Orrin Hatch

Well, in my opening statement, I noted that NHTSA has issued literally hundreds of regulatory actions in just the past decade.

I think you have shown a great deal of interest in this subject matter and are moving in an appropriate way.

I think we must resist the temptation to think that federal regulators can account for and control everything around us.

I want to make clear that I view the issue before us as separate from how the Affordable Care Act addresses mental health insurance coverage.

I cannot thank you enough for the leadership of you and your family and that you continue to exercise and provide on this issue.

The mental health parity regulation will be issued tomorrow.

I will put it that way. We did some very, very important things together, and we were and still are very dear friends.

I want to applaud the Ranking Member, Senator Hatch, who was an original cosponsor of that legislation and is a champion in this fight.

I have got to be excused, but I appreciate all three of you being here as well as the prior panel.

The Mental Health Parity Act passed the Senate by unanimous consent in 2008.

I think, said it very well when they asked him, is this basically going to work, and he basically said that it is just a step on the way to a single-payer system.

Look, I think this is a terrible bill, and that is not because I am a Republican or a Democrat.

I do believe strongly the main feature of this law is to reduce the rate of growth of health care cost in this country.

I am very concerned about this going into a socialized medicine situation where we really, really cannot control the costs.

We want to do this right.

It would be better, it would be safer, be more protective of people's rights and of their personal information.

The American people strongly believe in transparency.

See, that is what I am worried about, that if we do not watch this and if we do not have a fail-safe system.

Why is it so difficult to put this off until we have it up and running, running right, with the right kind of security so that people's personal and private information is not subject to fraud?

But do they not have to give their personal information: Social Security number, their earnings, what their income is, family income is, et cetera?

Well, I will not keep you very long, Madam Secretary.

Well, I had been suggesting that since April. You stated that you felt strongly that the launch needed to proceed on October 1st for the millions of Americans who did not have health insurance so they could get coverage as soon as possible.

Well, what were the tradeoffs with launching the exchange on October 1st, rather than waiting until a later date?

Many people, including myself, had called for an independent entity, such as the Government Accountability Office, for example, to conduct an end-to-end review of the marketplace.

But do they not have to give their family income and other personal data?