we partner with groups like national league of cities and robert wood johnson to train other mayors have to do this. there are lots of partnerships we can form and i would like to talk about those. i'm not going to talk all of them today. in the minute you hear mayor curtatone of come up and speak. you see there are some differences between us. first in your knows if i don't have an accent, and he does. [laughter] >> the next thing you will notice is he comes from a large city in the northeast. i come from a small town in the south. the other thing is, as was mentioned or do, we come from different political parties, but i think on this childhood obesity initiative we will work together. and i think that's something the entire country is going to be a lockstep on regardless of which side the iowa come from. we all want our children to go up and be healthy and live and live longer than we live. that's what this is all about. we might is accidentally balance the budget. you wonder why i said it. just a my little state, right now we're spending $982 million a year, almost $1 billion a year

the health unit is a partnership with the robert wood johnson foundation. >> reporter: recent announcements by anthem blue cross/blue shield said it would raise premiums 35% for policyholders in the individual market in california has created a storm of controversy at the state and national levels. so in what appeared to be bowing to pressure, over the weekend the company said it would delay the increase two months. but timing aside, health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius called the increase unreasonable. >> well, i think it's hard to look at a company which had a $2.7 billion profit in the fourth quarter of 2009, pays both their top ceos just under $10 million and says we have to raise rates on 800,000 people, which will effectively, betty ann, either drive them out of the marketplace or makthem make terrible choices about do i have health care or pay my rent. do i buy pie kids new gym shoes or provide them health insurance. and that's a situation nobody in america should be in. >> reporter: anthem's announced increase sparked congressional hearings scheduled to take place o

guest: there robert wood johnson foundation committed four years ago half a billion dollars to this effortou, dr. thompson so much for bringing this to the public's attention. i agree with you 100%. i think children learn their eating habits from adults and you are right -- and that we really need to increase the healthy eating habits -- you know, class is in our high schools and elementary schools, but we need to have them for adults also. the four biggest killers of americans are heart attacks, cancer, stroke, and diabetes. they're all diet related. and a much processed fruits and heavy meats. this is something president obama could really take the lead on and maybe both republicans and democrats could cooperate on this and maybe we could save billions on the health care bill. start with the adults and children. thank you so much. guest: 01 to thank the caller for the comments and commendations. i would also like to challenge every employer across your viewership. see what you are selling to your employees and if they are not healthy snacks or healthy drinks, ask the vending company to c

the survey was conducted by stanford university with the nonprofit robert wood johnson foundation. in the poll 59% said they thought at least half the test doctors order is unnecessary and ordered only because of fear of lawsuits, end quote. that's the end of the a.p. story. madam speaker, the "usa today" editorial board also came out in support of tort reform and "usa today" wrote, a study found that 83% of its doctors practiced defensive medicine at a cost of at least $1.4 billion a year. nationally, the cost is $60 billion-plus every year, according to the health and human services department. and that's the h.h.s. of this administration. and in a 2005 study in the journal of medical association found that 93% of pennsylvania doctors practiced defensive medicine. the liability system is too often a lottery, excessive compensation is awarded to some patients and little to none to others. as much as 60% of awards is spent on attorneys, expert witnesses and administrative costs. it results in years of delay, end quote. madam speaker, discussing the need for tort reform, the preside

people, partner with the boards of education, we partner with the national boards of city and robert wood johnsonan form, i'd like to talk about those. in a minute, you'll hear mayor toney come up and speak, you'll notice some differences between us. first, he has an accent, i don't. he comes from a large city in the northeast, the other thing is, we come from different political parties. but i think on this childhood obesity initiative we're in lock step and beginning to work together. that's something the entire country is going to be in lock step on, regardless of which side of the aisle we're on, we want our children to grow up and be healthy and live as long or longer than we're going to live. that's what this is about. while we're at it we might accidentally balance the budget. you may wonder why i say that. just in my state right now, we're spending $982 million a year, almost $1 billion a year on obesity related illnesses. $500 million of that is on medicare and medicaid. that makes you wonder where the other $400 million is. that's paid for with insurance premiums and those insurances ar

guest: there robert wood johnson foundation committed four years ago half a billion dollars to this effortfive years we should be able to demonstrate a reversal in the epidemic. if we make the right policy changes at the state and local level, we will see that lower level. it affects low-income communities and communities of color more. we may have to make additional investments in to those communities. caller: thank you, dr. thompson so much for bringing this to the public's attention. i agree with you 100%. i think children learn their eating habits from adults and you are right -- and that we really need to increase the healthy eating habits -- you know, class is in our high schools and elementary schools, but we need to have them for adults also. the four biggest killers of americans are heart attacks, cancer, stroke, and diabetes. they're all diet related. and a much processed fruits and heavy meats. this is something president obama could really take the lead on and maybe both republicans and democrats could cooperate on this and maybe we could save billions on the health care bill.

america and it's bringing together some of the leading experts on childhood obesity like the robert wood johnson foundation, the california endownment, the kellogg foundation. the brookings institution and alliance for a healthier generation which is a partnership between the american heart association and the clinton foundation. and we expect many others to join in the coming months. this is unheard of. so this is a pretty serious effort. one that i'm very proud of. proud of everyone for being a part of it. and i know that in these challenging times for our country, there will be those who will wonder whether this should really be a priority? they're going to be many who might view things like, healthy school lunches and physical fitness challenges a extras, things we spring for we've taken care of all the necessities. there will be those who act how on earth can we spend money on fruits and vegetables in cafeterias when many schools don't have books and teachers. how can we afford to build parks and sidewalks when we can't even afford our health care costs. when you step back and think about i