ask somebody that's going on medicare today how easy it is to find a new medicare doctor. 40% of the physicians in this country aren't accepting new medicare patients. and that's growing every year. why is that? it's because medicare isn't competitive or they're overly competitive in some areas and under competitive, like the disruption and maldistribution in terms of physician specialties and primary care. market forces would take care of that, where as a controlled elite system run by washington doesn't take care of it. >> if you're 50 years old today then if you say you're going to get the medicare benefits of a 65-year-old today let's say 25 years from now, if you ex-trab late the trends in health care, if people really understood that, they may say that's insufficient or a lot less than what medicare is promising me now. medicare is promising me at 75 i'm going to get -- as health care spending rises relative to everything else, i'm going to get a much bigger share. so doesn't that mean that at some point people have to be told that they need to save more if they want to spend a

it is not part of medicare, but it tied into medicare. those plans are approved by the government and it will cover you for the gaps in medicare. so, usually someone who wants fee for service would get medicare a, b, a stand alone drug plan, and a medygap plan, or they would sign up for medi gap part c with drug coverage. >> there is a cost for this. >> yes, there is. >> my mother is on a fixed income but she pays for part of what she make to medicare. >> right. turnly the premium for part b -- currently the premium for part b is around $100 a month. a medicare prescription drug plan is $3-plus a month. but the -- $30-plus a month, but the range is consider biable from -- consider -- range is considerable. and there may be a premium to a and b plans, too. >> and what about the gap plan? >> the medigap plan would have a premium to that. >> is there a range to that or is it all over the board? >> medigap plans are not part of medicare, but they are also in the alphabet. they are consistent across state as to an a plan that is sold in califo

we bankrupt medicare. at the end of the day, the difference is this -- medicare, in order to save medicare, in order to keep its guaranteed for current and future seniors and to prevent a debt crisis from running our country and giving our kids -- our kids a diminished future must be reformed. the president's health-care law which does reform medicare says 15 political appointees will decide how that will go. they will decide how to cut medicare to provide diminished access to seniors. we say empower the 50 million seniors to make the choices. let the insurers compete against each other for their business and give the scene is the choice of the traditional medicare system if they choose to do so. we think that is far more rational, far more humane, and more importantly, we do not want to subject medicare benefits to the discretion and control of 15 political appointees. wealthy people, because there are wealthy, can afford more out of pocket. low-income people cannot so we distinguish. we say cover the low

, in the medicare exchange. in this case you can't be denied care based on your health status. you can't -- you're guaranteed issue with community rating. you pick that plan and then medicare subsidizes your premium. you don't get a check in the mail. you don't get a voucher. they subsidize based on who you are. less if you're a wealthy person. more coverage as you get sicker. now let's review a stunning chart on medicare -- no, i'm not going to yield, no, no. let's review a chart on medicare's future under the president's approach in the house republican approach. let's start with the republican budget. let's look at how this budget puts medicare spending on a sustainable path. my battery is working now. this shows you the growth rate of medicare under the republican budget over the long term. this shows you how we can do a plan where there are no changes for people in retirement. and how we have more choices for people in the future, 54-year-olds and below. this year's budget, it's a fact people don't like to

we bankrupt medicare. so at the end of the day, the difference is this -- medicare in order to save medicare, in order to keep its guarantee, for current and future seniors, in order to prevent a debt crisis from ruining our country and giving our kids a diminished future must be reformed. the president's health care law, which is in law, does reform medicare. it says 15 political appointees will decide how that line is going to meet. they will decide how to cut medicare to providers which will lead to denied access for seniors. we are saying, let the seniors decide. empower 50 million sooniers to make choices. more to the point, force the insurers to compete against each other for business as a beneficiary and also give the choice of traditional medicare system, if she so wants to choose to do so. we think that's far more rational, far more humane and more importantly, we do not want to subject her medicare benefits to the discretion and control of 15 political appointees. we want to put her in power and

and you hear the calls that we can't change medicare. and the fact is we will change medicare. we will change medicare significantly, but that does not mean that we will change quality health care for seniors. and the reasons that we'll change medicare is because the world's financial community won't loan us the money to pay for it the way it is today. it is a fiscal impossibility for us to be able to borrow at the level that will be required to sustain medicare as it is today. so we have a choice in front of us. and we can follow what has been put forward in what i choose to call obamacare where we have a top-down, elite bureaucracy that ultimately rations medicare, or we can use what we've used in every other aspect of our society save education and health care, and that's the good choices of market forces allocating scarce resources to drive efficiency and quality. tackling medicare in an election year is what is known as taboo in washington. i think that's exactly the time to tackle it, to build a consensus of what the real facts are about medicare. the fact that it is abso

why are you cutting medicare? why is it more important when you're cutting medicare to protect corporate tax subsidies and loopholes, such as those for big oil? why when you're cutting medicare is it more important to increase the tax breaks for millionaires. why when you're cutting medicare is it important to shift the burden to middle-class families. i think the bottom line is we have got -- we've got a fight on our hands. and if we're going to keep the promise of medicare, if you value it as a fundamental promise to allow retirees to live their lives in dignity, then reject this republican plan. this is an important american value. and it's absolutely worth fighting for. i'm happy to at this time, yield my time. >> thank you, mrs. chairman. mr. chairman, i have to start by saying this. this is a political document. every budget that's ever presented by the democratic party or the republican party or the know nothings, it doesn't matter. this is a political document. as much as you are saying it's an economic do

the republican medicare voucher plan ends medicare guarantees of a specific set of health benefits to our seniors. it ends the wide array of choices currently available under medicare from ttin which physicians participate, as providers, to medicare advantage, a new innovative delivery models. the voucher offered by republicans not only is limited in amount, thereby limiting choices that seniors will have depending on their ability to pay, but will also make no guarantee that they can keep their current benefits or their own doctor. this year's republican plan just like last year's proposal, not only eliminates guaranteed benefits and shifts costs to beneficiaries, but does nothing to address the underlying causes of growing health care costs. so as costs rise, it's seniors alone who will bear the financial burden in the future. as we just heard in some of the questions, that's absolutely clear. last year's republican budget would have increased health care costs for the typical 65-year-old by more than $6,000. in 2022. yet knowing that, they proposed the very same agenda again. there

the budget he proposes would end medicare -- would end medicare's guarantee. cut taxes for the wealthiest and place our economic recovery at risk. robert green seen it, head of the budget and policy proirts -- priorities, described the republican budget this way and i quote, we likely -- it would likely produce the largest redistribution of income from the bottom to the top in modern u.s. history and likely increase poverty and inequality more than any other budget in recent times . now that is not a now that is not a budget that you have a senate that is chaired by the democratic party, majority leader and a democratic president. you are not going to get consensus on that kind of a budget. so this is essentially a statement of purpose and vision by one party. not a document that anybody thinks is going to pass. however, that is a future we simply cannot afford. in fact rkt the republican proposal -- in fact, the republican proposal is not a realistic budget at all, i say to you. nobody believes in its premise that we are going to savage our domestic programs

well, medicare. it took it away from the insurance companies that were receiving large overpayments. medpak's recommendation, half a billion dollars was plowa the d lness visit. so i urge you, again, don't break the promise of medicare and don't just take it from me. >> the time has expired. >> the proposal lacks balance to jeopardize the health and economic security. eired. look, because of this clock is why i'm being tough. the gentle lady, come on. the question is on agreeing to the amendment offered by the gentle lady from florida. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed say no. >> no. >> the nos have it. >> roll call vote. >> the clerk wroll. >> mr. garrett? mr. no. will campbell? mr. campbell, no. mr. calvert? mr. calrtcole mr. cole, no. mr. price? mr. price, no. mr. mcclintock, no. mr. tz? mr. stutsman, no. mr. langford? mr. langford, no. ms. no. mr. flores? >> no. >> mr. flores, no. mr. mull>>no. >> mr. mulvaney, no. mr. young? mr. mr. amash? no. mr. garrett? >> no. tt, no garre >> mr.

we must strengthen medicare, not end the medicare guarantee. the affordable health care act strengthens medicare, extends the life of the trust fund and has already lowered the cost for millions of seniors. however, without innovation, our current system will be unsustainable for our nation's families, businesses and taxpayers. the republican plan to end medicare guarantee is no alternative. innovation is the alternative. and i urge my colleagues to support the independent payment advisory board and reject this legislation. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. pitts: mr. chairman, i would much rather hear from some of our doctor friends who are speaking so eloquently. i have another doctor member of the health subcommittee from pennsylvania, distinguished gentleman, dr. tim murphy. i yield for two minutes. the chair: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for two minutes. mr. murphy: i thank the gentleman. when i was a state senator of pennsylvania i took on h.m.o.'s and plans that made decisi

no more medicare. they'll have to private insurance and let the insurance company tell the doctor and the patient what they'll be able to do. with them trying to hold down costs without regard to the medicare patient. i thank the gentleman for yielding to me. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. pitts: mr. chairman, we are prepared to close. have you -- mr. waxman: we will yield back the balance of our time. the chair: the gentleman from california yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. pitts: thank you, mr. chairman. before i yield to the gentleman from georgia, dr. gingrey, for our close, i just want to remind him of a statement by the chairman, representative stark of the ways and means subcommittee on health during the debate of ppaca. he called the establishment of the board, quote, a dangerous provision that sets medicare up for unsustainable cuts. we should be reminded of that. at this time i yield to one of the auth

medicare knows it, too, but you know it's anybody that wants to -- as long as you qualify for medicare, you're eligible, you're going to get paid. there's no market force on the quality of the physician, but there is, if i'm way outside for blue cross/blue shield, you know what happens next year? they don't want me. they don't want to allow their patients to come see me, because i'm not an efficient or effective doctor. that's one of the things that is really positive. i have another story, i don't have time to go into it but suffice it to say we resisted an insurance company who offered us a contract, my former partners and i, for caring for a large number of people who worked in the industrial plants in my hometown. we told them no, it wasn't enough money, and we said go find out whether or not you think we're efficient. well ultimately they came back and offered to pay us 20% more than they were paying anybody else in town, because we were about 30% more efficient than the rest of the doctors in town in this one large group. so what they did is they looked at the data, and what they

medicare as you know it, yet it's the republican plan that spends more money on medicare than on interest because we get our spending under control. expect when you take a balanced approach, as we do as republicans, that actually balances. instead of the taxing and spending our way deeper, deeper into debt. i learned this morning the ranking member expect to be offering their own budget next week. i welcome that. i would guess, knowing the ranking member as i do, that the budget h go probably will balance eventually. i think if that does nothing else, it will draw stark contrast to the dramatic failings that this president has given us over the course of his budgets for the last four years. so with that, mr. chairman, i was going to yield some time to the gentleman from texas but he stepped out. at this point i'll yield back and get a chance to let mr. flores speak later on this morning. >> at this time, we will move over to mr. price for his part of the explanation. i yield ten minutes to dr. price. >> thank you, mr. chairman. let me commend you and the members of this committee and the

you can opt out of medicare part d or medicare part b, but you're in medicare part a. and if you want a doctor who won't take you, he'll take other medicare patients but not you, the law of the land prohibits you from paying out of your pocket to see that doctor. that's the law of the land where? russia? china? that's the law of the land in america. you're 65 an suddenly your freedoms begin to be erode. we say let's make medicare sthre choices we as members of congress have and rest -- let's make them available to current seniors. to recap, no chirgese disrummingses in our plan. we preserve and protect the program for seniors for the 30-year life of the program and personalize medicare to make it more like what we have in congress so we can give the folks choices. what does the president do for current seniors? he empowers 15 unelected bureaucrats to cut medicare in ways that will most certainly deny seniors care. do i need to go back to the 40 pages, mr. speaker? the patient protection and affordable care act, section 4303, the advisory board, ipab, this is what it do

but it is medicare money. not the treasury money. medicare has trustees.ree of charge. since medicare is going into default, to claim its debt in a few years the federal government simply is going to have to raise taxes and cut spending somewhere else or more likely convert the bombing from medicare, borrow money on the open market from china and other places and take medicare back. it is really as the cbo director told me in a letter on december 23rd the night before we voted, you are double counting the money. no wonder this country is going broke. this isn't extra money. half of the original estimate of the bill, $900 billion was funded by borrowing money from medicare. this is how this country is surging in its debt and why it is in danger of the entire economy collapsing. >> do you believe that those medicare savings are realized? do you believe congress will enact those savings? >> that is a good point. in the past week claimed we would make savings in medicare and they never occur. what i am saying is if the savings were to occur and if the new taxe

i voted to protect medicare not end it. join our fight at don'tendmedicare.com. >> that website, web video part of the campaign with a simple goal to reclaim the house of representatives for the democrats. reuters is reporting at this hour that republicans in the house of representatives trying to seize control of the election year spending debate by rolling out a plan that will slash trillion dollar deficits also revival controversial reforms to the medicare health care program as you heard just a moment ago. the effort from paul ryan aiming to portray the republicans as unafraid to face the tough decisions needed to avoid what they warn is a looming debt crisis. in advance of tomorrow's release the chair of the house budget committee with this web video. >> in congress in 2008 we had the economic crisis. it was a terrible time. millions of people lost their jobs. trillions of dollars of wealth gone. that crisis caught us by surprise. let me ask you a question, what if your president, your senator and your congressman knew

new medicare patience. why is that? it is because medicare is not competitive. they are overly competitive in somewheres -- some areas of the disruptions. market forces would take care of that where a elite system does not take care of that. >> if you are 50 years old today, if you say you are going to get the medicare benefits of a 65-year old today 25 years from now, if you extrapolate the trends in medicare, if people really understood that they might say that is insufficient or it is a lot less than what medicare is promising me now. medicare is promising me at 75, i will get a much bigger share. does that not mean that at some point people have to be told that they need to save more to be -- if they want to spend anything like the share of spending on health care that is expected 25 years from now? >> i think that is a great question. that discounts the fact that one in $3 does not help anybody. can we use market forces to make it more efficient so that incremental increase in cost -- ask yourself, why

that's our medicare revenue. see this huge medicare green line? this is how much we're spending on medicare. that's just in the last year system of if you extend that forward, you can see why medicare as it exists is going broke. that's why i'm so proud of the house budget committee, what they chose to do is come up with a plan that will save medicare in this way. if you want to keep medicare, you can keep it. but if you want something like we members of congress have, you can elect to have that too. now here's what i have as a member of congress. when i came in as a member of congress, i had a pre-existing condition. but the federal government couldn't turn me down because of that pre-existing condition to acquire insurance. that's the way it would be under medicare. further, i had a choice between about 10 plans. i chose a standard blue cross blue shield plan. i knew i could get it filled anywhere in the country, including my rural state of wyoming. i pay 28% of my premium. the federal government, the taxpayers, pay 72% of my premium. that's bas

why are you cutt medicare? why is it more important when you're cutting medicare to ecuch as those for big oil? why when you're cutting medicare is it more important to increase tax br f medicare is it important to shift the burden to middle-class i think the bottom line is we have got -- we've got a fight on our hands. and if we're going to keep the promise of medicare, if you vaomise to keep families -- allow their lives in dignity, then this republican plan. this is an important american value, and it's absolutely worth i'm happy to at this time yield time to mr. pascrell from new jersey. >> thank you, mr. chairman. to start by saying this is a p every budget that's ever presented bthhe republican partr the know-noth this is a political document, as much as you care saying it's an economic document, which partly it is. r you've sold us, tried to sell thehat emphasized the wealthy, our mos th comparing this budget to the 1 less for veterans who do their job every day and you pat them on the back at worst. we

so medicare must be -- course. so medicare must be changed as we know it, as you said. you mentioned your mother. my mother happens to be having her 73rd birthday today. it's a happy birthday for my mother but i hope she has many more happy birthdays to come and we all have those stories. we all have parents, grandparent it's, we know people on med -- grandparents, we know people on medicare who are counting on. this they're looking at these arguments and they're confused. they don't know what to believe. i think if we can agree, as you said, to the facts and then sit down and have a meaningful discussion of how we can preserve and protect this program for future generations, then that's half the battle. mr. griffin: even a bipartisan discussion. i welcome it. in fact, i was proud to see that a democrat from the senate joined with a republican in the house on a medicare reform plan. and i'm happy to debate all these different plans. as long as they have the ability to save medicare and guarantee quality care for seniors. if we end up debating reforms on the one hand ver

medicare solvent again. we do not have to cut it to make it last. look, in our health care law, we have already extended the life of medicare until 2024. we have on coverage and recovered over $10.7 billion since we have been in. if our republican colleagues would join us, we could reduce the cost of medicare by $100 billion just by doing one thing -- saying drug companies cannot charge medicare any more than they charge any other federal program. [applause] they cannot charge our elderly anymore they charge our veterans. that is $100 million. we could save another $20 billion by asking the very wealthiest of us, those who could easily afford health care, if they have retirement incomes that are significant to pay a little more. that would add another $20 billion. there is a lot more we can do. look, there is a lot more we can do to save this program, but it requires someone on the other side wants to preserve the system, really cares about preserving it and not gutting it. look, we are preparing to sit down

we're cracking down on medicare fraud. let's make medicare stronger for all of us.eke i have options... like oil changes starting at $19.95. my money. my choice. my meineke. >> let's talk lottery. look at these lines. hello, sir. plunking down money, hoping to win. for a speck of a shot to win $640 million, so just how bad are your odds at winning tonight's drawing? you're more likely to die from a bee sting. that is 1 in 6.1 million or experience a shark attack. yikes. that is 1 in 11.5 million. or make a hole in one, that is 1 in 12,500. what are the odds tonight? the odds are 1 in 176 million. you're gong to win tonight's mega millions drawing. and a mathematician from abrams university show med where that number comes from. >> it's the same for any drawing any night. here's the formula for the number. >> and for all you math nerds, this is a factorial equation. starting at 56 down. so this tells you how many tickets there are for the first five numb barnes that's the last number. >> and the answer? >> very large. >> the answer is 175,711,536. >> so this is the n

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all medicare supplement plans let you keep your own doctor, or hospital that accepts medicare.s needed. help protect yourself from some of what medicare doesn't pay... and save up to thousands of dollars in potential... out-of-pocket expenses with an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan... insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. call this toll-free number on your screen now... for this free information kit, including this... medicare guide and customized rate quote. >>> this morning on "world news now" -- intense standoff. riot police in france set off explosions to force out a gunman wanted in a school shooting rampage. >> that gunman accused of having ties to al qaeda has been holding police at bay for more than 24 hours. it is thursday, march 22nd. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." >> good thursday morning, everybody. i'm paula faris. >> and i'm rob nelson. that suspected gunman is linked to seven shooting deaths and investigators say he was planning to kill even more people. we'll update you on a very long standoff in the city of toulouse.

, are we going to lose our medicare? they keep saying how much money is going to be taken out of medicare. people are upset about this. host: what are the facts? guest: it is more complicated than that. the impact that a medicare recipient is going to see, negative impact is, if they are people who are in medicare advantage plan, which are the plans that are run by hmo's by private insurers who get money from the government to provide medicare-like product to seniors. these plans are getting their subsidies cut, so the companies that offer these plans are getting less money from the federal government to offer the plan, so they might stop offering the plans or might make the plans less appealing by cutting out some of the benefits that come with theme like free gym memberships, that kind of stuff. people with medicare advantage plans might feel the pinch. the real hope is for medicare generally that possibly doctors are getting slightly lower reimbursements over time than they would have, but they will have to find ways

the key feature that we're opposed to is the lack of the medicare guarantee. what the ryan budget initially and now that the ryan/wyden proposal does is create a voucher which they say the difference is, it can also be used for what they call traditional medicare. you can still use that to buy into medicare. the problem is the voucher does not keep up. and that's in the proposal, would not keep up with the rising cost of health care, would fall behind in its ability to cover the costs, and therefore would shift the cost as the original ryan plan did to the older person. it also could create an adverse selection opportunity for -- that would put the sicker people into medicare where the private insurance companies would select for those people that are healthier, and would end up really ruining medicare, the current system that has a guarantee for seniors. that's what the seniors want. they don't want to have to either go out into the private market and search around with their voucher for something that will cover them. they don't want medicare to be -- itself

as with all medicare supplement plans, you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicareing for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >>> seriously i thought about this all night long. president obama making a little, raising eyebrows. let's call it that. with dmitry medvedev in china, take a listen. >> dana:, but today he tried to figure it out and clean it up. what he said he was trying to explain in the next two months when the election is getting hot and heavy he won't be as able as flexible. i didn't buy it and neither did charles krauthammer. >> it's a huge gaffe. this is president himself i'll be unleashed. i can governor hard left. i can do all this stuff unmolested. that his way of telling people you have no idea of what myend agenda is going to be the second term but let me tell you, it's pretty hard left. >> dana: and what about shake of the head. what do you think. >> greg: when he said, without my wife we can party. i know he is saying, don't be less stressed but i won't be as tough as i normal

let me ask you with respect to medicare function 570. i don't know if this is a question for members of the staff or for the chairman. the proposal you have there for whether you call it voucher or premium support has a cap on the value of the support, the voucher, of .5% gdp. and so my question is, is that the enforcement mechanism? i'm assuming if the proposal is to move to a system where every senior on medicare has the equivalent of a voucher has premium support, that that is enforced by reducing the value of the voucher. >> the policy in the competiti bidding system where there would be a series of plans that would be offered as well as the traditional fee for service opti option. we think through competition you would see lower bids coming in as a result of that process, so the way the plan, the assumption of the policy is, there would be a bidding process and you would take i think it's the lowest or second lowest bid is part of that process, as a backstop, cvo couldn't provide an estimate for us on ha.in on that but they could no

you'll hear allegations that we are cutting medicare, that we are ending medicare. it's the republican plan that spend more money on medicare than it does on interest because we get our spending under control. that's what you can expect when we take a balanced approach, instead of taxing and spendsing deeper into debt. i learned this morning they expect to offer their own budget next week. i wm that. i would guess that the budget he's going to offer will probably balance eventually. if nothing else, i would will provide stark contrast. so with that, mr. chairman, i was going to yield time to the gentleman from texas. he stepped down. at this point i'll yield back. we'll get a chance to speak later on this morning. >> at this time i yield ten minutes to dr. price. >> thank you, mr. chairman. let me commend you and the members of the committee and the staff to come up with what i believe is a wonderfully positive and visionary document for turning in country around and getting us on a path to economic vitality. we're here today to consider a budget, which is our posit

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doing it this way saves medicare. and with that i will yield to my gentlemen, the doctor, from georgia, mr. price. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i just want to say to my colleagues on the other side, who have dubbed this amendment the end medicare as we know it amendment. factor that is as the chairman pointed out, that's what the president's health care bill, that's done. that's the bill that you all of adopted, which is removing 500 billion plus from the medicare broke or in and putting it in place is unelected board of 15 bureaucrats, which we understand and appreciate is necessary in their plan, in your plan. because you've got to control costs because you don't trust people. when bureaucrats choose patients lose. when bureaucrats choose, patients lose. that's the program that you all have put in place. we believe it's important to save and improve and strengthen medicare. the chairman has eloquently outlined how we propose to do that. i would draw your attention to page 61 on the budget which goes through

medicare supplement plans you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts # medicare get help-free number now. ♪ ♪ >>> i'm hiding behind the books. seuss. finally this half hour -- and because i'm just weird. insomniac theater. now that the movie awards season has come to an end -- >> paula looks at "the lorax" in just a second on this anniversary of the birthday of dr. seuss. but check out her first film starring robert de niro first. this movie is called "being flynn." if you're into dark kind of family drama this could be one to check out. a big name in this robert de niro. and he kind of plays this writer who abandoned his kid a long time ago but kind of re-enters his life very unexpectedly after the death of the kid's mother and his wife, who's played by julianne moore. de niro kind of has a drinking problem in this issue. the son has his own demons including some drug abuse issues here. so basically it's about this very tangled dark family drama and how the dad tries to get back in the son's life and the son having to decide whether that's a good thing or not. take a lis

to thirds of physicians have looked into opting out of medicare for treating patients. we see this huge cultural shift in the practice of medicine. they're selling to hospitals at an alarming rate. costs go up. they are reducing the number of appointments per week for senior citizens. and they're stopping to take new patients. how are you going to stop this and fix this for the future? this is a disaster for our seniors. i hope it's something you're spending time to get right. >> well, i think the best way to actually make sure that the 97.8% of doctors who currently have contractual arrangements with medicare continue those and it's a long-term discussion and actual fix of the payment rate, which over the last three years expires a week at a time, a month at a time, a year at a time. the president has proposed in his budget and paid for in his budget a ten-year fix for the sustainable growth rate. that is the biggest issue that i hear day in and day out from physicians, practicing. they don't know if they'll get paid. being a good payment partner for the 48 million ame

all medicare supplement plans let you keep your own doctor, or hospital that accepts medicare.yourself from some of what medicare doesn't pay... and save up to thousands of dollars in potential... out-of-pocket expenses with an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan... insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. call this toll-free number on your screen now... for this free information kit, including this... medicare guide and customized rate quote. all-around champion at the 2008 games in beijing. she talked with lizzie better -- bermudez about having her father as a coach in london.excg something i have a passion for. i can't believe it has been four years since the last olympic games. time has flown by. this is a new journey for me. taking time off and getting back in the gym, i am excited about the challenge and whatever happens, happens. >> so in beijing how old were you? >> i was 18. >> so is it different -- you fast-forward four years. a little age on your side, does that help or hurt you in training for the olympic team? >> well, i23 th be 23 this year. i am over

sometimes referred to as cuts to medicare. they remain in the budget, they are accounted for in the budget as savings at 500 billion. >> we assume those, we devote them to deficit reduction, instead of covering the expansions. >> but they stay in place. and there has been some confusion about that in the public so i wanted to be clear that remains. and i did have wanted to be -- to follow up from the chairman asked about the 1% increase, if medicare goes above the 1% increase you point out if in this competitive system the private insurance companies decide to spend more, charge more, than the 1% of gdp, the government would no longer pay more than 1% of gdp, that you would cap it at 1%. who would pay that difference then? government wouldn't. it saves dollars but who would pay those assume it's not defined in the budget who would pick up the difference? is there anything in the bng that doesn't allow those private insurance companies to charge more to beneficiaries or it's silent on that? >> the assumption is the competitive

all medicare supplement plans let you keep your own doctor, or hospital that accepts medicare.ere are no networks and no referrals needed. help protect yourself from some of what medicare doesn't pay... and save up to thousands of dollars in potential... out-of-pocket expenses with an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan... insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. call this toll-free number on your screen now... for this free information kit, including this... medicare guide and customized rate quote. >> alan: social tv is the latest fad in the tech world but a lot of us don't understand the trend. here's how to navigate the world of social television. >> the idea of social tv has been around form sort of think of it like a water pool of conversation but you can do it real-time you have you're laptop or iphone or ipad and there's a growing number of apps that allow you to check in and have experiences and interact with other people that like the same shows you do, or you can take polls, get additional multimedia information about what's going on the screen. so it's

saving medicare this way, which has a rich tradition of bipartisan support for this kind of medicare reform is the most humane, common sense and bipartisan way to save this vital program. but let me turn it over to dr. plies, cho is an expert on this. >> the american people are martyr than the democrats give them credit for. they've removed $500 billion from the current program. they understand what the president's plan is through his law currently is to put into place the payment advisory board. 15 unelected bureaucrats who have the power without appeal to deny services for seniors. american people understand this. the work that was done between last year and this year allows senior, will allow seniors the opportunity to stay on the current medicare program if that's what they desire or to voluntarily move to a different program. so the american people are brighter than democrats give them credit for. it is unlikely to get anywhere with the democrats in control of the u.s. senate. reaction from the other end of pennsylvania a knew with press secretary jay carney. >> some house democ

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we have it right now we have 15 supplemental plans in medicare. we tell them what you can put out, what you have to put out. it's not any different than that, the same thing. the question is, is can seniors navigate that, and up to a point, yes. but i would tell you that my mother died a year and a half ago, and my brother and i helped her navigate what the choices were, when she no longer could do that. so we're talking about a very small group of people that are not going to have family involved, in helping them make those choices. the question is, is how do you keep the bad actors out and how do you keep those that want to cheat in the system and how do you have enough transparency so you know when that's going on so seniors aren't being taken advantage of? that's the key. i'd go back to the other point is one of the reasons our health care is out of control is everybody thinks somebody else is paying the bill. and you know, i'm the first to admit that market forces won't solve everything, but i'll guarantee you they'll solve it a whole lot bet

we're going to lose our medicare. they keep saying how much money is taken out of medicare. people are so upset about this. >> guest: facts are it is more complicated than that. the biggest impact is medicare recipient is going to see at negative impact, people who are in medicare advantage plans which are plans run by hmos, by private insurers to get money to provide this medicare like product. these plans are getting their subsidies cuts. they're getting less money from the plans. they will stop offering plans or maybe make the plan less appealing by cutting out what comes with them like free membership and stuff like that. people with medicare advantage plans might feel a pinch. the real hope is medicare -- getting slightly lower reimbursements over time than they otherwise would have but they have to find ways to deal with that and the other reforms in the bill that are meant to change the way we deliver care or get us to be less efficient, the hope is those reforms will help them with slightly lower in vestments. as i said before unless you deal with a doughnut hole pro

medicare.bout an hour. >> good morning and welcome to hudson institute. i'm ken weinstein, president and ceo of hudson. i'd like to welcome our live viewing audience at home on c-span, and thank our friends at c-span for covering today's event. hudson institute was founded 51 years ago as a forward-looking policy research organization designed to think creatively about how to achieve a better future in the face of the then unprecedent challenges of the early 1960's. key to our research then as today is a unique approach, a unique focus in trying to solve problems deemed unsolvable by the so-called experts. we have done this repeatedly over the past five decades by understanding policy in a broad specktive -- perspective, calling insights through integrated research that draws on economics in the power of markets, human ingenuity through science, technology, and innovation. a backdrop against of shifting deem yogavita if i and geo strategy. to our research has been work on health policy and a be

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all medicare supplement plans let you keep your own doctor, or hospital that accepts medicare. there are no networks and no referrals needed. help protect yourself from some of what medicare doesn't pay... and save up to thousands of dollars in potential... out-of-pocket expenses with an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan... insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. call this toll-free number on your screen now... for this free information kit, including this... medicare guide and customized rate quote. >>> we had fog this morning. through the afternoon, the chance for a few showers, here and there, not a huge deal, maybe thunderstorm, but most of us enjoying this warmth. we will show you here are the clouds from this morning. breaking up this afternoon, seeing a few showers coming in. that's why the fog hung in place for the morning hours. as we are seeing sunshine return, look at the temperatures, 68 degrees in baltimore, now up to 72 already in easton. we will take you closer to the entire metro area at least in the 60s. as soon as you get away from the water, w