we have done a lot of work with the provider community, outreach directly to ob-gyns, outreach to primarycare docs, health clinics with health infrastructure. states are submitting plans based on their own determination, region by region, area by area, how best to target their vulnerable populations and that's where the vaccine will be -- >> so our best response to those populations when they call our office is consult your local physician? >> in terms of where to get the vaccine? >> and who gets priority. >> well, their local physician won't be determining who gets the priority. again, the state health department has determined that, and that information should be available right now. there will be vaccine for everyone. >> gentlewoman's time -- >> it will roll off the line simultaneously. the state redetermined where the priority areas are. what sites should get it. >> thank you. >> thank you, gentlewoman from wisconsin. ms. baldwin. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, secretary sebelius, for your testimony. encouraging news in terms of the hope that one dose will be sufficient, that

they already have rationing, wait times have doubled in a lot of specialties like ob-gyn. there are 30% overbudget. they are raising taxes across the board on alcohol, tobacco and things like that. premiums are rising 30% faster than the national average. so, mark, if these are anning of the great things that will happen with nationalized healthcare i wasn't wait. -- i can't wait. >> you are missing a lot of things or you are avoiding certain things. rationing happens already. people say we will have rationing with the public option. how do the insurance companies ration now? there are problems with the local examples. when we move to a national scale we can install mechanisms for competition -- >> it will get better on that? you have to be kidding me. >> you keep saying wait times get longerment if you add 30 million it will get longer. >> in massachusetts they say they like the plan less than what they had before. people in massachusetts don't like it. >> again massachusetts is not a microcosm of the united states. it is not a microcosm. brenda: it is better than just sa

. >> and ob-gyn's, folks who deliver babies pay a fortune. >> here's my favorite one. two sisters were abused by their half brother. who is responsible? well, according to a recent jury verdict, the person who is responsible is the pediatrician. she has to pay $11 million. great copy, but it is a small part of the big problem. if you want to save on medical costs, look at another proposal from steve forbes. he wants to have patients with skin in the game, cigna's accounts for help. >> that is much more powerful than getting rid of the trial lawrs. >> this doesn't preclude other solutions to the healthcare crisis. this gets to one of the key things, $300 billion and poisoning doctor-patient relationships is not a rounding error. >> we have to make it clear for the viewer. it is medical malpractice tort costs, $30 billion. defensive medicine, some say about $230 billion, and those numbers i don't think include the medical malpractice premiums that doctors have to pay which add to their costs that they put on the backs of their clients which all of that could get pushed o

host: one person we had from tuesday was an ob-gyn from texas and he commented on the disparity of hisarnings which are with a quarter million versus an ob-gyn in washington, new york or chicago addressing two or three times the amount. can you address that disparity and how that affects what you are trying to do at unity? guest: it is not just the disparity in different parts of the country but in professions and understandably ob-gyns personally would make more than a primary care physician. the challenge is, as a result of that, we are losing more and more providers and more and more doctors to the specialty services because they are the better paying. the reality is there are overhead and malpractice insurance that is higher. it is not as difficult for us to attract providers because we use the national health service corps which is a feeder where young men and women get part of the tuition paid off and get malpractice coverage through us. basically our ability to attract prime march care physicians is not as difficult as it might be otherwise. however, the overall specialty like o

ob/gyn, a brain surgeon, a specialist -- ob/gyn, brain surgeon, specialists end up paying more. if you are a homeowner in america, your homeowner fees are spread actuarially through the whole system, risk of burning down, etc., and everyone else's fees are set on the basis. the same thing for car insurance. it is legitimate insurance. everybody pays the fee. we do not do that in the health care system. we want to make it more affordable for you to cover your workers. if you do not make it so you cover your workers, the and you have to provide part of the cost with providing them with decent insurance, and what we call this a shared responsibility. it is, in fact, increase in the concept of a free rider fee but not in a way that is going to provide the kind of certainty and breadth of coverage to the employer-provided system that the country needs. we agreed to increase the cost of health insurance in america. $750 for each full-time worker, three tenths of $5 for a part- timer -- $375 for a part-timer. you can save money for everyone. why do i say that? because it is precisely w

reporter: that fear of getting sued on top of the pricey liability insurance has forced hundreds of ob-gynstheir practice. dr. wendy freid said she isn't quitting the baby business. she shouldn't, she says, because she's a good doctor. she says she can't quit, because too many others are. randi kaye, cnn, north hills, new york. >>> the nonprofit community group, a.c.o.r.n., under fire and practicing serious damage control in the wake of some very embarrassing videos, including a.c.o.r.n. staffers who were caught on hidden camera giving alleged tax advice to a couple posing as a pimp and a prostitute. a.c.o.r.n.'s ceo bertha lewis says the employees involved have since been a.c.o.r.'s attorneys says that those two workers have been fired here now is ms. louis, on "the situation room." >> i have been with a.c.o.r.n. for 20 years, i am going to make sure that we serve low income people of color. i am cleaning house. i'll come back in three months and you can look at what we have done. >> the series of undercover videos slamming a.c.o.r.n. has raised a lot of questions, namely who's producing t

karen king set up her ob/gyn practice in 1992 in a suburb of columbus, over the years she expanded anday there are five doctors on her staff. >> i think you have to love taking care of the patient. you have to love taking care of the patient long-term. >> several years ago she said that patient care was in jeopardy because her medical malpractice premiums skyrocketed 105 percent in four years. absorbing the cost was a challenge. >> you could only see so many patients in a certain amount of time. and if you liked to listen to patients it makes it difficult, if you have to add in 10 more patients to pay the bills. >> today, it is a different story. dr. king said her premiums have dropped. she credits ohio lawmakers for the change. and the medical tort reform they passed in 2004. that includes limits on medical malpractice lawsuits, one reason for high premiums. >> it is not only saved us money but, i think, provided greater access to care. >> tim is with the ohio state medical association. he says since the reform has past the number of liability claims dropped 40 percent. a change that

you do not have 40% of the counties in the united states without an ob/gyn position. this savings will allow us to leave that $500 billion in the medicare system that we are about to take away from medicare advantage and hospice. it does not require us to raise taxes by $800 billion a year as [unintelligible] the republican party has lots of ideas. we look for to sharing those with the president. we need to do this on a bipartisan basis. maybe there are some components of my bill that will have to change. i am willing to do that. but at least give us the opportunity to talk about it. we need health care reform. we all agree with that. we need health insurance reform we need to bend the cost curve in the right direction and to bring health insurance to more people and make it more affordable. we can do that. but we do not have to throw the baby up with the bathwater. >> thank you. because of our early votes today, we were a little bit -- we had some folks had to the airport. there were a number of other folks that wanted to be with us today. if you think about the prin

clark showed the results to attending ob/gyn dr.re's the cyst filled with different types of tissue within that ovary. >> reporter: dr. kolp diagnosed the cyst as a tartoma, they can form virtually on any tissue or organ in the body often growing teeth or hair, but was there a connection between this cyst and the swelling in amanda's brain? >> we think we know everything in medicine and we think we've figured so many things out and yet there's still a lot of mysteries out there. >> reporter: in amanda's case, doctors believed her tear toe made might actually be making brain cells which her iune system recognized as foreign. could the antibodies in amanda's system be attacking not only the growing brain cells in her cyst but also her brain? dr. clark recommended the cyst be removed. >> i was kind of embarrassed actually to bring it up to the team because i was like, oh, my god, i'm the new intern and tell's think i'm insane that i want to take this girl to the o.r. >> reporter: dr. kolp agreed, searchry was the only option. her left

. >> we have done a lot of work with the provider community, outreach directly to ob/gyns, primary care docs, health clinics with the infrastructure, but states are submitting plans based on their own determination region by region, area by area how best to target their vulnerable populations, and that's where the vaccine will be -- >> so our best response to those populations when they call our office is consult your local unless? >> -- physician. >> in terms of where to get the vaccine? >> and who gets priority. >> well, their local fls won't be determining who gets the priority. again, the state health department has determined that, and that information should be available right now. there will be vaccine for everyone. >> jebt l woman's time -- >> so the state is really, has predetermined where the priority areas are. >> thank you, ma'am. yield back. >> thank you. gentlewoman from wisconsin, ms. baldwin. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, secretary sebelius, for your testimony. there were several very encouraging items of news in terms of the hope that one dose will be sufficie

of louisiana, a heart surgeon and here in the studio republican michael burgess of texas, an ob-g ob-gyne you here. >> thank you. >> mike: great to have you here from new orleans. >> thank you. >> mike: let me get this underway asking a question i think has confused a lot of americans and congressman i'll ask you in new orleans. we know that the president has said that the ama is supportive and so therefore, he sort of said the doctors are all behind this health care reform bill. yet, only 20% of the positions in america belong to the ama. is there somewhat of a, maybe a not quite so honest approach? are the doctors of america truly behind the health care reform bill that the democrats have put forth? >> i don't think that's really true. i think if you look at state medical societies, a number of the specialty societies and i can tell you, many, many physicians i've spoken to, both in my home state of louisiana, and around the country, they're opposed to this because they see the very heavy hand of government getting involved in every aspect of our health care in a very disruptive way. >

and when our daughters were born, one of our best friends was, is an ob/gyn.our best friends. the rest of the time, we spent with nurses who not only eased the nerves of an anxious father, but made sure michelle was doing all right, cared for our newborn babies. when our youngest daughter, sasha, was diagnosed with meningitis when she was just 3 months old, it was one of the scariest moments of my life. we had to have a spinal tap administered and she ended up being in the hospital for three or four days. it was touch and go. we didn't know whether she would be permanently affected by it. it was the nurses who walked us through what was happening and made sure that sasha was okay. so, that continues, joy of birth and also, obviously, in tougher times, when my mother passed away from cancer, when my grandmother passed away. each time, nurses were there to provide extraordinary care, but also extraordinary support. so, i'm thankful for that. and as a father and as a son and grandson, i will forever be in debt to the women and men of your profession. i know that

when our daughters were born, one of our best friends is an ob/gyn.th of the matter is, we only saw her for 10 minutes. this is one of our best friends. the rest of the time, we spent with the nurses. the major michelle was doing all right and cared for our newborn babies. when our youngest daughter was diagnosed with meningitis when she was just three months old, it was one of the serious moments of my life could we had to have a spinal tap administered. she was in the hospital for three or four days. we did not know if she would be permanently affected by it. it was the nurses who walked us through what was happening and make sure that sasha was ok. that continues in the joy of birth, and also in tougher times, when my mother passed away from cancer, and when my grandmother passed away. each time, the nurses were there and provided extraordinary care and extraordinary support. i am thankful for that. as a father and as a son and as a grandson, i will forever be in debt to the women and men of your profession. i know that millions of families feel th

when our daughters were born, one of our best friends was, is, an ob-gyn. we only saw her for ten minutes. that's it. our best friends. the rest of the time we spent with nurses who not only eased nerves of the anxious father but made sure michelle was doing all right and cared for our newborn babies. when our youngest daughter, sasha, was diagnosed with meningitis when she was just 3 months old, one of the scariest moments of my life. we had to have a spinal tap administered and it was touch and go. we didn't know if she would be permanently affected by it. it was nurses who walked us through what was happening and made sure that sasha was okay. so that continues in joy of birth but also obviously in tougher times when my mother passed away from cancer. when my grandmother passed away. each time nurses were there to provide extraordinary care but also extraordinary support and so i'm thankful for that. as a father, as a son, a grandson, i will forever be in debt to the women and men of your profession and i know that millions of other families feel the sam

when our daughters were born, one of our best friends was -- is an ob/gyn.he presided over the deliveries. the truth of the matter is we only saw her for ten minutes. that was it. one of our best friends. the rest of the time we spent with nurses, who not only eased the nerves of an anxious father, but made sure michelle was doing all right, cared for our newborn babies. when our youngest daughter, sasha, was diagnosed with meningitis when she was just 3 months old, it was one of the scariest moments of my life. she had a spinal tap administered and ended up being in the hospital for three or four days. it was such and go, we didn't know whether she would be permanently affected by it. it was the nurses who walked us through what was happening and made sure that sasha was okay. so, that continues in joy of birth but also obviously in tougher times when my mother passed away from cancer, when my grandmother passed away. each time nurses were there to provide extraordinary care but also extraordinary support. and so i'm thankful for them. and as a father and a

it brings down the cost of liability premiums so that i like today, you do not have one in seven ob/gyn'stting their practice. this savings will allow us to believe that $500 billion in the medicare system that we are about to take away from medicare advantage and hospice and in disproportionate share, hospitals. does not require us to raise taxes by $800 billion a year, killing 5 million additional jobs across this country. the republican party has lots of ideas, and we look forward to sharing those with the president. we need to do this on a bipartisan basis. maybe there are some components of my bill that will have to change. i am willing to do that, but at least give us the opportunity to talk about it, because we need health care reform. we all agree with that. we need health insurance reform. we need to bring health insurance to more people and make it more affordable. we can do that, but we do not have to throw the baby out with the bath water in the process. >> because of our early votes today, we had some folks had to the airport, so there are a number of other folks who wanted t

with hospital executives, with pediatricians, with ob-gyn's, with family physicians, with critical caredoctors, with the state medical society, with health insurers, with c.v.s. -- the big pharmaceutical chain that makes its home in rhode island -- with the rhode island m.s. chapter, with business community leaders, with members of our rhode island quality institute, reforming health care athe state level, with great leadership for our country right now, with members of all sorts -- all walks of life who have come together and are working tirelessly to help build our states' health snftion technology infrastructure. these were helpful conversations to me, mr. president, and i lerner add great deal from awful those individuals and institutions. but i lernered a great deal also at two commuty dinners that i held in west warwick, rhode island and jnston, rhode island, where hundreds came out to join mend our senior senator jack read -- not only for spaghetti and meatballs -- i think i may be the only senator to introduce meatballs into the town hall formula and it worked st fine. there was

changing specialties because they may not want to pay the premiums for malpractice, especially, say, the ob/gynu may choose to do something else that is not that costly. steve: meanwhile, we've heard if something big passes, there's going to be rationing because you inject 50 million more people, patients, into the system, you need more doctors. but, according to this survey, there could actually be fewer doctors. >> yeah, absolutely. because we already know we have a deficit. population growth has gone by 1% or more. the enrollment for medical schools is way down. we do have a deficit in doctors. and the funny thing is, if you look at most countries where there is socialized medicine like in sweden and places like that, they import doctors from other countries. so if you go into a swedish hospital for the most part today, you're going to find a doctor from india or any of those places. and, you know, because they can't make enough doctors to fulfill the need of having everybody insured. steve: you know that because your wife is swedish. >> absolutely. steve: and if something passes, look at ho

. >> rob ob-gyn juic obviously ant win. that was a long important victory. the guys came out and played right from the get go. we came out really smoking. >> we play together and get team victories. evaner every time the defense turns it over it's our jupe to put the ball into the end zone. we converted into a pretty good amount of and that is what you got to do to win games. >>> for the next game they will take on tom brady and the patriots. >>> an easy win over the lowly browns, the ravens had 3-0 and alone in 3rd place in the division. joel d smith is live at the diner with reaction to the ravens dominating performance. good morning, joel. >> reporter: good morning, patrice, i think the number one reaction we getting, yeah. people are relaxed after that game. no nail biting after this game. easy and they were very controlled on the offensive and defensive. look athpaperlooking at papers . happy, intense, that is what the game was like for the fans. they are happy, celebrating. we talked to some the fans. and we will be talking to you guys, come out to the

when our daughters were born, one of our best friends is an ob-gyn. the truth of the matter is we only saw her for 10 minutes. that was it. she was one of our best friends. the rest of the time we spend with nurses who not only east the nerves of the anxious father but make sure that michelle was doing ok. when sasha was diagnosed with meningitis, it was one of the scariest moments of my life, and she ended up being a hospital, and we did not know whether she was going to be permanently affected by it. it was the nurses walked us through what was happening and made sure that sasha was ok. that continues -- but obviously in tougher times, when my mother passed away from cancer, when my grandmother passed away. each time nurses were there to provide extraordinary care, but also extraordinary support. i am thankful for that. as a father, and as a son, grandson, i will be in debt due within and men of your profession. millions of other families feel the same way. you are the bedrock of our medical profession, on the front lines. you are on the front lines

as an ob-gyn who practiced medicine over 30 years, i know how dire the consequences are if we continue our failure to act. it's time to put partisan politics aside, stand up for the american people. meaningful liability change cannot wait. it must be included in any health care reform bill. and i yield back, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? >> request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. wilson: madam speaker, i rise today to give my support to the student aid and fiscal responsibility act, a bill which will make historic investments in our nation's higher education. this legislation covers a broad array of initiatives to make colleges more affordable and accessible for everyone, and i'm particularly glad to see that it does much to strengthen community colleges. in this challenging economy, community colleges offer a crucial opportunity for students to fully prepare for the work force. in 2007, there were over 156,000 students enrolled in ohio's community colleges. i w

we have 95 counties in tennessee, and in 60 of them we don't have an ob-gyn doctor because they won'tractice there anymore. their medical malpractice insurance premiums are too high. over $100,000. and so pregnant women have to drive a long ways, to memphis, to nashville, other big cities, for their prenatal health care or to have their babies. that's a way to lower costs. reduce junk lawsuits. there's some disagreement about how much cost that saves. but there's no disagreement that junk lawsuits contribute to higher medical costs. number three, allow individual americans the ability to purchase health insurance across state lines. as a former governor, i jealously protect the states' rights. i like for states to have responsibilities, but i think in terms of health care that we should allow more purchase of policies across state lines, just as people do with car insurance today. there is a third way to take a step toward health care reform that actually begins to lower cost. fourth, we don't have to pass a new bill in order to e insure me americans. about 20% of the uninsured americ

when our daughters were born, one of our best friends is an ob-gyn. the truth of the matter is we only saw her for 10 minutes. that was it. she was one of our best friends. the rest of the time we spend with nurses who not only east the nerves of the anxious father but make sure that michelle was doing ok. when sasha was diagnosed with meningitis, it was one of the scariest moments of my life, and she ended up being a hospital, and we did not know whether she was going to be permanently affected by it. it was the nurses walked us through what was happening and made sure that sasha was ok. that continues -- but obviously in tougher times, when my mother passed away from cancer, when my grandmother passed away. each time nurses were there to provide extraordinary care, but also extraordinary support. i am thankful for that. as a father, and as a son, grandson, i will be in debt due within and men of your profession. millions of other families feel the same way. you are the bedrock of our medical profession, on the front lines. [applause] you are on the

when our daughters were born, one of our best friends was and is and ob/gyn. she presided over the delivery, but the truth of the matter is, we only saw are for 10 minutes. the rest of the time we spent with nurses, who not only ease the nerves of the anxious father, but made sure michelle was doing all right and caring for newborn babies. when our youngest daughter was diagnosed with meningitis when she was just three months old, it was one of the scariest moments of my life. we had to have a spinal tap administered, and she ended up being in a hospital for three or four days, and it was touch and go. we did not know whether she would be permanently affected by it. it was the nurses who walked us through what was happening and make sure -- s made -- sasha was ok. that continued in tougher times, when my mother passed away from cancer, when my grandmother passed away. each time, nurses were there to provide extraordinary care, but also extraordinary support. so i am thankful for that, and as a father and as a son and grandson, i will forever be in debt to the

in tennessee, there are 60 counties where there aren't any ob-gyn doctors. that means mothers in those 60 counties of tennessee have to drive a long way. they have to drive to memphis, maybe 60 miles, to get their prenatal health care to have their babies. the president mentioned the other night some steps about junk runaway lawsuits. so there's a second small step we could take that could make a big difference about cost, which is the real issue in health care. third, allow individual americans the ability to purchase health insurance across state lines as they can with automobile insurance today. we could probably agree on that here. it would probably make a difference. i used to be a governor, so i've got an aversion to not respecting state lines, but in this case we may need to do this because the cost of health insurance could come down if we did it, and cost is what we're focused on. four, insure americans who currently require for existing programs like medicaid and the children's health insurance program but are not enrolled, sign them up. there are

it's also made it very difficult for specialty doctors like ob/gyn's to practice and limits practicein rural areas. many states have enacted caps on noneconomic damages and in every place where this has happened, doctors have moved in, lawyers have moved out, and cost vs. gone down. so i was very disappointed when the president said over the weekend that he doesn't believe caps work. respectfully, mr. president, actually caps on noneconomic damages is -- that actually is medical liability reform. madam speaker, the american people are rightfully concerned about how any reform will impact out-of-control federal spending and our exploding federal deficit. it just stretches credibility when people are told that we can create a public option, expand access, and availability of care and we can do so without dramatically increasing taxes or adding to the federal debt. you can't get something for nothing, particularly when the government is involved. and many seniors find it difficult to believe that we can pay for some of this by reducing spending on medicare by $600 billion and more and n

we have 95 counties in tennessee, and in 60 of them we don't have an ob-gyn doctor because they won't practice there anymore. their medical malpractice insurance premiums are too high. over $100,000. and so pregnant women have to drive a long ways, to memphis, to nashville, other big cities, for their prenatal health care or to have their babies. that's a way to lower costs. reduce junk lawsuits. there's some disagreement about how much cost that saves. but there's no disagreement that junk lawsuits contribute to higher medical costs. number three, allow individual americans the ability to purchase health insurance across state lines. as a former governor, i jealously protect the states' rights. i like for states to have responsibilities, but i think in terms of health care that we should allow more purchase of policies across state lines, just as people do with car insurance today. there is a third way to take a step toward health care reform that actually begins to lower cost. fourth, we don't have to pass a new bill in order to e insure me americans. about 20% of the uninsured amer

body seven years ago, now serving my fourth term, i spent 31 years practicing medicine, 26 as an ob/gyn specialist in my 11th district of georgia where i still live and will spend my entire life. it's a wonderful, wonderful community in northwest georgia. so this issue of health care, i'm as compassionate about it as anybody. just as compassionate as my friends on the democratic side that had the previous hour. and this idea of doing something about medical liability reform, i am so glad that the president said to the american medical association at the annual meeting, yes, in response to a question from one of the doctors. we do need to do something. and i will take that into consideration. now, he wasn't specific. just like the other night he wasn't specific in regard to what he would be amenable to in regard to liability reform. mr. speaker, tonight i am going to spend some time talking about a bill that i have introduced every year since 2003, that was 108th congress, i have a member of the 108th, ninth, 110th and 111th. each year i have inter-- introduced the bill called the health

but what did you expect, congressman gingrey, you are a doctor, you practiced ob-gyn medicine for over 26 years in your district in northwest georgia, cobb county, marietta, you've delivered 5,200 babies, you've practiced medicine for over 27 years, you sit on the energy and commerce committee where this bill, this h.r. 3200 -- my colleagues, i just happen to have it. fresh copy of it. i think 1,100 pages. pretty thick. kind of hard for me to even hold. you know, what do you think about the bill? and after the august recess when everybody went home, this bill passed the energy and commerce committee. it passed the ways and means committee, and it passed the education and labor committee. very narrowly. strictly along party lines. and we went home for the august recess. and that's when things really got exciting. typically during the month of august members are in their district, they're seeing constituents maybe one-on-one, more typically in a town hall meeting setting on a busy day, you might see 50 people or 75. and rarely 1 hupped if the weather's perfect. well, during this august r

congress from the state of georgia, i spent something like 31 years practicing medicine, 26 as an ob-gyn physician. and the physician members in this body and there are about 17 of us, five on the democratic side, 12 on the republican side, probably have over 400 years of clinical experience combined in regard to health care. so, you know, we bring to this issue, i think, a fund of knowledge that needs to be listened to and listened very carefully to. not that we're necessarily the experts or the last word but i think we are a very important word. as mrs. bachmann, representative bachmann, was saying, the president right here, mr. speaker, two weeks ago, as he spoke to the nation about the need for health care reform and he had a joint session here, the senate, the house of representatives, his cabinet, the supreme court justices, the president was talking about promises that he had made to the nation in regard to health care reform. you remember, mr. speaker, that was when one of the members on our side of the aisle in a moment of extreme passion and emotion suggested that the president