Susan Collins

It was evident to me in rereading it that we have learned many of the lessons of Katrina, but we still have a long ways to go.

I support giving States more flexibility in plan design, but I think you quickly get into a thorny issue...

Do you think that it would be helpful if the Federal Government were to provide some initial seed money to help States establish reinsurance funds or reinsurance pools in the short term?

Is it not very difficult to produce savings from innovation in the very first year that you try a new approach?

I am not suggesting that the Federal Government should dictate how it is set up.

Given the savings that reinsurance can provide on the premium side, do you think that it would make sense for the Federal Government for a brief period of time, say a couple of years, to provide some seed money to help States set up…

I think that is a great motto for the bill that we are crafting.

It should bring premiums down remarkably.

One of the keys to driving down rates in the individual market is to broaden the market and to get as many people as we can enrolled.

I think if you look at the experience of those two States alone, it shows the benefit of reinsurance pools.

There is a big opportunity here and I wanted to ask you to consider having it be one of the 'bully pulpit sermons' of your tenure as Surgeon General to help catalyze that enormous potential to help Americans get the care that they want.

I think, by and large, we do a terrible job of doing that.

Senator Casey and I have introduced the Supporting Grandparent Raising Grandchildren Act.

We held a hearing in the Aging Committee, Senator Casey and I, and a clear message from that hearing was the need for kinship parents to have greater access to information about the resources that are available to assist them.

Thank you Ranking member Casey for your strong support of T1D research and coverage for technologies like the Continuous Glucose Monitor.

This research has made a difference in my life--it has made a difference in the lives of everyone in this room--and millions more.

It's great that people on Medicare now have access to CGMs just like the rest of us.

Let me be clear: This would not have happened without your help and without the support of the Special Diabetes Program.

Thank you and your colleagues for the bipartisan support of the Special Diabetes Program.

What a wonderful sea of blue I see out there. Welcome.

Thank you, seriously, thank you, Chairman Collins, for your outstanding leadership, and thank you, Ranking Member Casey, for your support of T1D research and coverage for technologies like the continuous glucose monitor.

I am delighted to convene this biennial hearing in conjunction with the JDRF 2017 Children's Congress.

Senator Collins, I particularly want to thank you for your steadfast commitment and outstanding leadership to advance Type 1 diabetes research and to help people gain access to new technologies.

This device has given Jonathan better blood sugar control than he has ever had in his diabetic life.

It is such a privilege to work with JDRF, whose commitment to finding a cure is unwavering.