and medicare advantage is a great example of that. it was begun with a floor intentionally above medicare fee for service. as a way to encourage competition in the marketplace. but 15 years later we were still paying at the passage of the affordable care act 115% of fee for service in spite of the fact that people kept saying that needs to be lowered. the affordable care act has done that. the good news is in the last two years medicare advantage plans are now being paid at a rate 107% higher not 114% higher. we are on track to get to parity with fee for service but we are assuming that the payment reductions included many the affordable care act will indeed be carried out if congress chooses to interrupt those. if congress chooses to add additional fundsing then we have to make difference asuchgss. i think the skepticism is because often congress has intervened at times when there have been challenges about lowering cost and kept cost at a higher rate than med pack or others would have seen advisable. >> senator hatch claims that the

, the people in the long run who are hurt are the people who can't afford the extra for the medicare advantage. it's the people who just get medicare. they are losing their $8 passport 5 billion i. everybody's losing. but your point is well taken, yes. >> now, if the president takes this $8.5 bill whereon and there is going to be a hole in medicare, tell take care of the menu of options for medicare advantage this year. is it next year in november, when they get the list what have they can get, that's when the cuts go into effect? >> october, actually. 80% of this reimbursement occurs this year, before the election this year. there's another 2 years, it's a phase-down. but the vast majority is before the election this year. as i understand, i think they have the option every october to decide what plan to buy. >> this is a gimme, but what percentage of this is political and designed to get past the election? and what is an ideology or a thinking that this is the best way to implement a program? >> it's clearly political. you might expect me to say that, but it's so obvious. the general account

of is called medicare advantage. you pay amounts more for it but you get more benefits. obama didn't like medicare advantage. so much of the money that he needed to pay for obamacare, he took from the medicare advantage program. >> greta: who is paying the extra to begin with. paying extra? >> the government pays and assistance pace in. he needed $500 billion and so he took $500 billion from medicare. about third of that, $150 billion of that was from the medicare advantage program. that means less benefits. that means, if you like your insurance you get to keep it, wrong. if medicare advantage about third of your benefits are being cut. just before an election this november, america seniors are going to have their election whether to go back to medicare advantage and if so which policy to buy. they are going to find all of a sudden, it's costing them more and not getting as much in the way of benefits. >> greta: so the money is going town while the menu of options because the government isn't spending that money to

obama is re-elected, he will go ahead and do what his intention has been all along, gut medicare advantage." "investors business daily" described it yesterday as playing politics with medicare. they go on to report the entire project is so transapparently political that the normally reserved g.a.o., general accounting office, urged the elliott and human services department to cancel it altogether. now, isn't this the administration that claimed that accountability was their goal, that this was going to be the most accountable administration in history? then why is the government's own accountability office calling the president and the democrats on the carpet and saying cancel this program altogether? an op-ed that appeared in "forbes" magazine called it -- quote -- "the obama campaign's $8 billion taxpayer-funded medicare slush fund." the author notes that this development opens up a new expansion of executive branch power. they go on to say the ability to spend billions of dollars on politically favored constituents without the consent of congress. so, madam president, we wouldn't have k

medicare advantage is a great example. it was started with an intention about medicare fee-for-service as a way to encourage competition in the marketplace. fifteen years later, we were still paying at the passage of the affordable care act 114% of the fee-for-service, in spite of the fact that people kept saying that that needs to be lawyer. the affordable care act custom map. in the last two years, medicare advantage plans are now being paid at a rate of 107% higher, not 114% higher. we are on track to get to parity with the poor service. but we are assuming that the payment reductions, including in the affordable care act, will indeed be carried out if congress chooses to add additional funding. if they do that, then we have to make different assumptions. but i think skepticism is because often congress has intervened at times where there has been challenges about lowering costs, and kept costs at a higher rate than medpac or others. >> the medicare advantage program is wasting over a billion dollars in taxpayer money. a

>> there has been traditionally reluctance among congress to adopt payment reforms and medicare advantagee of that. it was begun with a floor intentionally above medicare fee-for-service. as a way to encourage competition in the marketplace. but 15 years later, we were still paying at the passage of the affordable care act 114% of fee-for-service in spite the fact -- of the fact that people said it needs to be lower. in the last two years, medicare advantage plans are being paid at a rate, 107% higher, not 114% higher. we're on track to get parity with fee-for-service. we're assuming that the payment reductions included in the affordable care act will be carried out if congress chooses to interrupt those, if congress chooses to add additional funding, then we have to make different assumptions. the skepticism is because often congress has intervened at times where there have been challenges about lowering costs, and kept costs at a higher rate than medpac or others would have seen as advisable. >> [unintelligible] wasting over a billion dollars in taxpayer money. is there any question tha

on fraud to helping providers prevent costly medical errors, to reducing excess payments to medicare advantage plans. as the report our department released today shows, this first wave of reforms will save medicare more than $200 billion by 2016 while also lowering costs for americans with traditional medicare by nearly $60 billion. that is real money in people's pockets. in addition, the report describes reforms in a law that could lead to even bigger savings down the road. by addressing the misaligned incentives that are the major driver of rising medicare costs. we know that many leading health systems have reduced costs by improving care. for example by managing care more effectively for patients with chronic conditions to keep them healthier and out of the hospital. but in the past, the medicare payment structure has made it difficult for providers to provide that kind of care. the health care law begins to break down those barriers with new reforms that free doctors and nurses to deliver higher-quality, more efficient care. though these incentives are just in the beginning phases, we are

actually, despite its perverse features, medicare advantage provides considerable evidence that competition works. the impression that it is more expensive to rise from the fact that medicare often pays plans more than the cost of fee-for-service. but under our plan that would not be possible in the competition we think would hold plans down. finally, would older and sicker seniors end up in traditional medicare, and raise its costs? this fear is based on the assumption that risk of judgment passionate adjustment can't work in rules against terri ticking will not be enforced, but, in fact, we believe that these rules can were, that they working better in medicare advantage than they used to, and will work still better under a new system. we believe that health care policy is far too important to be driven by a single parties ideology. no matter how the 2012 election turns out, the president and congressional leadership should try, should strive to find common ground on how to cover the uninsured, how to reform medicare and medicaid while stabilizing the debt. we believe that our plan contri

the higher costs of medicare advantage are not attributable to the extra -- solely to the extra costsra payments that are made to them, nor is it attributable to selection of patients. after controlling for all of those factors, medicare manage plans are more expensive than is traditional medicare. furthermore, even part d drug benefits which have come in below cost have come in cost -- below cost by less than other drug spending outside the medicare system that was below the projections made about the same time. so i want to believe that competition will work and save money. the evidence is not supportive at this time, and given the risks involved, it seems to me important to continue to spread the risks from rapid growth of health care spending across the general population rather than to impose them on a very vulnerable group of people, the elderly and people with disabilities. thank you. >> thank you, mr. aaron. senator breaux, i think it's important to get this out of the way right at the beginning of this hearing. do you think premium support will, quote, end medicare as we know

is a program that one out of four people on medicare join in to because there are advantages.sses and ear aids, and they help people and hearing aids so they are helpful to people so that is why so many sign up. but the president said if you like what you have you can keep it and now we know many of those people on medicare advantage are not going to be able to keep it and especially, today, when the indicator indicator -- medicare trustees talk about the dire situation for medicare the president took $500 billion away from our seniors on medicare to start a new government program for other people and now they are trying to cover up the damage being done to medicare with the $8 billion effort. >>neil: senator, thank you very much. speaking of all things medical would you donate your kidney to help out your second boss? a woman who did. a woman who did. why is she out of a job? uh, th a car insurance claim. ah, claim trouble. [ dennis ] you should just switch to allstate, and get their new claim tisfaction guarantee. hey, he's right man. [ dennis ] only allstate puts their mone

programs and now thanks to that cut medicare advantage is actually running more efficiently covering more people with lower premiums so is this what we should expect from the republican nominee moving forward lies lies and more lies and why is the media doing its job in calling out these lies you know as mary joins me now he's the c.e.o. and host of the trooper america radio show out with more conscientious equity welcome back hey tom thanks for having me good to see the so republicans you know paul ryan they voted to end medicare as we know it why is romney accusing the president of that well first of all i mean this is all of his big distraction we should be talking about jobs but if we want to talk about distortion it is the it is obama that's is distorting ron these record all he wants to do is make medicare responsible we cannot afford this new title would that even were he one zombies he wants private economy choices he wants so consented to so you're coming now you say to them for we can't afford this and we tom you know it was sort of the one nine hundred sixty we can't raise

six billion dollars in corporate welfare to private health insurance companies to administer medicare advantage programs and now thanks to that cut medicare medicare advantage is running far more efficiently covering more seniors and lower premiums and here's the thing about that law if president obama were to give a speech tomorrow regarding refuting that lie in the law i actually becomes more effective as the washington point post pointed out back in two thousand and eight a series of new experiments show that misinformation can exercise a ghostly influence on people's minds after it has been debunked even among people who recognize it as misinformation in some cases correcting misinformation serves to increase the power of bad information duke and georgia state university political scientists brendan nyhan and jason reifler did a series of experiments on how effective political liars are it took two groups of people gave both groups the bush administration's claims about weapons of mass destruction in iraq then they gave just one group of people evidence proving that the bush administration

obama is going to put medicare advantage, the private choice system, 12 million people, put that outness. it could have started this year before the election, so they've come up with $8 billion to phony this up and buy votes? >> yeah. it's an incredibly disturbing, larry. we've got about a quarter of seniors in america ron a private insurance plan that they opt into as opposed to the traditional public plan. the president and the administration are opposed to these private insurance plans, and so one of the ways they came up with money to pay for obama care is by cutting these plans. but they decided they don't want the american people and grandma in more to know about it until after the election. >> because, if i understand this, you'd have to start switching plans this year before the election, and obama doesn't want to do that on the eve of election, right? he want is no plan switching until next year. it's kind of a ruse. it's a bait and switch. >> right. so there's an open enrollment period every year where seniors can choose a different prescription drug plan or they can opt in

the medicare advantage program.they did they are funneling $8 billion i would argue slush fund through health and human services to delay it's implementation by saying it's an experimented and the experiment, what if we don't change things. that is what the experiment is so they won't feel the wrath of voters with obamacare? >> one of big issues with lawsuits and administration in specific is medicare in addition to having people in the state of florida that are on medicare. one of them is my mother. my mother is on medicare vantage. which si think is one of few khiols programs we have in the public sector in united states. servicing political with this administration. everything is designed around the election and increasingly so you are starting to see that. the ig beer program with medicare the president doesn't have a plan to save it. one of the things in this report it's going to show medicare spends more money than it takes in and is headed towards bankruptcy. there would be sense of urgency about saving medic

>> there has been traditionally reluctance among congress to adopt payment reforms and medicare advantage is a great example of that. it was begun with a floor intentionally above medicare fee-for-service. as a way to encourage competition in the marketplace. but 15 years later, we were still paying at the passage of the affordable care act 114% of fee-for-service in spite the fact -- of the fact that people said it needs to be lower. in the last two years, medicare advantage plans are being paid at a rate, 107% higher, not 114% higher. we're on track to get parity with fee-for-service. we're assuming that the payment reductions included in the affordable care act will be carried out if congress chooses to interrupt those, if congress chooses to add additional funding, then we have to make different assumptions. the skepticism is because often congress has intervened at times where there have been challenges about lowering costs, and kept costs at a higher rate than medpac or others would have seen as advisable. >> [unintelligible] wasting over a billion dollars in taxpayer money. is ther

. >> this is important to cine esing efficiency of the medicare advantage plan. we have a disagreement about this. >> the president is heading out tomorrow on a two-day swing to push plan to keep interest rate low on student loans substantive issue and campaign push. all three states, north carolina, iowa are major election battlegrounds. >> bret: imagine that. ed henry live on the north lawn. thank you. house speaker john boehner says there is a real chance that republicans will fail to retain control of the house in november. boehner made the comment with bill hemmer. >> there is a two in three chance we get control of the house again. but one in three chance we could lose. we have a big challenge and we work to do. >> bret: you can see all of that interview tomorrow morning 9:00 eastern on america news room. >>> now to the president usual race. we believe we know who will be at the top of the respective tickets and we got an indication today who else might be on the november ballot. chief political correspondent carl cameron has the story from one of the prima

use the $8 billion to tide them over to bridge people so the elderly can vote before the medicare advantageyou can remember the reagan administration with the $4,000 toilets and the $200 hammers? i don't care any administration -- >> eric: this is -- >> bob: every administration misuses money. every one of them do. >> dana: but axelrod says they don't. they care about this administration. >> bob: what he should have said we haven't come to grips with entitlele. nobody has. republicans or democrats. until we do tax reform it won't happen. >> andrea: how can he say that when the administration went and created a new giant entitlement costing us way more. >> bob: gao says it makes us there ar$1 trillion. come up with an alternative to healthcare. >> greg: conservatives don't believe that the answer is in a government program so you can't demand them to do that. >> dana: the president sets the agenda in washington. the senate democrats run the senate. why would house republican goes through that when they know the president won't tell democrats you don't have to vote on that. >> bob: sput their

the gao says most of the money would go to medicare advantage insurance plans that are only rated average and would offset many of the initial cost cuts achieved by the new health care law. >>> the trial of former presidential kaent john edwards starts today. opening arguments are expected in the case accusing edwards of illegal campaign funds in the 2008 campaigns. >> the u.s. supreme court hears arguments on the federal government's challenge to arizona's controversial immigration law which has sparked nationwide protests. >>> and in china, american daredevil dean potter made a death-denying barefoot walk yesterday on a ropeline almost 6,000 feet high over a canyon with no safety equipment. potter made the 1-3-1 foot crossing and then celebrated. i would imagine he did. >>> and now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. scientists are learning more about that brain freeze, the experience of a near instantaneous headache brought on by ice cold ice cream or or liquid hitting the upper palate. . it appears to cut off blood flow to an area of the brain. new r

on fraud to helping providers prevent costly medical errors, to reducing excess payments to medicare advantage plans. as a report our department released today shows, this first wave of reforms will save medicare more than $200 billion my 2016. while also lowering costs for americans with traditional medicare by nearly $60 billion. that's real money in people's pockets. in addition, the report describes reforms in the law that could lead to even bigger savings down the road by addressing the misaligned incentives that are a major driver of rising medicare costs. we know that many leading health systems have reduced costs by improving care. for example, by managing care more effectively for patients with chronic conditions to keep them healthier and out of the hospital. but in the past, the medicare payment structure has made it difficult for providers to provide that kind of care. the health care law begins to break down those barriers with new reforms that freed doctors and nurses to deliver higher kwult, more efficient care. these incentives are just in the beginning phases, we're confident

>> ok, what medicare advantage is going to be phased out under obamacare to phase it out gracefully,dministration came up with an $8 billion bonus pool. this would be awarded to insurance companies that offered quality care as the advantage system was phased out. a report says that $8 billion was wasted. didn't go to companies offering quality care. just wasted money. so you're wasting, according to the government, $8 billion at a time when medicare is shelling out more than it's bringing in and going bankrupt in the process. >> and the headline on this was the fact that unless they did use the money from this $8 billion slush fund effectively to prop up medicare advantage, it was going to become an election year issue. people -- i think it was going to vanish october 15th or something like that, right in the -- right before people went to vote and so the administration says, we don't want that. we want to keep everybody happy until after the election. >> it was a payoff to get obamacare through. a way of raising its passage through but i want to know where is the plan? where is the

can't beneficiaries the b-2's private plans under medicare advantage? one quarter of them do. but it was not properly structured to give full competition among plans. we think our plan structures the competition to lower the rate of growth of cost. people question if it leads to lower court -- or frosted better quality. medicare advantage provides considerable evidence purpose of the impression it is more expensive derives from the fact medicare pays more been the fee-for-service but that is not possible under our plan. competition holds it down. also with older and sicker seniors traditionally it raises cost. of the fear is based that risk adjustment cannot work and cherry picking is not enforced. but we believe these rules can work, working better with medicare advantage then they used to and will work still better under a new system. we believe health care policy is far too important to be driven by a single part d ideology. matter how the 2012 looks out they should strive to cover commented ground while stabilizing the debt. we believe we contribute to that end. thank you

including preventing unnecessary hospitalizations and the snips, the special needs plans, the medicare advantage plans that are elected dual eligibles. medicare tells us we don't know very much what goes on in those plans, and we could do far better job of holding them accountable for delivering appropriate care. now when you ask about promoting more home and community-based care, would answer what not to do. making major cuts in medicaid financing and federal financing for medicaid or turning over more responsibility to the states i believe would put home and community-based care in particular in danger. nursing facilities have a great deal of political power in the states, and i think that when choices -- if resources are constrained, particularly as needs are rising to cut what is coming in from the federal government would particularly put home and community-based services at risk. i would similar pick up on a caution that i heard in doctor chernof's testimony about any initiatives that are moving to managed care for dual eligibles, or managed long-term care that are primarily budget, not qu

the g.a.o says most of the money would go to medicare advantage insurance plans that are only rated average would offset many of the initial cost cuts achieved by the new health care law. >>> the u.s. supreme court today hears arguments on the federal government's challenge to arizona's controversial immigration law which sparked nationwide protests. >>> in china american daredevil dean potter made a death defying barefoot walk on a rope line almost 6,000 feet over a canyon. he had no safety equipment when he made this 131-foot crossing. he made it across safely and then he celebrated, as you can imagine. yeah, thank god. >>> here is your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 13,029 after adding 65 points on friday. the s&p was up a point. the nasdaq was down seven. taking a look at overseas trading, in tokyo the nikkei was down 19 points. in hong kong the hang seng dropped 386. >>> another crush of corporate earnings will grab attention this week. apple will likely be the most closely watched after suffering a 10% correction in the past ten trading days. app

. >> this demonstration project we believe is important to increasing the efficiency of the medicare advantage plan. we have a disagreement about it. >>> good morning. it is 4:30 on this tuesday, april 24th. we are taking a live look at the woodrow wilson bridge. it doesn't seem too bad out there. just a little bit chilly this morning. take a look at. this at least we are not dealing with. this the same storm that gave us a drenching brought a spring snowstorm to the east coast. that is video from north of us in johnstown, pennsylvania where they got snow. >> to the west of us in frostburg, maryland, they got two to 45 -- i think it's four to five. >> two to four to five inches. i guess when you thought winter was gone, that was like a little reminder. >> still chilly here. our tempe out in the low to mid-40s across the area. another day where a jacket is necessary. >> i had to remind myself. >> we had yesterday to remind us. don't do it again tuesday. >> let's kick it off with a look at our temperatures at reagan national. we are 44 degrees. dulles, 39 is the actual air temperature. yesterday

a recent study has shown that the risk adjustment algorithm used under medicare advantage actually has increased the degree of risk selection that occurs through medicare and vantage. we are not there yet. when we are, that would be the time to consider whether premium support merits consideration. finally, the idea that competition is going to save money -- as an economist, are really want to believe that. i got my degree in that and i was pledged to like markets. i really do. the evidence to date is not encouraging, but the higher cost of medicare advantage is not attributed solely to the extra cost -- extra payments that are made, nor it is attributable to selection of patients. after controlling for all of those factors, medicare advantage plans are more expensive than is traditional medicare. furthermore, even part of the drug benefits, which have come in below cost -- part d drug benefits have come in below the projections that were made at about the same time. so i want to believe that competition will work and save money. the evidence is not supported at this time. given the ri

guest: this is about this program called medicare advantage which is instead of being in regular medicareiors have a choice of joining a private plan instead. the federal government pays those plans a little more than it would pay if they were enrolled in normal medicare. one of the waste the cost savings was achieved, they cut the tax breaks amount they were going to pay those programs and it was going to be a big cut and there were projection as lot of people were going to leave those programs as a result. what the government did, what the h.h.s. department did is they created this payment pilot program where they basically put some more money back. what they said is the idea was to have incentives for those programs to hit certain quality targets. if they improve their quality they would get a bonus payment. what the g.a.o. report said is that this was just a way of shifting money around and giving them back some of what they had lost. it wasn't the sort of thing h.h.s. should have been doing. host: gary an independent, you are on the air. talking about the future of medicare. caller:

guest: this is about this program called medicare advantage which is instead of being a regular medicare, you have a choice of joining a private plan instead and the government pays those plans more if those seniors were enrolled in normal medicare. one of the ways that was achieved is they cut the extra amount they we are going to pay those programs and it was going to be a big cut and there were projections people were going to leave those programs so what the government did, what the adjuster department did is created the payment pilot program where they put some more money back. the idea was to have incentives for those programs to hit certain quality targets. they improve their quality, they would get a bonus payment but what the report said is this was just a way of shifting money around and giving them back what they had lost. it wasn't sort of really that sort of thing that they should have been doing with that money. host: gary is an independent in georgia. you're on the air. we're talking about the future of medicare. caller: good morning. host: morning. caller: i have a questi

medicare. and the advantages don't end there. choose from a range of medicare supplement plans...t are all competitively priced. we have a plan for almost everyone, so you can find one that fits your needs and budget. with all medicare supplement plans, there are virtually no claim forms to fill out. plus you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare. and best of all, these plans are... the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp. when they told me these plans were endorsed by aarp... i had only one thing to say... sign me up. call the number on your screen now... and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. you'll get this free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare, to help you choose the plan that's right for you. as with all medicare supplement plans, you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. >> glor: in afghanistan nato last year carried out more than 2,000 night raids. these raids

so $165 billion of those savings directly out of the medicare advantage plans.ted and you don't have a person looking in the microscope and counting the number of red cells and things and a machine does it, we've actually never had a decrease in productivity. >> final word to the senator. >> joe, the american people realize that you can't cover 25 million more people without adding a dime to the deficit. the number of broken promises that president obama made in had health care law are legion. and that's the problem. american people simply don't believe -- >> one simple question. >> the government can't do this. >> senator, what's your alternative? we had two years of debate and never had a credible republican alternative. >> how about when president obama promises to make tort reform a priority? one of those broken promises. >>> that was fantastic. >> thank you for being here. >> we're going to take them on the road. >> and by the way, the next time you go out in the hustys, will you bring me along? >> absolutely. >> see what you do. >> i go to medical centers

the real cuts that will happen is to medicare advantage, a program that about 23% of seniors belong toaged. it involves wellness programs, gym membership, a whole range of things that aren't part of traditional medicare. the obama administration hates that part of the program because it's managed by private companies. bill: thank you for taking us through that. i think what you show clearly is how much of a mess this indeed is. now is any of the lodgess that you just explained to us, can that at some point, or any point an influence on how the justices decide? >> well, they are supposed to rule on the constitutional provisions, they are not supposed to look at the policy implication. bill: understood. >> it's almost impossible to separate the two. and i think what the oral arguments of the supreme court justices, both on the left and on the right showed is, they are very leery of picking and choosing what provisions in this 2800 page plan should be preserved and shouldn't be if they think part of it is unconstitutional. i think the consensus is that they are leaning towards getting rid

medicare. and the advantages don't end there. choose from a range of medicare supplement plans...t are all competitively priced. we have a plan for almost everyone, so you can find one that fits your needs and budget. with all medicare supplement plans, there are virtually no claim forms to fill out. plus you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare. and best of all, these plans are... the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp. when they told me these plans were endorsed by aarp... i had only one thing to say... sign me up. call the number on your screen now... and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. you'll get this free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare, to help you choose the plan that's right for you. as with all medicare supplement plans, you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. it's irresistible. experience this in your home with resolve deep clean powder. its moist po

medicare. and the advantages don't end there. choose from a range of medicare supplement plans...hat are all competitively priced. we have a plan for almost everyone, so you can find one that fits your needs and budget. with all medicare supplement plans, there are virtually no claim forms to fill out. plus you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare. and best of all, these plans are... the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp. when they told me these plans were endorsed by aarp... i had only one thing to say... sign me up. call the number on your screen now... and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. you'll get this free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare, to help you choose the plan that's right for you. as with all medicare supplement plans, you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. >>. >> greta: senate democrats dissing republicans? but today skhuk schumer is announcing