income and wealth are different things. the best book of income is going to folks in the middle class because of the sheer numbers. we should be thankful it is so vast. there is a significant amount of income in the top 1%. but you cannot get bad enough of the income to pay for what is going on. i do not advocate tax increases for the middle-class. to pay for the policies we're entering into we would have to tap into the middle-class -- my own view is not to go down the road of those policies. so that we can preserve the economic freedom for those in all income class's to earn success. when we cut off pathways, people lower [unintelligible] dramatically. host: here is this heaven -- the rich got richer, but paid more t

if you fall into the medicare get, which is an absence coverage, up to a certain $250 rebate.et a medicared include all i know.aries as far as check with your local office. host: pennsylvania. think the main problem that he has not the prrorities of the american people. they were fix the economy and jobs and take care of the oil spiil. with regards to the economy, the was assigned to energy and health care issues. said --, barbara boxer and rrgarding the energy bill,%% basic priority is to take of this bill. i imagine she was speaking about the payments. man is not focusing on the that americans have. i thought the promise by theer -- in both television, he says almost everybody in the obama it ministration does not want the in thecare bill passed first couule of years. that included joe biden, romer.na in the book that was written, wanted it passed beyond the first couple of years. host: let's get a response. guest: i have nnt read the book. some reticence to reform.are thht is true. joe biden was concerned about moving healthcare right after the stimulus. debates that we see on the campai

medicare to an irresponsible degree. >> june 22 in utah.heck the county recorder's website for additional information, or visit our website. after labor day, we will return with more debates. thanks for joining us. good night. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> tuesday, it is primary day. a political reporter from politico is joining us to talk about two races in south carolina and california. james, let's start with south carolina and that district race. >> bob has sort of gone against the republican grain for a long time, and it is finally catching up with him. he voted for the bailouts, like everyone else in south carolina, and he has been beaten up on that. his opponent is leading in the polls and has hit him hard on that. voting for the energy bill, the so-called cap and trade bill, voting against protecting "under god," all of the things that add up to make him on popular sort of among the tea party crowd -- make him unpopular. this is another classic exa

this $250 rebate is a key improvement to medicare and the first medicare benefit of the new health care reform law to ta effect. the rebates are being sent three months ahead of schule and the first round of checks will reach nearly 80,000 seniors who are already in the doughnut hole. following this inial round o rebate checks, addition checks will be sent to seniors ashey hit the doughnut hole. it is estimated that four million seniors across the country will receive a250 rebate check this year. this is just the first phase of relief for seniors from prescription drug costs. next year seniors in the doughnut hol will see a 15% discount on brand name drugs. while the medicare part d prcription drug program has helped millions of seniors obtainrescription drug coverage, senis would fall into the doughnut hole and receivno financial assistance with tir prescription drugs aroften forced to put their health in danger by splitting pills or skipping treatments all together. despite the clear benefits to seniors, it is now time that we implement further reform. thank yo mr. speaker. the speake

that would protect the health of our seniors depended on medicare by restoring a 21% cut in medicare reimbursement to our doctors, and extend tax credits and benefits essential to the american people. surely there are three republican senators that are willing to break with their partisan beliefs and stand up with the american people so that those that are unemployed can get their benefits and take care of their families, the doctors can continue to take care of medicare patients, our seniors will continue to see their docttrs and we can provide the necessary tax credits and benefits that the american people are demanding and asking for. i ask everybody to think of the american people instead of their own narrow interests. let's get this thing done. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> i ask permission to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lungren: thank you very much, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, in a few minu

caller: i'd like to think the president for lying to me about my medicare. i know it is cut 21%. also, i thought it was disrespectful for him to be campaigning for barbara boxer when the people that lost their lives were having their funeral. host: next caller. caller: the gulf area is a good area. we could start thinking about having water turbines and harnessing the power. we could use heat pump technology like other places in the world, and it might make a big difference. host: richard on the independent line. caller: i was calling in regards to agent orange. some of the listeners may like to know that before the senate recessed for memorial day break there was an emergency spending bill that was passed for $60 billion. in that bill, thanks to general erickson, there was $12.3 billion in mandatory spending to compensate 68,000 vietnam veterans who were exposed to agent orange but were denied compensation. this is the first time that a very large sum of money is being set aside for vietnam veterans in relation to agent orange. that is an article in the congressional quarterly w

-- $500 billion out of medicare that our seniors relied on. they voted to cut $500 billion out of it. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. mcgovern: if the gentleman wants to know -- i think he's referring to the article. i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from kansas, mr. moore. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is yielding how many minutes? mr. mcgovern: two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: two minutes to the gentleman from kansas. mr. moore: madam speaker, i rise in support of the rule to consider the dodd-frank wall street reform conference report. for too many years wall street was not properly regulated and we paid for these mistakes, unfortunately it is our constituents on main street who paid the price, not wall street financial firms. according to a recent survey, this result directly impacted more than half of working americans, pushing far too many town employment, to take pay cuts, reduced hours or part time jobs or

we extend the life of medicare in that bill for 10 years. we've closed the doe nult hole. -- we've closed the doughnut hole. 25,000 small businesses in nevada will be able to have health insurance. we're going to ensure 600,000 nevadans. we have done things like saying , they can't deny my child insurance because of preexisting disability. that's the law of the land now. >> you see, health reform is important because it saves lives. it saves money. and it saved medicare. but there's one other thing. there's one other thing. it's going to create lots and lots of jobs. ask any economist. well, as i said a couple of times today, we have a lot more to do, but i do -- and i don't mean this to boast, although i do pat myself on the back just a little bit, a number of pundits have said, the most significant of which is a man by the name of norm, a congressional scholar, a middle of the road guy, who said three weeks ago the most productive congress in the history of the country is the one we're in right now. but we have a lot more to do. we know we

can she, who haa been publicly quoted saying both medicare and social security needs to be phased outthe long terr -- is she goinn to be a potent force in national politics? it is hard to say. this is the problem the anti- war movement's founders upon. they won national elections, but they did not get their ultimate policy goes achieve. i think it remains to be seen whether there is a tea party candidate who will provide the kind of success that has eluded their anti-war parallels in the democrat party. >> b hold the power. questions, i want to make one general observation. i have one question which may have been my fault for not hearing at the very beginning. the first is, david was talking about the comparison between the left movements and the antt-war movement and the tea party, and i do think it is worth at least pointing out, and i understand media criticism is the lowest form of punditry, but you had during the anti-war movement are remarkable exceptions of fairly radical figures as mainstream. whatever you think of the merits of her position, sheehan is challenging nancy pelos

health reform is important because it saves lives and it saves money and it saved medicare. there is one of the frame. it is for me to create lots of jobs. ask any economist. as i said, we have a lot more to do, and i do not mean this to boast, even though i pat myself on the back just a little bit. a number of pundits have said that the most productive congress in the history of the country is the one that we have now. [applause] but we have a lot more to do. one of the things that we have to do is energy. today, in america, we will use 21 million barrels of oil. we import 70% of that. we cannot continue doing that. we have to wean ourselves off of fossil fuels. in the next few weeks, i intend to come forward with an energy bill. [applause] we will have a clean energy pevolution, and much of that has already started here. trthis will allow our stay to te energy independent within three years. transmission is the name of the game. we are going to make easier. right now, the average time to build a power line is 19 years. we will shorten not by analysts. the large reserves of

two weeks ago tens of thousands oo seniors who fall into the medicare prescription drug coverage gap known as the doughnut hole began receiving a $250 chk to help them afford -- check to help them afford their mad sin. -- medicine. by 2020 this will close the doughnut hole completely. we are also strengthening medicare by going after waste and fraud and abuse in the system and aggressively pursuing those who prey on seniors with scams. in many cases young adults without insurance can now stay on their parents' plan until they are 26 years old. this lifts a lot of worry from some parents' shoulders. even thoogh tte insurance companies had until september to comply with this rule, my administration asked them to do so immediately to avoid coverag3 want to thank those companies that agreed to do this. on july 1, uninsured americans who had been lock out -- locked of the insurance market because of pre-existing condition, will now be able to enroll in a new national insurance pool where they'll finally be able to purchase quality affordable health care. some for the very first time in th

undue hardship, unnecessary olks nking from tho in their senior year and at do ourolks say pratize medicare, privatize e situaon for sial security. it's a ct.choice . it's a difference. big oil mpanies, big bks, wall street, special inrest give them free rein or asist the smausiness commity, work for incentivand pass re f mddle-income americans, that's the ntract. andust ashat ne went sth, 're now going north, so is the conact. sharp anclear. and i thinkore and more, the geral publics saying, you n't get back the keys and don't eget back the eyto the . war ms. wasserman schtz: you are aolutelright. overhe nt few nths we are getting closer to aelection. and in nbe i think the ericans will have a cl choice. they can go back to taid polics of tast. backslidtowarde bushra in which wel be in a tuation whe we'll be d by people who think we should cus on big siness, bi corporations, welthiest americs and ue the ice-wn notthat has been proven time and a to be effective, fact, proven to be detrimental or contin to move ithe direction th the obamadministtion and the mocratileaders in the house a sena

steve went on to become the head of the managed-care company serving medicaid and medicare beneficiariesn the office of consumer information and in some assurance oversight was formed, he was appropriately picked as the director of oversight, one of the key positions. he is here to tell us, at the beginning stage of what opiio is going to do to bring about health care reform. we couldn't do this without having a good antitrust enforcer on the panel. we have a good antitrust enforcer. cheryl arnold pozen is chief of staff of the antitrust division at the department of justice, where she helps the assist attorney general what actions making antitrust enforcement is strong component. there was not a lot of discussion of antitrust in the congressional debate. i am sure that is only going to be for a short period of time because we are starting to see a lot more enforcement of antitrust division. cheryl has a long record at the federal trade commission, a little while ago, -- we were both attorney advisers to different commissioners. my first question for the speaker is is, -- from your agenc

not medicare but medicaid. now, some states have increased me of the reimbursement rates under medicaid, well, that's coming to an end real quick because of all the additional unfunded mandates on the states that's going to add billions to what they have to come up with. they're not going to be able to do that. and we already saw there was polling, "new england journal of medicine" and other doctor polling that indicates 35%, some as much as 55% of the current physicians, when this kicks in to law, will retire and quit practicing medicine. oh, well that's great. that's really going to be good for the working poor. and how about the president's own words when he said, on the day before the bill passed here, his own words, whereas in the past you went to the doctor and you got five tests, now you'll go to the doctor and you'll get one test. well, wasn't that good news? some of us know that's not a good idea. in some cases there are tests that are given purely from the doctor's practice, defensive medicine, becaus

i mentioned the medicare checks. would also say on july 1 the establishment of a new high risk pool that will help cover hard to ensure people. it probably won't be available to everybody on july 1 because some states want to do their own pools. also around that time we will see the new consumer website that will allow people who are buying insurance to compare one plan to the next. then in the fall on september 23, some of the really popular provisions will go into effect, like banning insurers from discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions. we have already seen that companies are now starting to allow -- young people to stay on their parents plans, that is ahead of schedule. for the advantage of the white house, a lot of these really popular provisions are going into effect right away while some of the unpopular ones, like the mandate for people to buy insurance, the requirement, will not go into effect until later. host: white house correspondent for "the new york times." thank you for stopping by

cuts, the estate tax, the alternative minimum tax, and the doc fix that helps seniors see their medicare doctors. i understand that criticism, but -- but it neglects the fact that a paygo law without those exemptions would simply be waived again and again and would become toothless. congress has to face current -- strong political pressure to go even further than the current policy exemptions in statutory paygo allow. simply enforcing paygo as it now stands, let alone taking paygo further, will continue to face strong challenges from both sides of the aisle. it is essential that we move from the attempt -- from the temporary extensions to permanent solutions, but we cannot consider those solutions without taking into account all long-term fiscal challenges. firm -- permanent solutions for the estate tax, amt, and the doc fix it should be devvloped in the context of he broader budget agreement that i will discuss shortly. and as the house and senate debate what to do with the expiring bush tax cuts in the coming weeks, we need to have a serious discussion about their implications for our

we know from visiting with treasury secretary geithner, that medicare is essentially bankrupt. we know that social security, when we get to the suwannee 30's will be taking in enough money only to pay out three force of the benefits it pays out now. so, to help this committee dispelled the persistent and dangerous myth that our entitlement programs are sustainable as currently structured, can you describe the fiscal and economic consequences of doing nothing on entitlement and simply allowing social security and medicare to run their course, and could you please put figure 1 backup? that was the one on the tidal wave of debt,because i'm concerned about the effect of doing nothing with our entitlement programs on this very tidal wave. >> you are correct that the tidal mud programs are are not self funded. they are unfunded liabilities to a significant extent at this point. they are t biggest single component of spending going forward. now, there are various ways to address this. you can cut other things but at some point you need to address the overall budgetary situation. if yo

medicare, perhaps ending the antitrust exemption. i think medicare should be able to negotiate for prescription drug prices. >> elaine marshall? >> my three principals were expanded access, affordability, and eliminating the gotcha. we have to be vigilant on pre- existing conditions. we have to make sure that that pricing is competitive. we do not have that yet. in north carolina, i am hopeful that will come. we have to be very aggressive. i truly think we need more emphasis on integrative medicines, preventive medicine, so that we prevent the illness and the chronic problems away before they become the cost factor that they can be at the end. >> thank you. now the show closes. each u.s. senate hopeful will offer a one minute closing statement. cal cunningham keeps winning the coin toss. you get to close first. >> thank you. thanks to those at home listening. this campaign is not about me or elaine marshall. it is about you and the future we are trying to build as a state in the country. it has been a great honor to have been all acr

we had the first comprehensive health care reform a system since medicare.argest increase in student aid since the g.i. bill at the end of world war ii. the most expensive -- extensive wall street reforms since the great depression. this is been the greatest flurry of reform and over 50 years, and yet, we have grown more dissatisfied and for good reason. the catastrophe that was inherited was far greater than any feared. the reforms insufficient to the cause. the recovery plan to stop the economic freefall, but was too small to put people to work. the health care reforms will extend coverage to millions, but the insurance and drug companies kept their grip on their privileges. wall street reform will leave the big banks more concentrated than ever. even student aid was overwhelmed by the soaring tuition increases and severe cuts and colleges across the country. wall street was rescued. main street is still struggling. so what happened? how did this take place? well, a new generation has been introduced to the legislative process in its full and a botched glo

they spent aut 19 percent of all federal spending including medicare and social security. about 56% of discretionary spending and they are sponsibleor about 65% of the growth in discretionary spending since 2001. ose are all big chunks. some people might say do not touch fense. to not touch it. that weakens us. let us takehe $250 billion out of the other accounts. i think what at comes down to is an approach that saps the fundamentals of our nation's strength. e are in this for t long haul and we better be,, we have to pay attention to the fundamentals of national strength. that means our economy, our people. when wlook at how to allocate productions, the pentagon is ir game. what wve tried to do in entifying at least $100 billion in cuts and in some iterations more, is to try to have a new way of thinking about national security. many people talk about rebalancing security instruments. mostly what people are thinking about this rebalancing assets and resources betweenhe ste departme defense and other instruments of security. we're ting aurther steand say we have to rebala

doctors, and they left town only addressing the doc fix for doctors that see medicare patients. included in that bill was $24 billion in medicaid money to help states balance their budgets and $23 billion more to prevent layoffs at a local school districts. the senate comes back and is slated to address those issues, including unemployment benefits. we want to hear from you about whether or not you think the federal government should even be providing aid to states. scranton, pennsylvania. republican line. good morning. caller: i think people need the help, should get the help, but i think there are a lot of people out there on unemployment and are not even trying to get jobs. i know for affect people call in, and they get very disappointed after collecting for 2.5 years, they have to go out and get a job. i think they need help, and we should give it to them. but i think they should go out there and look for jobs appear. host: the state provides unemployment benefits for 26 weeks. the federal government is working on an extension of those benefits and that aid would go to the s

next six years or so, as our society gets older and people become eligible for social security and medicare we need to get control of the debt and the deficit. we need a medium-term plan, an exit strategy, if you will, that will allow us to bring our fiscal house in order over a longer period of time. >> do you have one? do you see one? >> no, i don't. among other things, we have a presidentially appointed deficit reduction commission which is made up of a very distinguished group of people. they will present a plan presented to the congress at the appropriate time. >> today have any teeth? >> you are right. when you started out your question, we mentioned this quite a bit of the federal reserve rethink it is important. we can see what problems can arise in a country if investors lose confidence in the fiscal position of that country. it is very important that we address this problem. we have not done it yet. we continue -- we will continue to advocate strong action on this. it is important to understand the difference between having a balanced budget next week and over the medium term birt

we had the first comprehensive health care reform since medicare.have the largest increase in student aid since the g.i. bill at the end of world war two. the most extensive welfare reform since the great depression. this has been the greatest flurry of reform in over 50 years. yet, through it, we have grown more dissatisfied. for good reason. the catastrophe that was inherited was far greater than any fear. reforms were insufficient to the cause. the rich -- the recovery plan stopped the the economic freefall but was too slow to put people to work for the health care reform but the insurance and drug companies kept their grip on their privileges. wall street reform will leave the big banks more concentrated than ever before. student aid was overwhelmed by the soaring tuition increases and severe cuts from colleges across the country wall street was rescued, main street is still struggling. what happened? how did this take place? a new generation has been introduced to the legislative process in its fall and the botched burglary. with remark -- and

they do not want the government messing with their medicare. host: it is a government-run program. guest: so they're n realiic in their anti-government positions. host: i want to show a piece posted on "the telegraph" last night that rahm emanuel is expected to quit the white hse over frustration with the unwillingness of those around the president to get policy pushed through. guest: there have been rumors that he is leaving since the day he got therr. suddenly, this would not be an abnormally brief stay. there's generally a big turnover after the midterm. there would be nothing etraordinary if he did decide to leave. third, newspapers have lower standards of when they consider a rumor to be accurate. host: what are the british newspapers'standards? guest: two independent sources for the american newspaper is -- then there's would be one and a half. they will go with a story more quickly. for me, i defend that. i think there's a lot of stuff that people in washington know, a special reporters, that they do not report because they feel they do not ha it 100% sure. but they're prett

medicare, perhaps ending the antitrust exemption. i think medicare should be able to negotiate for prescription drug prices. >> elaine marshall? >> my three principals were expanded access, affordability, and eliminating the gotcha. we have to be vigilant on pre- existing conditions. we have to make sure that that pricing is competitive. we do not have that yet. in north carolina, i am hopeful that will come. we have to be very aggressive. i truly think we need more emphasis on integrative medicines, preventive medicine, so that we prevent the illness and the chronic problems away before they become the cost factor that they can be at the end. >> thank you. now the show closes. each u.s. senate hopeful will offer a one minute closing statement. cal cunningham keeps winning the coin toss. you get to close first. >> thank you. thanks to those at home listening. this campaign is not about me or elaine marshall. it is about you and the future we are trying to build as a state in the country. it has been a great honor to have been all acr

reports that half of all medicare advantage plans will end in the coming years. seniors who were receiving vision and dental coverage on these plans will now be forced to buy costly supplemental coverage. the more layers we peel away the less there is to like about obamacare. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. cardoza: congressional republicans threaten to take us back to the failed policies that created the economic crisis. siding with special interests, i.e., the wall street investment banks. these economic and fiscal policies created the bush recession, the worst financial crisis since the great depression with job losses of nearly 800,000 a month and nearly doubling our national debt. democrats in congress will continue to take america in a new direction, creating good american jobs, lowering taxes for the middle class and for small business and building a strong new foundation for the econ

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. >> sharron angle whose opinion she wants to privatize social security and medicare, was we'll find in the next four or five weeks if harry reid cannot focus the attention on her and her shortcomings and go ahead in that race and make it competitive, then i think democrats are really in for a tough, tough race. >> but why do democrats have to run i'm no day at the beach. they just had a year in which they probably passed more of their favorite legislation since the new deal so why can't they run on their record? >> well, maybe it's unpopular. >> lehrer: how do you read the blanche lincoln victory from the democratic re-election primary in arkansas. >> the question is why did unions spend $10 million trying to beat her in a state the democrats probably can't win in any case. in a state without a lot of yawn voters, and in a state like a lot of states where people say there are all these special interests in washington on the right and the left. and they're trying to establish their muscle by manipulating voters in state after state. we're going to reject those outsiders. and so i tho

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