David Weldon: “I just want to raise a couple of points in response to some of the statements my friend from Ohio made but really just…”

“I just want to raise a couple of points in response to some of the statements my friend from Ohio made but really just one in particular and, that is, as it relates to the Blue Cross/Blue Shield systems complying with the cost accounting standards within the Medicare plan, those are very distinct plans. In many cases the Medicare operation is actually housed in a wholly owned subsidiary and for some of these FEHBP plans, they have provider networks and they overlap with the products that they are offering employers in the region and it is not really an entirely separate system. This is the problem that you get into specifically with the Blues as it relates to FEHBP. They are taking on a Federal employee, and they are taking on somebody who works in industry; they are offering the same product, and really what you are essentially asking the Blues to do with your amendment is adopt this new standard nationwide for all of their 80 million customers in order to keep this 4 million people within their system. It would be very costly for them to develop a separate standard for the 4 million people in FEHBP. Frankly, I think what you are doing is essentially saying to them, are you going to do it? Are you going to withdraw?”