Gilbert Gutknecht: “If I could just join this here, because I really do think the gentlewoman has hit on a very important point, and that is…”

“If I could just join this here, because I really do think the gentlewoman has hit on a very important point, and that is that long-term I believe the facts are our friends. I think the more people get to understand the facts of what we are talking about in terms of where we are now and how we got to where we are now, and the reforms that we are talking about, I think the more people understand the facts of the situation, and I have found in my town meetings where people begin to understand the direction that we are going, we have found less and less resistance and people begin to appreciate it. When we talk, for example, about what has happened back in Minnesota, where on the public sector side when you are talking about Medicare or Medicaid or medical assistance, we have been seeing, and last year I think we saw in the State of Minnesota about a 10.4 percent inflation rate when you are talking about the public sector side on Medicare and Medicaid and medical assistance. The inflation rate on that side of the equation has been about 10.4 percent. On the private sector side, where they have used managed care and competitive forces and created markets, it has been running 1.1 percent.”