[applause] i want to thank governor martin o'malley for joining us here today.hank him for his terrific effort. of want to acknowledge our wonderful senior senator from the great state of maryland, barbara mikulski. [applause] ben cardin could not be here, but he is wonderful as well. please give him a round of applause. [laughter] we have a u.s. representative here. and u.s. representative don edwards. [applause] of want to let you know that they fought hard on behalf of seniors and this health care bill. i could not be proper to be joined by them. federal want to thank france for sharing her story with us. a want to thank everybody who has joined us here at the holland park senior center. thereeare a lot of people listening and watching all across america. i appreciate all of you as well. i am looking forward to taking some of your questions. i want to say a few brief words about the affordabbe care that we passed a few months back and what it means for a new american seniors. just a couple of generations went without basic health care. millions. it was not ri

[applause] i want to thank governor o'malley for joining us here today.d for his political efforts. i want to acknowledge our wonderful senior center for the great state of maryland. byron mikulski is here. [applause] ben cardin could not be here, but he is wonderful, too, so give him a round of applause. [laughter] [applause] and we have u.s. representative chris van hollen here, and u.s. representative don edwards. [applause] and i want you to know that they have fought hard on behalf of seniors and on behalf of this health care bill. and i could not be happier to be joined by them. i want to thank fran for joining her -- sharing her story with us. and i want to thank everyone who has joined us at the senior center. there are a lot of people listening and watching across america, so i appreciate you as well. i am looking forward to taking questions, but first, i want to say few brief words about the bill we pass a couple months back and what it means for senior citizens. it is hard to imagine today, but just two generations ago, millions of our seniors

released grants to the community that will help governors like governor o'malley and his senior volunteer get the word out to families about what their options are. a lot of people, particularly if something happens -- if somebody gets steadily more sick than they were in need help, many families do not know what their options are. all they know about is a nursing home. part of choices knowing what is here in maryland and around the country. these will be counselors who can meet with family members and the talk about where the options are. there are a whole series of medical strategies in the bill that provided for wraparound care once a patient leaves the hospital. home health teams where they do not need to be in a full-time residential care facility, but they need some follow up. did you fill your medicine? are you having any problems? are you experiencing any troubles? the bill has a lot of features that i think will make the kind of choices much easier for people. and the care giver acts -- there is a program now that the president and vice-president are moving forward that will prov