in fact, peter o orszag wrote a piece for "the washington post" that highlights the fiscal importance of passing health care refume. one of the things he stlaid is "looking forward, if we do nothing to slow the skyrocketing cost of health care, the federal government will eventually be spending more on medicare and medicaid than all other government programs combined." he notes that it's time to move toward the high-quality, lower-cost health care care system of the future. as you know, mr. president, coming from wisconsin, we know how to deliver high-quality, high-efficient care. dhow it in which is, which they do it in minnesota. they do it in washington state. a number of states have figured out how to do t those are the models we need to see all across the country. we need to make health care affordable for everyone and we need to reduce the waste and fraud that plague the current system in this country. in 2008, employer health insurance premiums increased by 5%, two times the rate of inflation. and the annual premium for an employer health plan covering a family of four averaged

today peter orszag the budget director wrote an opinion piece in the "washington post" the highlights the fiscal accordance of tapping health care reform. one of the things is looking forward, if we do nothing to slow the skyrocketing cost of health care the federal government will eventually spend more on medicare and medicaid for all other programs combined and know it is time to move toward the high quality lower cost system of the future. as you know, , coming from wisconsin, we know how to delivery a sliver high-quality care. they do it in washington state and a number of states have figured out how do that and those are the models we will see all across the country. we need to make health care affordable for everyone and reduce waste and fraud the -- fraud. and lawyer health-insurance premiums increase by 5% two times inflation in the annual premium averaged nearly $12,000. you only have to know three members, six, a 12, 24. 10 years ago the average family paid $6,000. now they pay 12,000. as an average. lot of small companies in minnesota pay a lot more than that but the averag

in fact, peter o orszag wrote a piece for "the washington post" that highlights the fiscal importance of passing health care refume. one of the things he stlaid is "looking forward, if we do nothing to slow the skyrocketing cost of health care, the federal government will eventually be spending more on medicare and medicaid than all other government programs combined." he notes that it's time to move toward the high-quality, lower-cost health care care system of the future. as you know, mr. president, coming from wisconsin, we know how to deliver high-quality, high-efficient care. dhow it in which is, which they do it in minnesota. they do@@@@@@@ @ @ @ premiums, health care premiums. now they're paying $12,000. that's an average. i know a lost small companies in minnesota that are paying a lot than that. but right now the average nationally $12,000. if we do nothing to bend this cost curveg the average family will be paying on an annual basis $24,000 for their health care 10 years from now. meanwhile, a new study found that small businesses pay up to 18% more to provide health insuran

the figures that you gave, budget director, peter orszag, works out to half a billion dollars a year, half the cost -- excuse me, half a trillion dollars a year, half the cost of health care. amazing amounts of money involved. host: white house press corps indicating that the white house is or will be asking the networks for prime time next week, and indications that the speech could come from the oval office. what are you hearing? guest: we have not been told the location, but the oval office is traditionally used to make speeches that concern grave matters. during the bush addition, it was specifically reserved for matters of war -- during the bush administration, it was specifically reserved for matters of war. using that setting allows the president to a command attention that there is no distraction, no applause, note stage setting, because you have the best stage set in the world, the oval office. host: when the president was outlining the details on his health care bill, he had a news conference. what are the pros and cons of taking that venue? guest: the news conference, as th