If something is going to change, we in Congress have to change it. We need to do it now and we need to do it in a way that sticks.

One is with a very bloody toolbox comprised of benefits cuts, throwing people off coverage, paying providers less, and raising taxes.

We are on a very bad glide slope for health care in this country with a $30-plus trillion liability just for Federal health care benefits that is totally unfunded.

I could not agree with you more about that.

Those of us who have been watching this thing for a while have seen this number move.

One of the things that I come across pretty frequently...is that when people have chronic or multiple illnesses...their appetite for electronic health records is very high.

The success of that Chronic Care Model is completely dependent upon payment reform.

if we do not get this solved through technology, through systems reform, through better quality care, through a more rational payment system, then we will get to the edge of that cliff.

Now the model is Thelma and Louise, and we are all in the car, and the cliff is right in front of us.

Thirty-plus trillion dollars is an astonishing liability to have to face, and I believe that there are only two ways to face it.

Take diabetes alone. I think that is probably a chronic illness for which having good tools for patients would clearly benefit patients and reduce costs and improve quality of life.

it is going to be a nightmare.