when we to do that is to raise the fee for try care -- tricare.been pushed back by members of congress. they do not like the idea. raising the and not $5 -- the amount $5 per individual. guest: when you spread it across the entire military, it makes a big difference. one thing that i like that secretary gates is doing is he is looking at everything. whether it is weapons functions or whatever. the hope is we're not cutting military budget, but we can actually have savings where we can invest in the defense spending side. everything has to be on the table. every proposal. i will be one of the first people to fight for veterans benefits. i will have to look at the details to see how things work out. i have yet to see a veteran yet that said i thought for us, i fought for freedom, i want us to go into debt. i only hear, keep your promise. and that is not in the nature of our veterans. they are patriotic people that want to do the best fourth half of our country. host: 1 last phone call. dee is a democrat in detroit. caller: thank you for taking my ca

tricare love your optimism calling it the secondin half of our live. >> arrowbear living to 114. we have never possessed more powerful tools of organizing and unifying to less effect. the days of the phone tree and petitions are gone.h i type things on a typewriter with carbon paper and i would attack them onto trees. we have the best social the work now but it accomplishesing getting justin bieber from a littlef town in toronto to filling medicis square garden in 18 months.s. those are theplis accomplishments of social media now but the tools are in place but older people i think have to not feel alienated and disenfranchised by a then new media that exist and be ready to take some control and not the them. >> do you have the facebook page? >> i do. >> and twitter. >> it is important.inow. i have met so many older people who say i cannot possibly understand the internet. we understood carter things they and getting a twitter account. [laughter] >> i have a fluff question. you talk about how all the music was very important to you and is there one album and particular ones song t

we are also mindful of the department's proposal to increase tricare premiums on military retirees and the pocketbooks of the veterans households. we are fully supportive of the commanders call to completely repeal the disabled veterans tax, the denial of for the reduction to the disability benefits to qualified veterans adversely affects not only the veterans but also the family member who relies on that income to meet the families living expenses and it goes without saying that the dogs hillary continues to stand behind the legion of families longstanding effort to protect the glory through the constitutional amendment to return to congress the power to protect the u.s. flag from physical desecration that blew the pretty forward this year. [applause] the commander foster also remembers are ready willing and able to evidence of the legion family legislative priority. we pledged to continue to work together advocates for public policy that improve the well-being and quality lives for military service members, the veterans and their families. again, thank you for this opportunity to add

that in turn led us to proposed increases in tricare enrollment fees for working age retirees. these increases are modest and manageable, and leave fees well below the inflation adjusted out-of-pocket cost set in 1995 when the current fees were established. we sincerely hope you will see fit to pass it. please know we will continue to invest wisely to include research, diagnosis and treatment of mental issues, and brain injury, in health services and new battlefield technologies. we understand that changes to health care benefits cause concern among the people we serve in the communities in which we receive care. but we also understand and hold sacred our obligation to care completely for those who have bourn the brunt of those wars as well as those for whom the war never ends. i remain convinced we haven't begun to understand the toll in dollars and in dreams that war extracts from our people. as the grandsons and granddaughters of the world war ii vets still struggle to comprehend the full scope of the horror those men yet concealed. so too will our grandchildren have to come

that in turn led us to proposed increases in tricare enrollment fees for working age retirees. these increases are modest and manageable, and leave fees well below the inflation adjusted out-of-pocket cost set in 1995 when the current fees were established. we sincerely hope you will see fit to pass it. please know we will continue to invest wisely to include research, diagnosis and treatment of mental issues, and brain injury, in health services and new battlefield technologies. we understand that changes to health care benefits cause concern among the people we serve in the communities in which we receive care. but we also understand and hold sacred our obligation to care completely for those who have bourn the brunt of those wars as well as those for whom the war never ends. i remain convinced we haven't begun to understand the toll in dollars and in dreams that war extracts from our people. as the grandsons and granddaughters of the world war ii vets still struggle to comprehend the full scope of the horror those men yet concealed. so too will our grandchildren have to come

sooner, on that one specific item that i've mentioned -- if the federal government is purchasing drugs tricare, for medicare, for medicaid, it is about 8 $3 billion savings. when you think about the savings that can be made if we have generic drugs going to the market, in fact, we can begin to look at how health care costs get reduced which is what we are trying to do. the other piece that i mentioned in terms of the "pay to delay," and that follows on the generic drug peace because $3 billion we could apply to some other effort including reducing the deficit rather than taking the money from food safety modernization or from inspectors were for dealing with some of the other areas that we do. those are the places that we ought to start rather than putting at risk the health and safety of people in this country. if i cannot quickly to a food modernization peace because it is hard for me to stay away from this area, the legislation calls for the inspection of high risk with every five years and dropping to three years. low-risk would be inspected every seven years and drop to one. based on the

the health care system is driving the cost of the military's tricare system. no one is exempt. the health care system is what is driving the cost problem in public and private programs alike, so we have to address the health care system problem if we are going to get our health care costs under control. how do we solve this? we actually have a pretty good toolbox. it has five major tools in it. one is quality improvement. quality improvement saves the cost of errors, misdiagnosis, disjointed care and so forth. for example, hospital-acquired infections alone cost about $2.5 billion every year and they are virtually entirely avoidability. they should be never events. two, prevention programs. prevention programs can avoid the costs of getting sick in the first place. more than 90% of cervical cancer is curable if the disease is detected early through pap smears. three, paying doctors for better outcomes rather than for more and more tests and procedures can save money while improving the outcomes. four, a robust health information infrastructure has been strimentd to save $82 --

sooner, on that one specific item that i've mentioned -- if the federal government is purchasing drugs tricare, for medicare, for medicaid, it is about 8 $3 billion savings. when you think about the savings that can be made if we have generic drugs going to the market, in fact, we can begin to look at how health care costs get reduced which is what we are trying to do. the other piece that i mentioned in terms of the "pay to delay," and that follows on the generic drug peace because $3 billion we could apply to some other effort including reducing the deficit rather than taking the money from food safety modernization or from inspectors were for dealing with some of the other areas that we do. those are the places that we ought to start rather than putting at risk the health and safety of people in this country. if i cannot quickly to a food modernization peace because it is hard for me to stay away from this area, the legislation calls for the inspection of high risk with every five years and dropping to three years. low-risk would be inspected every seven years and drop to one. based on the

that in turn led us to proposed increase in tricare enrollment fees for working age retirees. these increases ar modest and manageable, and leave fees well below the inflation adjusted out-of-pocket cost set in 1995 when the current fees were established. we sincerely hope you will see fit to pass it. please know we will continue to invest wisely to include research, diagnosis and treatment of mental issues, and brain injury, in health services and new battlefield technologies. we understand that changes to health care benefits cause concern among the people we serve in the communities in which we receive care. but we also understand and hold sacred our obligation to care completely for those who have bourn the brunt of those wars as well as those for whom the war ner ends. i remain convinced we haven't begun to understand the toll in dollars and in dreams that war extracts from our people. as the grandsons and granddaughters of the world war ii vets still struggle to comprehend the full scope of the horror those men yetconcealed. so too ill our grandchildren have to come to g

sooner, on that one specific item that i've mentioned -- if the federal government is purchasing drugs tricare, for medicare, for medicaid, it is about 8 $3 billion savings. when you think about the savings that can be made if we have generic drugs going to the market, in fact, we can begin to look at how health care costs get reduced which is what we are trying to do. the other piece that i mentioned in terms of the "pay to delay," and that follows on the generic drug peace because $3 billion we could apply to some other effort including reducing the deficit rather than taking the money from food safety modernization or from inspectors were for dealing with some of the other areas that we do. those are the places that we ought to start rather than putting at risk the health and safety of people in this country. if i cannot quickly to a food modernization peace because it is hard for me to stay away from this area, the legislation calls for the inspection of high risk with every five years and dropping to three years. low-risk would be inspected every seven years and drop to one. based on the