we are finding, again, naic is working through the definition of all of the various expenses.might be surprised. you would not be surprised how complicated ensure finances are. i think naic developed 40 or 50 different issues associated with defining a relatively simple calculation of how much for every premium dollar is spending on health care. when it is done, i think, frankly, it could be one of the strongest or equally as strong as the other consumer protections in the bill, because it is going to make sure that consumers get value for their premium dollars. >> joel one of the -- i wanted to give you an opportunity to talk more about the answer -- enforcement action you took against the high mark independence blue cross merger and what it might mean for future antitrust enforcement. >> again, i think we have a new face on this issue in washington that we welcome very much. i think this needs to be another area of state and federal partnership. what we saw were the two largest insurers and pennsylvania, blue cross, blue shield -- merging it essentially. they called it conso

we are pleased with the work that the naic is doing. they have a conference call on something two times a day. we're going to continue to work with them on that issue. some of the points that have been raised are very good, and i am not sure that the naic disagrees. joel ario, do you have anything to add? >> we welcome a continued discussion. i think it is correct that it is a federal law. ultimately, however you said, but they have the final say. >> thank you for being a good audience. we have a paper released today which discusses how competition and consumer protection enforcers can better work with the new federal regulators. we have a paper coming out in just a couple of weeks that will deal with a lack of adequate state regulation. but thank you to everyone on the panel for today's excellent presentations. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> let me say to the american people, this is a change in personnel, but not a change in policy. general

finally the naic results show med gap coverage costs policy holders pay $2,000 to $3,000 a year. med cap policies are expensive but can protect against highly bear basketball out of pocket expenses you referenced in your testimony. it's critical to know medicare policies aren't being used by those tryyng to shirk their health care responsibilities but by americans who are a bit too rich for medicaid but don't have the noun pay for brick testimony today. i yield back the remaineder of my time. >> i'll wave my opening mr. chairman. >> gentleman waves. i think that's our opening statements. so we'll go now to our witness. first of all, let me welcome you again. i know you've been here before, and we always enjoy your insight. we have limited you to five minutes. i hope that's ok. if you need more you can use it, because you're the only witness. >> and thank you. >> if you proceed -- >> thank you, chairman pallone, ranking member shimkus and other distinguished members of the subcommittee. i welcome this chance to talk about our june, 2010, report tore congress. let me begin by brief