Bill Clinton: “Well, I think on the merits, means-testing--as the population ages and as we continue to have an unconscionably high…”

“Well, I think on the merits, means-testing--as the population ages and as we continue to have an unconscionably high percentage of children living in poverty, you have to have help from society as a whole. We will have to look at means-testing generally. I have never been opposed to means-testing Medicare. Now, one of the things I have said--let me reiterate here, the Senate committee and then the Senate as a whole deserves a lot of credit for looking to the long-term future of the country and trying to deal early with the impact of the aging of the population on one of our most important systems, Medicare. And I think that we have a responsibility to respond to that, and I intend to. But I'd like to make just two points. Number one is, if you look at their bill, it adds about now 12 years to the Medicare Trust Fund. Most of the adding to the Medicare Trust Fund comes from the structural reforms, including the greater competition, the greater choice, and the greater preventive elements that are in the plan that I presented. Number two, if we're going to means-test benefits, the means-testing needs to be fair and workable. And the third thing I would say about the things that they offered, we do not want to do anything that will increase the number of people without any health insurance at all. That is one of the biggest problems America has. And as I predicted back in '93 and '94, it's getting worse, not better. And if it weren't for Medicaid, it would be terrible. And one of the most difficult populations we have in the United States are people who retire early, say, at 55 or 60, or are forced to retire, and then they have to wait for years to qualify for Medicare. I'll never forget the one story Hillary told me about meeting a woman that actually had breast cancer, who was 64 years old, who was waiting until she qualified for Medicare to get adequate treatment. I mean, we don't want to create a new class of people without any health insurance at all. But the Senate did a good thing by showing its concern for the future. I think I should respond. I intend to, but I want us to-- whatever we do, I want it to make sense. And let's not forget, the structural reforms may save more money over the long run. The gentleman from Ukraine there, and the lady next to him. I'll take both questions. Russia and Ukraine”