I think we have to acknowledge up front that we have a real problem with the individual market.

I hope we can get away from trying to make this a partisan debate.

We want to see everyone have access to affordable health insurance.

I am interested to note that your estimate on improper payments, 75 percent are in three areas: Medicare, Medicaid, and the EITC.

Because I think that is important, because that is a principle that drives a lot of the debate around here, and I think we ought to try to get to the data that underlies it.

We have got veterans in Maine that want and need care, and we have got a program ready to go.

I think it should be clear.

If you cut the State Department budget, you are going to have to buy me more ammunition.

We have really got to have some kind of systematic review of how we do procurement.

My concern is that you are significantly cutting workforce training and research, both in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) but also particularly in the Department of Energy.

I would like your recommendation as to how we might further--not in detailed implementation, but is there some structural way that we can get at the problem of lack of implementation of your very good suggestions?

My experience is that unless someone has the responsibility for making these things happen----

We are, as you know, paying about twice per capita for health care as any other developed country in the world.

I think they do matter, and I hope we can establish that kind of consensus.

I think it points to an underlying issue that we really need to be talking about.

Providing IRS with additional money will eventually produce more revenue.

So is it your testimony that these changes in the rate of reimbursement for Medicaid will have no effect on elderly, children, disabled people who are now beneficiaries?

$406 billion a year of undercollections, about $145 billion of improper payments, add those together, it is almost--well, it is slightly above this year's projected deficit.