Don Nickles: “He said this GAO report mentioned there was widespread abuse and so on, and I take issue with that. The GAO report says…”

“He said this GAO report mentioned there was widespread abuse and so on, and I take issue with that. The GAO report says this, and I will just quote: HHS regulatory role under this law is not yet known. Some implementation challenges may soon recede. Others are hypothetical and may not materialize. As Federal agencies issue more guidance and States and insurers gain more experience with HCFA, concerns about the clarity of its regulations may diminish. In other words, we have 45 States now in compliance, according to HCFA; 5 are in the process of working on it, and maybe those 5 will never get it together. Then maybe there will have to be some Federal implementation of Kassebaum-Kennedy, but that remains to be seen; we don't know. This has only been in effect for 22 months. So, do we really have an emergency of such a magnitude that we must triple the staff for HCFA so these five States can get in compliance? Those five States may sign up within the next month, or the next 2 months. So there is no reason to hire 65 people. There is no reason whatsoever, at $92,000 each--or an average cost of $92,000. I don't think it makes sense. Does HCFA have some other alternatives? Yes; they have over 4,000 employees. Do we really need to give them 65 more in this so-called urgent supplemental? HHS has a total of 58,500 employees--58,000 employees. Do we really need to give them an extra 65? I don't think so.”