CNN 2010-03-03

My salary is $1.1 million. I received stock compensation with a value of $8.5 million, and last year an annual incentive¹ payment of $73,000.

Well, of course it makes sense that you would need a big rate increase.

And of course she was being quite facetious² there. Is that going to stop?

Well, actually, Kyra, that's -- that's sort of the tip of the iceberg³. That's a modest salary compared to a number of the top CEOs who are making up to $24 million each.

The top five insurance companies in 2009 had $12.2 billion worth of profits between the companies. Fifty percent higher profit statements than a year earlier. So the enormous rate increases, staggering rate increases, don't match the profit statements. There's a real disconnect.

And too many Americans are really in a life-or-death situation, they desperately⁴ need the coverage⁵. They don't have a large employer to negotiate on their behalf, and yet they're being kicked out of the marketplace because they simply don't have thousands of dollars extra to put on the table.

Secretary Sebelius, a lot of people will say, well, look, when you talk about tip of the iceberg, it's not just insurance companies. It may be hospitals. It may be manufacturers of a lot of supplies that are used in hospitals.

There are a lot of different organizations, groups, people who contribute to health care costs. Are you going to be going after all these folks? I mean there are companies that are posting huge profits that make supplies for hospitals? How about that?

Well, I think definitely a part of the underlying⁶ health reform is really to pay a more reasonable rate for the products that are delivered. And we want to go to competitive bidding on durable⁷ medical equipment. That in and of itself just making companies bid and not sort of fixing a price.

We want to insert some market strategies in Medicare programs so that we actually can lower cost over time. There's a lot we're overpaying for, we are subsidizing the so-called Medicare advantage plans, 12 percent more, and 80 percent of seniors are paying those higher rates for issues that don't really add to health outcomes for seniors.

So we want to be smart about what we're spending but actually lower the cost over time. Pay for quality, pay for outcomes, and stop overpaying for everything in the medical system, which is driving up costs.

That's all part of the reform bills that passed both the House and the Senate.
 

1 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

2 facetious   

adj.轻浮的，好开玩笑的

参考例句：

• He was so facetious that he turned everything into a joke.他好开玩笑，把一切都变成了戏谑。
• I became angry with the little boy at his facetious remarks.我对这个小男孩过分的玩笑变得发火了。

3 iceberg   

n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人

参考例句：

• The ship hit an iceberg and went under.船撞上一座冰山而沉没了。
• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。

4 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

5 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

6 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

7 durable   

adj.持久的，耐久的

参考例句：

• This raincoat is made of very durable material.这件雨衣是用非常耐用的料子做的。
• They frequently require more major durable purchases.他们经常需要购买耐用消费品。