Text 2312, 763 rader
Skriven 2006-03-15 23:33:30 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0603151) for Wed, 2006 Mar 15
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President Discusses Medicare Prescription Drug Benefits in Maryland
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 15, 2006

President Discusses Medicare Prescription Drug Benefits in Maryland
Riderwood Village
Silver Spring, Maryland


˙˙˙˙˙In Focus: Medicare

1:50 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Listen, thank you all for coming. First of all, I'm proud to
be traveling with a Cabinet Secretary. He runs Health and Human Services.
His job is to make sure that the Medicare plan works the way it was
designed to work.

We've come to answer some questions if you have any -- about any subject.
(Laughter.) But before I begin, I do want to share some thoughts with you.

First, speaking about Cabinet Secretaries, I know Mary Hill is here.
Where's Mary? Oh, hi, Mary. The reason I bring her up is that her daughter
is married to one of my Cabinet Secretaries and she is a fine woman -- so
is the Cabinet Secretary -- (Laughter) -- Norm Mineta, Norm and Deni
Mineta.

I want to thank the folks who run this fine facility. Thanks for letting us
come by and talk about good health, that's what we're here to talk about.
By the way, Laura sends her best. You might remember her, she's the most
patient woman in America. (Applause.) I don't know why she didn't come; I
should have asked her. I'll ask her. You wanted her to come? Well, listen,
that happens to me a lot. (Laughter.) You stay home, let Laura come.

But I'm here to talk about Medicare. First of all, when I got to Washington
I took a look at the Medicare system and thought it needed to be improved.
When the government makes a commitment, it ought to make good on its
commitment and it ought to do -- make sure we deliver excellence when we
say we're going to do something. Lyndon Johnson -- nice Texan -- signed the
Medicare bill, and it was a commitment by the federal government to provide
health care for our seniors. And my attitude is if we're going to provide
health care for the seniors, let's provide a good system, a modern system.

And so I took a look at it and said that Medicare is doing a lot of good
stuff, you know, it really is. It's an important system. But I asked the
question, couldn't we do it better? And for example, just to give you an
idea, you know Medicare would pay $28,000 for the surgery for ulcers, but
wouldn't pay a dime for the medicine to prevent the surgery from being
needed in the first place. That didn't sound like a very good system to me.
In other words, what had happened was medicine started to change. You all
know what I'm talking about. Pharmaceuticals became a really important part
of the delivery of good health care. But Medicare did not change with
medicine.

And so one of the things we did, we worked with Republicans and worked with
Democrats and said, let's provide a prescription drug benefit for our
seniors to make sure that Medicare is a modern system. Now, I understood
that when we began to change Medicare, modernize Medicare, it could create
some confusion with people. You know, some people just don't want to
change. Some people thought things were just fine and that giving different
options or giving people an opportunity to make different decisions could
create some confusion.

Now, I understood that. But I also felt it was worth the risk of creating
confusion to give people different options from which to choose. And so the
Medicare bill -- the new Medicare bill does something different: it says
there is a prescription drug benefit available for all Americans, special
help for the lower-income Americans, that seniors have also got the
opportunity to make a choice to design a health care plan that best suits
their needs.

And so we started the program. Congress passed the bill. It did provide
really good help for low-income seniors. It did provide choices. It did
provide a medical examination for people who enroll in Medicare. It does
provide for annual screenings. That makes sense, doesn't it? Why don't you
-- if we screen for disease, it might make it easier for us to solve
problems before they become acute.

And so we started saying to the people, this bill has passed, take a look
at it. And so people got on the computers and saw a lot of different
options, and said, whoa, this may be a little more than I bargained for.
And so recognizing that people might need some explanations, we rallied
people. We got the churches and the synagogues, and we got the community
groups, we got the AARP -- we got people all around the country, facilities
just like this, as a matter of fact, to start explaining options available
to our seniors, so seniors can make the right choice for them.

Since the program got going, 26 million seniors have signed up. That's a
lot. Pretty quick period of time -- 26 million people take a look and
signed up for the program. They're signing up by the thousands every week.
And so one of the reasons I've come is to encourage people who have not
signed up to take a look at Medicare, the new Medicare, take a look at
what's available. If you like what you see, sign up. If it doesn't meet
your needs, that's fine. But I think you're going to like what you see.
Drug bills have been cut in half for the average -- for the typical senior.
I'm not making it up. I'm just telling you what people who've signed
realize what the plans available -- what it has meant to them.

Drug costs have been cut in half. That's positive news if you're a senior.
I was with some folks yesterday in upstate New York, and old Bob got up at
a deal like this, and he said in the microphone, he said, I thought it was
too good to be true; it was one of these typical government deals, you
know, where they kind of say something is going to happen and it doesn't.
He said, my drug bills have been cut in half. I think if you -- if people
pay attention to this program and take a look at it, you'll find that there
are some significant cost savings for you.

The other thing that's happened the taxpayers have got to know is that it's
anticipated -- the cost of this is 20 percent lower than anticipated in the
first year. In other words, it turns out when people have choices, they get
better quality and they get better price. And that's what you're seeing in
the Medicare bill.

If you haven't signed up -- by the way, I'm not only speaking to you, I'm
speaking to the cameras, too, by the way -- (laughter) -- because I want
people to hear this, it's important. If you haven't signed up, call
1-800-MEDICARE. If you're a -- if you've got -- if you're a son or a
daughter of a citizen on Medicare, do your parent a favor and get on the
Internet and look at what's available, and help your mom or dad take a look
at this new Medicare benefit structure. There are some choices to choose
from, no doubt about it. But with more choices to choose from, you can
better design a program that meets your needs.

People are signing up by the thousands. There's a May 15th deadline. And so
what Mike and I are going to do is travel around the country and hold
seminars like this and continue to remind people there's a good
opportunity. And I really urge you to take a look. It's a program that does
modernize the system. It's a program that says, we trust seniors to make
the right choice. It's a program that I think you're going to like a lot.

And that's what I've come to do. Part of my job is to educate the American
people about what's available. It's called the Educator-in-Chief.
(Laughter.) This is a new program, and it requires a lot of work.

Yesterday, I met with a group of concerned citizens from different walks of
life -- you know, the NAACP and the -- some Latino groups, business groups,
pharmaceutical groups. I said, look -- and they're there for a reason; they
wanted to hear my commitment to the program and my encouraging them to go
out and find people and encourage them to take a look and sign up.

And so that's what I'm doing here today, and I want to thank you all for
giving me a chance to come by and visit with you. If you've got any
questions for me, I'll answer them. If they're too hard, I'll turn them
over to the Secretary, and let him answer them. (Laughter.) But I'll be
glad to answer any questions you've got on any subject on your mind. If
you've got something you want to ask about Medicare, you can -- any other
subject that you care about.

Yes, ma'am.

Q (Inaudible) -- subject. First, welcome to the Blue State of Maryland.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. It's good to be here.

Q Secondly, I am a member of Medicare, of course. I'm also a member of
Kaiser Permanente. My medical bills are absolute nothing -- 90 days or $8.
Why does Kaiser have more of a means of putting forth these medications
than does the government of the United States?

THE PRESIDENT: See, she is a part of a private program that has provided a
benefit that you like, and you don't want to change and you don't have to
change -- and that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to give people
different options like the option you have got.

In the old system, they didn't have those options. Matter of fact, they
didn't have a prescription drug benefit in the old Medicare system. Now the
Medicare system has invited a series of providers -- I think there's 34
different providers here in the state of Maryland, if I'm not mistaken --
that say, now, I want to give you a chance to be able to come up and have
the same satisfaction with the program that you do.

Look, if you're happy with where you are -- and it sounds like you're
pretty happy about it -- don't change.

Q I'm not going to.

THE PRESIDENT: You shouldn't. (Laughter.) And I don't blame you. I wouldn't
either. But if you're -- but you ought to take a look. See, people ought to
take a look and see. That's all I'm saying. Nobody is making you do
anything. I'm just traveling around saying to people, take a look at what's
available for you. There's people on this staff here at this facility that
will help you. That's all -- believe me, it's worth taking a look. It's
free.

Yes, ma'am.

Q First off, as a resident, I wish to tell you how pleased we are that you
took time out to come to Riderwood, because Riderwood beside has a
wonderful -- you look around at these vibrant, elderly people, you know we
have very good health care. And we're looking for good health care.

Now, we have the Advantage -- Erickson Advantage is here, which covers
Medicare and Part D, which is what you're sponsoring. So we're glad that
you're here to explain, even though this is Erickson's health plan. But
that doesn't eliminate your Part D.

THE PRESIDENT: No, that's right. Yes, I mean, in other words, Erickson is a
part of the menu of opportunity.

Q Right.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I appreciate you bringing it up. You sound like you
know a lot on the subject. You ought to be up here speaking. (Laughter.)
No, I appreciate that. Thanks.

Part D -- when they hear Part D, that's talking about the prescription drug
benefit that's now available. It was not available in Medicare. I signed
the bill. It is now available.

Q Right.

THE PRESIDENT: And, again, I repeat, if you're a low-income senior, there's
a lot of help for you. The government pays over 95 percent of anything
coming your way. And that's important. So you ought to look. That's all
we're saying.

Yes, sir. Thanks for wearing the Texas shirt. (Laughter.)

Q I have a grandson here from Houston. He brought it. He gave it to me last
Christmas, and I had to wear it today.

THE PRESIDENT: I'm honored. Thanks. Yes, kind of reminds me of home.
(Laughter.)

Q Mr. President, I'm happy to be here at Riderwood. I'm retired military,
retired from the Veterans Administration also, and I can get treatment from
VA. What is the best thing for a man like me to do? There are many retired
military people here who are in the same situation.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think the Veterans Affairs benefits are a very good
package. And Veterans Affairs, one of their major responsibilities is to
honor the commitment they've made to you, sir. And they intend to honor it.
Again, I don't know all the details of your Veterans Affairs benefit
package, but you ought to take a look at all options. It's just a free
look. Get your son to get on the Internet with you and just see whether or
not it makes any sense. But I'll bet you'll find the Veterans' benefits are
pretty good.

Yes, sir. Thanks for serving, by the way. Appreciate the example you've
set.

Yes, sir.

Q The people who live here are fortunate to have their health records in a
computer -- in electronic medical records. Could you talk a little bit
about that?

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, sir. (Laughter.) Yes, well, it's a very good
question because part of the issue we face in America is the cost of health
care, the rising cost of health care. Part of the rising cost of health
care is the result of a really important industry not being a part of the
21st century technology. He asked about medical records, electronic medical
records. That means that everybody will have their medical records on a --
digitized in a way that can be used over the Internet, for example.

You might remember the old days -- and a lot of hospitals are still that
way, by the way, or most doctors' offices are that way, when they actually
write your prescription, or write your procedure on a piece of paper,
that's pretty inefficient. One reason is doctors can't write to begin with.
(Laughter.) Are you a doc? Sorry. (Laughter.)

But carrying your files from one office to the next is not an efficient way
to run a system. Files can get lost, people cannot necessarily read what is
written, prescriptions can sometimes not be written properly because the
handwriting isn't legible. You might -- you know, a person transfers from
one jurisdiction to the next and the files may get lost, or the doctor may
not exactly understand what the other doctor had talked about in the
handwritten files. And that leads to medical errors and a costly health
care system.

And so what the good doc is asking is, are we in the process of trying to
have medical records like you have here at this facility, so that your
health care is better delivered and there aren't mistakes. And the answer
is, absolutely. I've tasked the Secretary of Health and Human Services to
start working on a variety of fronts when it comes to information
technology in health care, starting with a common language. The data of
medicine is complicated. You can describe different ailments and different
diseases in different ways. And so what Mike is doing through his
department is coming up with a common language.

And the idea is -- I'll give you a practical example of why this is --
having medical records is important. When Hurricane Katrina hit, a lot of
veterans were displaced. Now, the Veterans Administration has got medical
records for people that they're serving. And so you have a person go from
New Orleans to Houston and, fortunately, the electronic medical record
could go with that person, which then meant the doc in Houston would see a
new patient with -- the medical records would lay out exactly what needed
to be done to take care of the patient.

And that's precisely the kind of vision that we're talking about, so that,
ultimately, America is using information technology to lower the cost of
medicine, but to provide higher quality of medicine for people through
medical records. And Mike is in charge of that and his department is making
good progress. Thanks for bringing it up.

The other thing that's really important about medical records, and
something my administration is going to be a stickler for, is to make sure
that the records are private. We don't want people looking at your medical
record if you don't want them looking at your medical record. In other
words, it's your record and there's got to be a certain amount of privacy
to that record. And so just because I talk about having electronic medical
records, you've just got to understand that there's going to be an
important privacy component to making sure that others can't look at your
record if you don't want them to.

Good question.

Yes, ma'am.

Q Mr. President, I told my mother last night that I was going to be
covering the President of the United States on the health (inaudible.)

Q We can't hear the question.

THE PRESIDENT: Here you go. She started off saying she talked to her mom
last night.

Q Yes. And you may have some experience with instructions from a forceful
mother, sir. (Laughter.) I got some from mine. (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: Well-spoken.

Q My mom is 75, she is sick, she's back in New Jersey alone. She didn't
know anything about the Part D in the drug plan until I told her in
February, with all the publicity and everything. I'm trying to walk her
through it, but she doesn't know what to tell me. I don't know how to help
her. I've punched her stuff into medicare.gov, I've got the basics, but
it's still too much for her to afford. And I don't know where to tell her
to go and get help. She wants to know if you guys will roll back the May
15th deadline.

THE PRESIDENT: No. And the reason why is there's got to be a fixed time for
people to sign up. We want people to realize there is -- now is the time.
And I'm not exactly sure about your mom's situation. I do want to thank you
for helping her. Daughters ought to help their mothers realize what's
available.

Now, again, there is a -- I'm not sure what the plan -- the structure looks
like in New Jersey, but rolling back deadlines is not going to help your
mom make a good decision. You're going to have to help her make the
decision. And a lot of people like your mom were in the same situation --
they took a look, said it looks confusing. But there's a lot of help.
That's what -- one of the reasons I'm here to talk about --

Q The thing I'm trying to find out is -- this is a great system where you
have a group like Riderwood -- it's a great system in Riderwood, where
people can come together, or the church groups. But what do you do with the
people who are just sick enough, they can't go out, they don't have help,
you know? Do we have a system to knock on doors, to walk --

THE PRESIDENT: Absolutely. That's exactly what our --

Q Where can I send her?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, I happen to think -- and I don't want --
look, I'm not going to tell you your business, but I think it's your
responsibility to help your mom, and I think a lot of parents -- a lot of
children should help their moms. (Applause.) And I think you really ought
to take a look at the different options for her. I mean, the best
grassroots outreach is child to parent. There's other outreach, you're
right. The church is outreaching. Again, I don't know the particulars in
the neighborhood. I can -- if you can get us the area in which she lives,
we can find a group that's very much involved in helping people like your
mom. I appreciate it.

But that's the whole -- her -- she's got a great point. In order to --
we've got to explain this to as many people as we can. And I fully
understand that it's confusing. That's why I started off the talk, it can
be confusing to people. But when you work through -- work through the
different options and look at the steps and have somebody explain it to
you, in the end, it is a really good deal.

Now, if she doesn't choose to be a part of Part D, that's a choice that you
and she and others will make. But it is -- it has proven to be a
cost-effective decision for our seniors. The typical senior has their drug
bill cut in half. That's across America. If your mom qualifies, she will
get more than 95 percent of her drug bills paid by the government.

And so thanks for bringing it up.

Q Back here.

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, yes.

Q We still have millions of under-insured or uninsured citizens in the
United States, and what are you going to do about that?

THE PRESIDENT: Right. There's no question that's an issue. And one of the
reasons why is because health care costs are going up, and there are ways
to address health care costs. One of them is information technology.
Another one is legal reform. A lot of doctors are getting sued. And when
they get sued, they practice defensive medicine in order to protect them in
the courts. And by practicing defensive medicine, it causes costs to go up.
Transparency in pricing is another way to make sure consumers have got the
capacity to make rational decisions for themselves.

Some of the people who have not insured are younger Americans who choose
not to be insured. It's like, I kind of remember that period of time. I
thought I was never going to get sick. And so I thought I'd save some
money.

A lot of people who are insured -- or uninsured are working uninsured, and
they tend to work for small businesses. And small businesses have trouble
being able to purchase insurance, so they get the insurance. And one idea
to help small businesses is to allow them to pool risk across
jurisdictional boundaries. In other words, let the restaurateur in Texas
and the restaurateur in Maryland join in a risk pool so as to make
insurance more affordable for small businesses.

Health savings accounts are a way to help small businesses be able to
afford insurance. Now, if you're poor, you're going to get help through
Medicaid. There is an insurance plan. If you're a -- if you're somebody in
this country who needs primary care, we've got community health centers all
across America, places where people can get good health care, not in the
emergency rooms of our hospitals.

So there is a variety of ways to deal with a very difficult issue. And
you're right, it's an issue that the country must address. Thanks for
bringing it up.

Yes, sir.

Q No one's quite said this, this way, I don't think, sir. Speaking as one
resident here, among the very diverse group, that it is an honor and a
privilege to be visited by the President of all 300 million of us and the
leader of the free world.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, sir.

Q Welcome.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.)

Q I do have a question. When this law was passed with your encouragement --
almost immediately after the bill was enacted by Congress, the chief
auditor at Medicare came out and spoke on TV and said that he had compiled
a projected cost significantly higher than what Congress had been told. And
he was threatened with immediate dismissal if he allowed that information
to come out. Is that -- did that man speak the truth? And if so, why would
you not want facts like that to come out to the American people?

THE PRESIDENT: Actually, what's happened, sir, is that the estimated cost
is 20 percent lower than bodies that tried to estimate the cost. And the
reason why is, is because the program has worked better than anticipated.
And it has been better than anticipated. And I think you'll be reflected in
our budgets.

Well, they estimated, for example, the average premium was going to cost
$37 a month, and it's down to $25 a month. In other words, it's working.
And I think that's important for people to understand. And there's been a
lot of estimates about the cost of the program, but what really matters is
the actual costs. And it looks like the dollars are going to be lower than
we thought, which is good news -- good news. And, more importantly, lower
to the seniors than we thought. And that's the most important news of all.
The most important news to you is this is a good deal for you, the
consumer, the person we're trying to help. And we think it is. And people
ought to look at it. I don't know if you've looked at, but you ought to, if
you haven't. Thank you.

Yes, ma'am.

Q Yes, you mentioned a little while ago about chips -- I mean about medical
records. Today, in The Post they were talking about people getting chips
implanted with their medical records. And it sounded good to me. My dog has
one. (Laughter.) And I bet your dogs have them.

THE PRESIDENT: I don't know if our dogs -- I don't think -- we're not quite
that sophisticated yet. Barney might not like it. (Laughter.)

Q I guess my question is, in the future, if we want people to have this,
would it be possible, or thinking that far ahead, that when a child is
born, a chip is implanted and you keep feeding information into it through
--

THE PRESIDENT: I don't know. That's an interesting question. I, frankly,
haven't heard of that. Do you have any -- maybe the Secretary -- maybe it's
time for the Secretary to step in. (Laughter.)

I think the point is this -- I think the point is, is that there is the
capacity to carry in a very small object a lot of data that can be
downloaded in other medical facilities in order to facilitate a flow of
information that enables people to get good health care in a cost effective
way. I don't know about implantations or not. But, nevertheless, I do think
that the idea of having a medical chip that is on a card, or it can be
anywhere -- you got one, doc? No, I thought you were searching for --
(laughter.)

Q We have one at Erickson.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, sir.

Q Mr. President, I just want to take the opportunity to thank you for your
far-sighted policy in India, of assisting them in their civilian nuclear
program.

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, thank you, sir.

Q I was at Tarapur 40 years ago, when General Electric inaugurated the
first nuclear plant in India. And I think it's going to go a long way
towards keeping our friendship with that important country in Asia. Thank
you very much.

THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for bringing that up. He's referring to a trip I just
took to India and Pakistan and Afghanistan. And we were working on an
agreement with India to encourage India and help India develop its civilian
nuclear power industry. And one -- a couple of reasons why one would do
that. One, when India's demand for fossil fuels goes up it causes the price
of our fossil fuels to go up. And so, therefore, to encourage them to use a
renewable source of energy that doesn't create greenhouse gas, this makes a
lot of sense.

Secondly, India has been a -- is a non-proliferator, has proven to be a
non-proliferator for the past 30 years. In other words, they've got a
record, and in my judgment should cause the Congress to pass old law to
treat them as a new partner. Thirdly, India wants to be a part of
international agreements that will help deal with proliferation.

And so I thank you for your comments. I appreciate you saying that.

Yes, sir.

Q It was particularly courageous, in view of the fact that Pakistan is one
of our allies in the war on terrorism, and of course, it's going to affect
their attitude to some extent.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I appreciate you saying that. The good news is that,
as I said in the speech there in India, we now -- I think Indians
understand it's good for the United States to be friendly with Pakistan,
and the Pakistanis understand it's good for the United States to be
friendly with India -- which is, as you know, a change of kind of the
relationship of the United States with those two countries.

I had a good visit with President Musharraf, who is dedicated to routing
out al Qaeda if they hide in his country, and we really appreciate his
dedication. And at the same time, he's dedicated toward advancing
democracy. So it was a great visit. Thanks for bringing it up.

Yes, ma'am -- oop, you again. (Laughter.)

Q You mentioned about privacy, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

Q It's very well to say privacy on our electronics. You know there's no
such a thing as real privacy. Something leaks out all the time somewhere.

THE PRESIDENT: I'd say that. (Laughter.)

Q Did you ever -- did you ever think, or think in your bill some way that
the insurance companies cannot use it against us? Because that's the fear
-- that's the fear, that an insurance company will say, uh-oh, we won't
touch you, and you know --

THE PRESIDENT: Preexisting conditions --

Q That's right -- or something that you developed along the way.

THE PRESIDENT: I think there's laws that protect you on that. It's a
different issue from them looking at your records. One is to say, well,
you've got a preexisting condition; therefore, we won't insure you. That's
different from them taking a look at your records.

Q Because you get these conditions later on as you go along in life.

THE PRESIDENT: Right. I understand. The good news about the current
Medicare program is that they'll take care of you as you are.

Q Here's an electronic card.

THE PRESIDENT: Let's see that card. I don't see very well. (Laughter.)

Q (Inaudible.)

THE PRESIDENT: They did? Great. Thanks.

Yes, sir. The mic disappeared on you. Sorry.

Q Thank you. Since we're talking about health care, I wonder if we couldn't
address the health care of the world? In particular, the issue of
greenhouse gases.

THE PRESIDENT: Sure.

Q The entire -- well, I'm one of the scientists who believes that -- and
many of us do -- the greenhouse gases have been caused by us, and that it's
about time that the United States took serious actions on the prevention of
further greenhouse gases.

THE PRESIDENT: I exactly agree with you, sir, and that's exactly what we're
doing. (Applause.) I think you're right. I thought the prescription to the
Kyoto plan was the wrong way to go. On the other hand, I do know we can use
technologies to achieve exactly that objective.

For example, second-generation nuclear power. It's a renewable resource. It
doesn't emit, as you know, greenhouse gases. It's one of the reasons why I
work with India and trying to help China, as well, to be able to develop a
civilian nuclear power industry without -- with guarantees against
proliferation, in order to protect the environment.

The other day in the State of the Union address, I said we're addicted to
oil and we need to get off oil. There are alternative ways to do that.
Hybrid -- plug-in hybrid batteries is a new technology that's coming and I
think will help deal with emissions. The use of ethanol -- ethanol made
from sugar, of course, is a technology that works. But, hopefully, we'll be
able to have some breakthroughs to be able to use saw grass or wood chips
to manufacture ethanol in order to be able to not only make us less
dependent on foreign sources of energy, but also to be good stewards of the
environment.

Ultimately, hydrogen-powered automobiles will help make a huge difference.
We're spending about a billion -- $200 million dollars or so to research
that. Solar technology is another area where there's some great potential
breakthroughs. I went to a plant in Michigan the other day and saw these
new roofing materials that got photovoltaic cells, a part of them.

And so I agree with you. I think it's very important for us to use
technology to help protect the environment, and at the same time, achieve
an important economic and national security objective, which is no
dependence on oil.

It's a -- all right. Yes, sir.

Q Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, sir.

Q Glad to have you here.

THE PRESIDENT: Thanks.

Q Thank you, very much. I have two questions. The first question deals with
a resident that's here -- was unable to be here, but she's having -- the
resident is having a problem trying to get enrolled in Medicare B. And all
of the time that she's had problems, the person has had a problem getting
on the computer, getting anything resolved, and so on and so forth.

THE PRESIDENT: Okay.

Q And that's --

SECRETARY LEAVITT: I'll get the name, and we'll take care of it.

Q Okay. The second question -- (laughter.) The second question deals with
what are we doing at the federal level to get some uniformity in terms of
the billing in hospitals so that we don't have the wide dispersion between
hospital billing as a result of someone having insurance and someone who
does not have insurance, and the whole bit. And that's been going on for
years, because I was in a hospital, ran a part of it, and I know that
there's a great dispersion in that.

THE PRESIDENT: I appreciate that. Do you want to take that on, Mike?

SECRETARY LEAVITT: Sure. Last night I was in a hotel, and on the back of
the hotel door, there was a price: $449 a night. Now, you'll be pleased to
know, Mr. President, that I didn't pay that -- (laughter) -- and we didn't
pay that because the government had created a government rate. It was only
$130 a night, and they slid the bill under the door.

A lot of insurance companies do the same thing and create special prices
for the people that are insured with them. What the President has recently
done is he's told every insurance company, every employer, and every
provider in the country: You ought to tell people what you're charging.
People deserve, people have a right to know what they're being charged and
the kind of quality they're getting. And that's an initiative of the
President. And very shortly, I believe you'll start to see that kind of
disclosure.

Q Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: This guy has got a great question because really what he's
talking about is transparency in pricing. When you go buy a car, you know
exactly what they're going to charge you. (Laughter.) Well, sometimes you
don't know. (Laughter.) Well, you negotiate with them. (Laughter.) Well,
they put something on the window that says price. (Laughter.) His point is,
is that the more you know about price, the better you can make better
decisions, and I appreciate that.

Listen, you're paying me a lot of money to work, and so I think I'm going
to have to head back home. But I'm honored. Got any more questions, I'll be
glad to answer them.

Q I have one.

THE PRESIDENT: Okay, yes, please. Thank you.

Q I'd like to ask you about the medical records. They're not infallible,
and we like to have paper backup. Recently had an experience here in
Riderwood, went for a blood check. Records were down because the power was
down, they couldn't connect to the computer. They need -- most places have
paper backup, and I think if you don't have a complete record, it's not
going to work as greatly as it does.

THE PRESIDENT: That's really a kind of redundancy in the process to make
sure that if there's a power outage, that there's not an emergency caused
by that. No, that's a really good point. Thanks.

Q Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: I guess, is there a --

SECRETARY LEAVITT: Working on it. (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: Working on it. (Laughter.) Yes, sir. Working on it.
(Laughter.)

Q Mr. President, there are some -- and I guess I would include myself --
who have different views about the Indian agreement, because they're
concerned about the effect that the agreement will have on the capacity of
India to stimulate its own production of nuclear weapons --

THE PRESIDENT: No, I understand.

Q -- by helping them. But I would go beyond that and ask you, while you're
still President, to consider one aspect of this whole nuclear question. I
guess I'm one of the three standing -- left standing Americans who helped
-- who did the negotiation of the nonproliferation treaty. And the basic
bargain there was that other countries would give up their nuclear weapons
if we, the nuclear powers, would engage in a program of nuclear
disarmament.

Now, I'm aware of all of the agreements that have taken place. I'm aware of
the negotiations that you had with Mr. Putin. The point is that we cannot
expect that agreement, that basic agreement to hold if the United States,
particularly, goes on acting as -- and has the position that we might
initiate a nuclear war if it is necessary.

And I would ask you just to think about the time -- while you're still
President, taking the one position that only one American President has
taken, and that is President Johnson, to consider a "no first-use" policy
to help the prospect of nuclear proliferation in the long run.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you. Thank you very much. Thanks for your
contribution, by the way. I appreciate it. (Applause.)

Part of the Indian deal is to actually get them to formally join some of
the institutions that you helped -- your work created. And you're right. I
did do an agreement with President Putin -- thanks for noticing -- where
we're -- both of us are reducing nuclear stockpiles. But I'll take your
words to heart, and think about it. Thank you. No commitment standing right
here, of course. (Laughter.)

Well, I'm thrilled to be here. Thank you all for your time. I would hope
that people would take a look -- just take a look. And if you need help,
there are people here who will help you. And if you're watching on TV, ask
your son or daughter, or ask your neighbor, or ask a person that has signed
up whether or not it's worthwhile. And I think you'll find this is a
program that's -- it's a good program.

I appreciate you letting me have a chance to come by and visit with you.
Thanks for the town hall meeting. Thanks for the good questions. God bless
you all. (Applause.)

END 2:30 P.M. EST

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