On the recordJune 23, 2011
Exactly. And it's not just a savings to the government, but it's also a savings of $27 billion to individual seniors. So right there is an opportunity to provide for stability and to rein in costs within the Medicare program. But it takes the sort of compassion and the determination and the outright leadership to make certain that we make it stronger. What they've said today--I was in a hearing on the Budget Committee--is that, well, look, the way we're going to do this is sharpen the pencil. There is going to be this competition, and everyone's going to fight to serve the senior citizen for her or his health care needs. With the market taking over, they're going to drive down the costs and provide the benefits. Since Medicare was initiated, the private sector premium costs have risen by 5,000 percent. Medicare is far below that curve. There isn't that marketing program. There isn't that administrative overcharge that really has driven these prices to go out of sight. And what we have here is an attempt to put the insurance company into the driver's seat.
