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Sunday Show Guidance for 11-17-13 The Affordable Care Act Healthcare Big Picture .................................................................................................................... 2 Tech Update on Fixing Healthcare.gov ........................................................................................... 3 President's Proposal for Cancellation Policies ................................................................................ 5 State Medicaid Expansion ............................................................................................................... 7 The President’s Meeting with Insurance CEOs ............................................................................... 8 Massachusetts Comparison ............................................................................................................ 8 Young Adults ................................................................................................................................. 10 Fact Check: Medicaid Enrollment ................................................................................................. 12

Other Issues Budget Toplines ........................................................................................................................... 13 Unemployment Insurance ............................................................................................................ 13 Immigration Reform ..................................................................................................................... 14 The Employment Situation in October ......................................................................................... 15 Iran ................................................................................................................................................ 20

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The Affordable Care Act TOPLINE POINTS Health Care Big Picture

In the first month of open enrollment we have seen an overwhelming interest from consumers looking for quality, affordable health insurance. As of November 2, there have been an estimated nearly 27 million visitors to HealthCare.gov and state Marketplace websites and over 3 million calls to call centers run by the federal and state Marketplaces.

That’s the good news – we have a great product that people like and tons of interest in the product. The bad news is that the website was not prepared to handle this huge volume of interest. The President has made clear that the delays on the website are unacceptable and it is on us to fix.

The Affordable Care Act is more than a website – it’s affordable, quality health insurance made available to everyone. Across the country people millions of people who lack affordable options today are checking out their new options. And millions more who have coverage today are already receiving benefits – keeping their kids on their plans, not getting dropped for having a pre-existing condition, accessing preventative services.

According to the initial wave of enrollment numbers released for the first month of open enrollment, 106,000 consumers have selected plans through the Marketplaces and another 975,407 thousand have completed the application process – which means they are ready to shop and choose their plan – but have not yet selected one. An additional 396,261 consumers that have applied for insurance through the Marketplaces have been approved to get coverage through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Overall, based on just these initial numbers for the first month of enrollment, 502,466 Americans will have health coverage in 2014, including both the 106,185 Americans who have selected plans from the state and federal Marketplaces and the 396,261 Americans have gone through the process to get covered through Medicaid or CHIP. This figure only includes data through November 2, and does not include any data for consumers who have enrolled in the days since as the website’s functionality continues to improve.

These initial figures in many ways confirm what we expected to see: that the first month’s numbers are even lower than anticipated due to the significant problems with the website, but that demand is very strong for the quality, affordable plans being offered through the both the federal Marketplace and the state Marketplaces.

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Patterns show that few people typically buy insurance at the beginning of open enrollment periods. Massachusetts’ healthcare law, passed in 2006, served as a model for the Affordable Care Act, and the state’s experience during its first year of enrollment offers important lessons for what we can expect over the first six months for the ACA.

In Massachusetts, 123 consumers – or 0.3 percent of the 36,167 eventual consumers who got private insurance – signed up in the first month they could enroll. In contrast, more than 20 percent enrolled in the last month.

All of this data – and the interest we are seeing from consumers – underscores the need for a continued, aggressive effort to educate consumers about the new health care options available to them and the multiple ways they can sign up. It’s why the administration is engaged in a grassroots effort to directly reach uninsured Americans and why they have been deploying White House officials and Cabinet Secretaries to 10 cities and metro areas across the country with some of the highest rates of uninsured Americans to hold health insurance enrollment events and other grassroots activities.

And it’s why they will continue over the next five months to partner with a broad cross-section of organizations and stakeholders who share our goal of helping consumers access quality, affordable health insurance, including pharmacies, librarians, women’s magazines, women’s organizations, African American organizations, Latino groups, faith leaders, artists, athletes, businesses large and small, and many more.

Latest Tech Updates on Efforts to Fix HealthCare.gov

On Friday, Jeff Zients and the team at CMS offered an update on their continued efforts to improve the website. As Jeff said: “Overall, we’ve made measurable progress, as the changes and improvements we’ve made over the last few weeks are having a positive impact on system performance and user experience. The Marketplace system was stable all week, with no unscheduled outages. And for most users, speed and response times were generally good, and error rates were low. In total, we now have crossed more than 200 bug fixes off of our punch list.”

At the end of this week, CMS reported measurable progress on two key metrics: response times and error rates.

The website is now much faster in responding to user’s requests, dropping from an average wait time of eight seconds in the first weeks after the site was launched to under 1 second for most users this week.

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And last Friday, CMS reported that we had reduced the error rate to 2% down from 6% a few weeks earlier. This week, by continuing to eliminate glitches and execute software bug fixes, we’ve driven the error rate down to under 1%.

In the last week, CMS tech teams have also crossed more than 60 improvements and bug fixes off its punchlist, including:

Adding visual cues to Plan Compare screens to help consumers make the best plan selection.

Improving Direct Enrollment functionality to help consumers move back and forth to issuers’ websites.

Fixing a glitch that was preventing some consumers in Pennsylvania from moving through the shopping experience.

In total, CMS has now have crossed more than 200 bug fixes off of its punch list and has a prioritized list 50 additional fixes and improvements that they are focused on for next week.

There is still a lot of work to be done to continue to improve the system and user experience. But they are making measurable progress. And by end of November, they expect to have the site working smoothly for the vast majority of users.

As the President said this week, not all consumers going on the website will have a seamless experience. And that’s why CMS will continue to improve the site beyond the end of the month. It’s also why, as CMS focuses on making the site work smoothly for the vast majority of users, their team is also working to make sure they are doing everything they can to give people more assistance in the application process through our call centers and available in-person assistance.

Republicans Continued ‘Targeted Strike’ Strategy to Dismantle Health Reform

After weeks of complaints from House Republicans about insurance company notices to Americans in the individual market, their reaction to the President's announcement was quite revealing: to pretend it didn't happen.

Instead, even though the President's Administrative fix does everything that the House GOP's bill does to help people keep their plans, House Republicans pushed forward with their bill. Why? Because of what else is in the House GOP Bill.

The President had already announced that insurance companies can continue to sell existing plans to existing customers, the entire reason House Republicans gave for introducing their bill.

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But the House Republican bill also allows insurance companies to keep sell new sub-standard plans to new customers – going beyond keeping people on their plans. And it keeps the current broken individual market in place.

Which is why the House Republican bill is also a “targeted strike” in the effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act altogether, as Speaker Boehner openly admitted Thursday morning.

The Republican insistence on pushing forward on their bill makes it even more clear that helping Americans keep their plan was never the goal, it was always an attempt to continue allowing Americans to be exploited with junk plans, and to move towards repeal altogether.

The GOP has an obsession with the Affordable Care Act. They were willing to shut down the government and threaten our economy and full faith and credit just to try to stop it. That didn’t work

After more than three years of legislative battles, court battles and political battles over the health law, the American people want to stop re-fighting those old political fights. That’s why the Republican strategy of shutting down the government over the health law was roundly rejected by the American public.

Rather than rooting for failure of the website or pursuing their ‘targeted strike’ on the law, Republicans should help reach the millions of Americans who can now purchase quality, affordable health insurance on the open market and better provide for their families.

President’s Proposal for Cancellation Policies

The Administration supports policies that allow people to keep the health plans that they have. But, proposals like the Upton bill that reverse the progress made to extend quality, affordable coverage to millions of uninsured, hardworking, middle class families are not the solution. Rather than refighting old political battles to sabotage the health care law, Republicans in Congress should work with the Administration to improve the law and move forward.

In contrast to the Upton bill, the administrative proposal the President put forth yesterday will allow insurers to offer consumers the option to stay on their current plans in 2014, while providing them with clearer, more complete information about all of their health care options. Those insurers that decide to extend current plans for their customers will also need to make them aware of what protections they might be giving up by staying on those plans and that they may be able to get stronger coverage and

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protections, and possibly financial assistance to make their premiums more affordable, through the Marketplace.

This option will not allow older plans to be sold to new customers in 2014, which would undermine the Marketplace and drive up premiums for millions of hard-working Americans.

In short, this administrative proposal will give consumers more information and choices, including keeping their old plans.

As the President said Thursday this fix won’t solve every problem for every person and he wants to work with Congress on good faith-solutions to strengthen the law. But it will help a lot of people. Doing more will require cooperation from Congress. As he has said since he signed the bill into law, the President is willing to work with members of Congress in either party on constructive solutions that strengthen the law by pursuing the same goals as this Administrative action and do not seek to undermine or repeal the law as a whole.

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Administration Continues Push for all States to Expand Medicaid

In recent weeks, the Administration has been ramping up its public push to call on all states to expand Medicaid coverage – a move that would help an additional 5.4 million uninsured Americans gain access to coverage by 2016. They launched this effort when the President traveled to Dallas for a health care event with local navigators and volunteers helping consumers enroll for quality, affordable insurance and made the case for Texas officials to put people over politics and stop blocking the state’s expansion of Medicaid.

And the President has continued to make this case over the last week, at events in New Orleans, Philadelphia and Cleveland. Cabinet officials, including Secretaries Sebelius and Donovan, have also been making this case when traveling to states that have not yet expanded coverage for grassroots events to help educate consumers about how they can access quality, affordable insurance options.

We are making this case at every possible opportunity for an important reason – as we work to bring quality, affordable health care to uninsured Americans through the new federal and state marketplaces, 26 states have also made an important move to expand Medicaid coverage for more working families – quickly helping uninsured residents in those states get coverage.

We know that – with the right will and determination – it is possible for all states to get there. Republican governors in states like Ohio and Michigan have proven it by deciding to expand the security of Medicaid health care coverage to their residents under the health care law. As Governor Kasich in Ohio said: “I Have An Opportunity To Do Good, To Lift People, And That’s What I’m Going To Do.” [New York Times, 10/28/13]

He is right. This should be about putting people over politics. As the President pointed out last week, many opponents of the health care law, who are quick to highlight all the challenges consumers are facing enrolling through HealthCare.gov, could help millions of Americans gain access to insurance if they simply supported this expansion.

And recent data from HHS shows that thanks to the competition the new Marketplaces is introducing, nearly 6 in 10 Americans will have access to health plans at a cost of $100 or less per month. If all states expanded Medicaid coverage, that number would increase to 8 in 10 Americans.

So we’re out there making this case because we believe it is highly reckless and irresponsible that some leaders are so determined to see the health care law fail that they've refused to expand Medicaid coverage, which will help more working families get health insurance.

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And we will continue to put the pressure on these leaders, working with state and local officials and so many other stakeholders, to do the right thing for the health and economic security of many of their constituents.

President’s Meeting with Insurance CEOs

On Friday, President Obama and Senior administration officials met with CEOs from across the health insurance industry to discuss ways to work together to help people enroll through the new Marketplaces as well as efforts to minimize disruption for consumers as they transition to new coverage.

The discussion was productive - the insurance CEOs and administration officials discussed the next steps in working with states and state insurance commissioners to use the new flexibility the administration announced to address cancellation notices going to consumers. Meeting participants stressed the importance of working state by state to minimize disruption for consumers as well as the need to continue to reach consumers with clear information about their options and choices.

The President led a discussion with industry leaders about the best pathways for consumers to enroll in coverage. Administration officials are working closely with insurance companies on both consumer education as well as fixing the technical issues with healthcare.gov so that consumers can obtain the coverage they need.

Fact-Check: Massachusetts Comparisons

As experts who worked on the Massachusetts health care law agree, comparisons between the state’s law and the Affordable Care Act are both fair – the Massachusetts law served as a model for drafting the federal law – and important in providing perspective for what we can expect over the first six months of open enrollment.

For example, we know that most consumers sign up for health plans close to the deadline for enrollment. In Massachusetts, 123 consumers paying for premiums – or 0.3 percent of the eventual enrollment – signed up in the first month they could enroll and over 20 percent enrolled in the last month. By the end of a year, 36,000 had signed up. The number of uninsured young people plummeted from about 1 in 4 to 1 in 10 within 3 years.

Today, Massachusetts residents have nearly universal health insurance coverage and the primary attacks against this law – many of which we are hearing again today about the ACA – never proved true.

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Before the Massachusetts plan was enacted, all that was available were the Uncompensated Care Pools. The program reimbursed hospitals and providers for care the poor couldn't afford, but as the Massachusetts government makes clear, the program "is not health insurance." As then-Governor Romney said in pushing for the Massachusetts reforms, "I believe that we should be able to provide for all of our citizens a basic, good, solid health care system and that means that we don't use the inefficient system we have now where half a million people without insurance go to emergency rooms."

Recently President Obama traveled to Massachusetts to discuss the Affordable Care Act, which expanded these principles nationwide. As current Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick explained in his introduction of the President, there were striking similarities in the roll-outs of the now very successful Massachusetts reforms and the Affordable Care Act in its first few weeks:

"But our launch seven years ago was not flawless. (Laughter.) We asked an IT staffer who has been at our Connector since the beginning what the start of implementing reform was like. And this is what he said, and I’m quoting: “We didn’t have a complicated eligibility process back then, but we did have outages caused by traffic peaks. We experienced some issues with data mapping of plan detail that carriers called us on. Our provider searches were not good, and the website was a constant work in progress over the first few years. But other than that, it was smooth.” (Laughter.)

"Any of this sound familiar, Mr. President?

"So we started out with a website that needed work. We had a lot of people with a lot of reasonable questions and not a good enough way to get them the answers. But people were patient, we had good leadership, and that same coalition stuck with it and with us to work through the fixes, tech surge and all. Why? Why? Because health reform in Massachusetts, like the Affordable Care Act, is not a website. It’s a values statement. (Applause.) It's about insuring people against a medical catastrophe. It's about being our brothers' and our sisters' keeper by helping others help themselves."

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YOUNG ADULTS

A new report released by the Department of Health and Human Services shows good news for young adults under the Affordable Care Act.

The report looked at 18 to 34 year olds in 34 states and found that nearly half of single young adults who are uninsured may be able to get coverage for $50 dollars or less per month in the health insurance Marketplaces in 2014.

And, nearly 7 out of 10 of single young adults who are uninsured may be able to pay $100 or less per month for coverage in 2014.

According to the report, an additional 1 million eligible uninsured single young adults may qualify for Medicaid in the states that have opted to expand the program in 2014.

This is good news for young adults who have been priced out of the market in the past, or could not get affordable coverage because of a pre-existing condition, or decided to risk it and then ended up tens of thousands of dollars in debt after an accident.

The report also shows that if more expanded their Medicaid programs, the number of young adults who could get low-cost coverage would be even greater.

Specifically, if all 34 States that are run by the federal government or in partnership with states were to expand Medicaid, about 4.9 million uninsured single young adults would be eligible for Medicaid – instead of 1 million.

Now, young adults can shop for quality, affordable coverage for themselves and their families, and may get a tax credit to make it even more affordable.

Background:

Today’s report examines data from the 34 Federally-facilitated and State Partnership Marketplaces and finds that out of a total of 2.9 million single young adults ages 18 to 34 who are eligible for coverage in the Marketplace, 1.3 million may be able to purchase a bronze plan for $50 per month or less after tax credits. A total of 1.9 million single young adults, representing nearly 7 in 10 (66 percent) of the uninsured ages 18 to 34 who are eligible for the Marketplace, may be able to pay $100 or less for coverage in 2014. The amount an individual will save on premiums depends on his or her family income and size.

According to the report, an additional 1 million eligible uninsured single young adults may qualify for Medicaid in the states that have opted to expand the program in 2014. Today’s report also shows that if each of the 34 states expanded its Medicaid program, the proportion of young adults who could obtain low-cost coverage would be even

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greater. If each of the 34 states expanded its Medicaid program, 4.9 million uninsured single young adults would be eligible for Medicaid.

General points Young adults want insurance

A Kaiser Health Tracking Poll in June 2013 found that more than seven in ten young adults say it is very important to them personally to have insurance.

More than half of uninsured young adults say cost prevents them from getting insurance, including 57 percent of women. (Source: Demos, Sate of Young America, The Poll)

The Marketplaces offer plans that are better for young adults than what exists today at a price they can afford.

The plans in the Marketplaces even the field for young women

Until now, insurance companies could charge women more than men for the same health insurance, and didn’t have to cover preventive care, including women’s health services.

Obamacare prevents insurance companies from charging women more than men, prohibits them from charging more or denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions, requires health plans to cover preventive services at no additional costs, including birth control pills, and requires plans to cover maternity care.

Young adults are signing up

For example, in an Oct. 11 update, Maryland Health Connection, the state's exchange, said the most common age group among its initial 25,000 verified accounts was 25 to 29 years old. Thirty-six percent of those 25,000 accounts were created by people under 35. [Modern Healthcare, 10/15/13]

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MEDICAID ENROLLMENT Q: Does the high number of Medicaid enrollees in some states compared to the smaller number of private insurance enrollees spell doom for the exchanges?

We’re delighted that Americans are enrolling in Medicaid, many of whom are getting coverage for the first because of the Medicaid expansion included in the Affordable Care Act.

Whether you are eligible for Medicaid versus insurance in the Marketplace is based on your income, not your health status or age. You are either eligible for Medicaid or eligible for insurance in the Marketplace – not both. So you are talking about two different groups of people.

In Oregon, the state has already cut the number of the uninsured by 10% in just three weeks through new Medicaid enrollees.

We have always said that we expect Americans enrolling in private insurance in the Marketplace to take their time when selecting a plan. This is a big decision, and we expect that consumers will want to talk to their families and providers, compare the plan details, look at their budget and make a thoughtful decision.

Experience in Massachusetts with Romneycare showed that those who would pay zero dollars each month for insurance signed up more quickly than those who would pay a monthly premium. In the first month of Romneycare, 10,000 people signed up for plans with no premium and Medicaid and only 123 premium paying enrollees signed up. In other words, less than 0.3 percent of consumers who enrolled during the first year signed up in the first month.

We are only three weeks into a 26 week enrollment period, and there are two months until coverage begins on January 1.

Many Americans have been waiting for years for affordable coverage. The product in the Marketplace is good, the price is affordable, and many people will qualify for a tax credit to help with the cost. All of these factors help contribute to a successful and balanced risk pool.

I would also note that the experience in Massachusetts shows that people often take their time when shopping for plans. In Massachusetts, people came back and shopped an average of 3 to 6 times before choosing a plan. And no matter if you choose a plan today or on December 15, you’re coverage still starts January 1.

MYTH: The large number of Americans signing up for Medicaid under Obamacare means there may be an older, sicker, and less diverse mix of people enrolling in the Marketplaces. FACT: People who are eligible for Medicaid under Obamacare and those who are eligible to get insurance through the Marketplaces are two completely separate groups of people:

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BUDGET

• The President believes that Congress needs to pass a budget that helps build a strong, secure middle class.

• Congress’ top priority should be growing our economy and creating good jobs with good wages because we can't just cut our way to prosperity. That means investing in the cornerstones of what it means to be middle class: a good job, a home of your own, a quality education, health care you can count on, and a secure retirement.

• Any budget passed by Congress should invest in what works and cut what doesn’t. We need to build on the progress we've made to cut our deficit in half since 2009 through a balanced approach that replaces the sequester and achieves even more deficit reduction by closing loopholes, cutting wasteful spending, and strengthening our entitlement programs for generations to come.

• As the President has said, any solution is going to have to include significant revenues if Republicans insist on entitlement reforms. And any budget deal needs to have first and foremost the goal of creating good jobs for middle class families and growing the economy—that’s our north star in any budget deal, big or small

• The President laid out his principles. It’s a balanced approach to reduce the deficit and grow the economy.

• The budget negotiators are just sitting down together to hammer this out. So we need to let the budget process play itself out. It is too premature to draw lines in the sand.

Unemployment Insurance

While we have made considerable progress in bringing the economy back from the recession, there is no question that there are still too many Americans out of work.

As a nation, we have always taken the approach that in addition to the basic unemployment benefits available to those who lose their jobs and are looking for work, Emergency Unemployment Compensation should be available in times when the labor market is not at full strength.

But, at the end of the year, Emergency Unemployment Compensation is set to expire. That means 1.3 million unemployed Americans will lose unemployment insurance benefits. These benefits are crucial for maintaining incomes of the unemployed and their families and have been shown to reduce poverty and increase the chances of

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returning the unemployed worker to a good job. Independent studies have also shown that -- in terms of economic impact -- they have a big bang for the buck.

As Gene Sperling mentioned yesterday, the President believes we should extend this provision through the end of 2014, and we’re confident that Congress will join us in this effort. Looking back, Emergency Unemployment Compensation has always been extended when the unemployment rate is near current levels. So we are confident that Congress will come together to work with us on this in a fiscally responsible way.

o Doing so not only provides support for Americans who are looking for work but

still struggling – due to no fault in their own – in a labor market recovering from the Great Recession.

o And it could also help strengthen the economy, as outside economists like the

Congressional Budget Office say that unemployment insurance provides one of the strongest bangs for the buck of any measure Congress could pass.

Immigration Reform

The President called on Congress to finish the job on immigration reform. Unlike many other issues in Washington, immigration reform is one that is both parties can agree on.

Plus, it is a no-brainer for economic growth and deficit reduction. The Senate-passed bill would grow the economy by $1.4 trillion over the next two decades, and reduce the deficit by nearly $850 billion.

Some will say that politics in Washington will keep immigration reform from getting across the finish line. As the President said this morning, for those that consumed with the politics of fixing our broken immigration system, then they should take a closer look at the polls. Because everybody wins if both sides work together to get this done.

Rather than create problems, the passage of immigration reform will prove that Washington can solve some. Republicans in the House, including the Speaker, have said we should act. So let’s get this done.

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The Employment Situation in October Posted by Jason Furman on November 8, 2013 at 09:30 AM EST The upward revisions to job growth in August and September, combined with solid third quarter GDP growth reported yesterday, suggest that the economy was gaining traction in the months leading up to the government shutdown. There should be no debate that the shutdown and debt limit brinksmanship inflicted unnecessary damage on the economy in October. The employment report shows differing accounts, with the more reliable payroll survey recording strong job growth and the much noisier household survey showing an increase in the unemployment rate and a large drop in employment. But the mission for Congress remains clear: to take steps that increase certainty, speed growth, and boost job creation. FIVE KEY POINTS IN TODAY’S REPORT FROM THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS 1. America’s resilient businesses have added jobs for 44 consecutive months, with private sector employment increasing by a total of 7.8 million over that period. Today we learned that total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 204,000 in October, due entirely to a 212,000 increase in private employment. Private sector job growth was revised up for August (to 207,000) and September (to 150,000) so that for the third quarter, private sector employment rose by an average of 152,000 per month (compared to the 129,000 per month average pace estimated in last month’s jobs report).

2. Federal employees impacted by the shutdown appeared in two places in the household survey: some reported being on temporary layoff and were counted as unemployed, while others reported being absent from work and were counted as employed. Prior to the release

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of the data, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the proper classification for furloughed federal workers was unemployed due to temporary layoff; furloughed federal workers who reported being absent from work were misclassified as employed. As BLS Commissioner Groshen noted today, “Such a misclassification is an example of nonsampling error and can occur when respondents misunderstand questions or interviewers record answers incorrectly. According to usual practice, the data from the household survey are accepted as recorded. To maintain data integrity, no ad hoc actions are taken to reassign survey responses.” While the BLS practice of accepting data as recorded is critical for the consistency and impartiality of our nation’s economic statistics, it is notable that during the survey this month, only a portion of the roughly 400,000 furloughed federal employees were correctly counted as unemployed.

3. One distinctive feature of today’s report is the unusually large divergence between job growth measured in the establishment survey and the decrease in employed workers in the household survey. While nonfarm payroll employment rose by 204,000 in October, household survey employment fell by 735,000. The 939,000 gap between the two surveys is the largest since 1981 (excluding the effect of population control adjustments that can lead to outsize swings in the December-to-January change in the household survey). Until this month’s striking divergence, both surveys had told a similar story over a longer time horizon. As of September 2013, total nonfarm payrolls had risen 2.3 million over the preceding twelve months, while household survey employment (adjusted to be comparable to the concepts used in the establishment survey) rose by a similar 1.9 million. Although the October data disrupted this pattern, history suggests that both surveys will track each other over the long term.

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4. Construction employment rose by 11,000 in October and is up 185,000 over the past year, but remains 1.9 million jobs below its previous peak, underscoring the importance of continued strengthening in housing markets and investments in infrastructure. Of the 185,000 increase in construction employment over the past year, the bulk (104,000) is in residential construction, while 65,000 are in non-residential construction, and 16,000 are in heavy and civil engineering construction. The gains in residential construction are consistent with the recovery we have seen unfolding in the housing sector, but additional steps still must be taken to create a more durable and fair system that promotes responsible homeownership. Moreover, the fact that employment in non-residential and heavy and civil engineering construction has grown slowly is an important reminder that we should also be looking for opportunities to invest in America’s roads, bridges, and schoolhouses.

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5. Ahead of Veterans Day on Monday, we acknowledge the tremendous debt of gratitude owed to all our nation’s veterans, and the urgency of helping those who recently served find work when they return. The overall unemployment rate for veterans is typically lower than for non-veterans, but this fact masks a large degree of variation depending on the period of service, with the unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans substantially higher than the unemployment rates for veterans of earlier periods and non-veterans. Directly comparing the employment situation of veterans from different service periods and non-veterans can be difficult because these groups differ substantially on characteristics that are correlated with employment and unemployment rates in the general population. The light blue line shows the hypothetical unemployment rate for non-veterans once adjustments are made so that their gender, age, and education characteristics are comparable to post-9/11 veterans. The lingering gap between the light blue line and the actual unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans shows that while we have made progress, more must be done to help these veterans find work when they return. Through the Joining Forces campaign led by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, companies have already hired or trained 290,000 veterans and military spouses, with pledges to hire or train another 400,000 more. This Veterans Day, we must all reaffirm our commitment to serving those who have already served and sacrificed on our behalf.

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As the Administration stresses every month, the monthly employment and unemployment figures can be volatile, and payroll employment estimates can be subject to substantial revision. Therefore, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report and it is informative to consider each report in the context of other data that are becoming available. Jason Furman is Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.

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Iran

The purpose of sanctions has never been to have sanctions in place; it has been to affect the calculus of the Iranian government and bring them to the negotiating table.

This is not a decision for or against sanctions. This is a decision for or against diplomacy. The American people prefer a peaceful resolution that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon – the ongoing negotiations have the potential to do just that. If the P5+1 doesn’t reach an understanding with Iran – and certainly if the P5+1 is not able to effectively negotiate – Iran’s program will continue to advance and we are left only with the option of military action.

It is unclear why anyone who wants to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon would want to undermine the diplomatic process that may achieve that goal in a peaceful manner. People need to ask themselves whether they believe diplomacy should be the first resort, or whether they want to open the door to aggression with Iran.

We have always been clear that the relief we are considering as part of a first step would be limited, temporary, and reversible. We will continue to enforce sanctions throughout the first phase, and the amount of revenue that Iran would continue to lose during the first phase would far exceed any amount of relief they would obtain as part of an agreement. Rumors that Iran would receive $50 billion in relief are exaggerated and incorrect.

Those who claim our proposal is not a fair deal and makes too many concessions should ask themselves why the Iranians turned it down.

Q: Are you saying the Israelis are lying about the $50 billion?

We are consulting with the Israelis about how they reached the numbers they are using. We have consistently said that our relief is modest. Reports of $40 to $50 billion in relief are exaggerated. That’s why we’re asking people not to judge a deal they don’t understand the details of or have all the facts about.

Q: Will you recognize that Iran has a right to enrich?

As the President has said, we respect the right of the Iranian people to access a peaceful nuclear program. What the specific nature of that nuclear program would be is a matter of discussion.

Q: Senator Kirk says that Israeli estimates show the first step would only extend Iran’s breakout time by 24 days. Do you agree with this assessment?

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To be clear, our objective for the first step is to halt the progress of Iran’s program, roll it back in key respects, and introduce unprecedented transparency into Iran’s nuclear activities so we can more quickly detect any attempts to break out and put time on the clock to negotiate a comprehensive solution.

I have not seen the assessment that Senator Kirk is referencing and I don’t know who provided it to him, so I am not in a position to comment on it.

It remains our assessment that Iran would need at least one year to acquire one nuclear weapon from the time that Iran decides to pursue one. This is in line with the assessment of the Israeli intelligence service.

Our intelligence community maintains a number of assessments regarding the potential timeframes by which Iran can enrich enough uranium for one weapon’s worth of highly enriched uranium or develop a testable nuclear device. We continue to closely monitor the Iranian nuclear program and its stockpile of enriched uranium.

Q: But are the Israelis saying Iran is one month away from a bomb?

You are conflating timelines. Senator Kirk is referencing an estimated timeline regarding uranium enrichment, not a timeline for when Iran would acquire a nuclear weapon.

It remains our assessment that Iran would need at least one year to acquire one nuclear weapon from the time that Iran decides to pursue one. This is in line with the assessment of Israeli intelligence.

Q: Any comment on the findings of the IAEA Director General’s report on Iran released yesterday?

We view the findings outlined in the IAEA Director General’s report as a positive step. It is constructive and important that Iran not take any provocative steps to advance their nuclear program during this critical negotiating period. At the same time, Iran’s actions are not a substitute for reaching an understanding with the P5+1 on the first phase of a diplomatic resolution.

Further, as the international community stated clearly in previous Board of Governors resolutions and statements on Iran, Iran must cooperate fully with the IAEA to resolve all outstanding issues and comply with its international nuclear obligations.

In this regard, we hope the IAEA-Iran “Joint Statement on a Framework for Cooperation” will facilitate the IAEA's effort to resolve all outstanding concerns about Iran's past and present nuclear activities.

Iran must takes steps to immediately implement the actions called for in the Framework and begin addressing the IAEA’s outstanding concerns without delay.

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This Framework is only the beginning of a process, and we strongly urge Iran to continue to intensify its engagement and cooperation with the IAEA and to take additional steps without delay.

If asked only: Do you think the Iranians are sending you a political signal with these steps?

We view the findings in the report as positive, and believe it is constructive and important that Iran not take any provocative steps to advance their nuclear program during this critical negotiating period. But I am not going to speculate as to Iran’s motivations in making this decision.

Q: Do you support EU efforts to strengthen sanctions?

The EU is taking action to address legal challenges to its existing sanctions, which we support. The EU is not, however, imposing new sanctions at this time.

Similarly, we have been clear that we will continue to implement and enforce existing U.S. sanctions to ensure that the pressure on Iran to fulfill its international obligations and engage in serious negotiations is maintained. We will not take steps to undermine or alter the overall architecture of our sanctions regime.

Our request that Congress hold off on additional sanctions legislation at this time is fundamentally different, as Congressional legislation would add new sanctions rather than fix an immediate and ongoing problem with existing sanctions.

Q: Aren’t you giving away too much as part of this first step?

We are not going to get into the details of our negotiating position, but to be clear, the purposes of these negotiations is to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. To achieve that goal, we are focused on a phased approach that in the first phase halts progress on Iran’s nuclear program and roll back key aspects of the program.

In the first step Iran must address aspects of our most serious concerns, including: Iran’s enrichment of uranium and existing uranium stockpiles; centrifuges; Iran’s ability to produce plutonium using the Arak reactor; and the need to bring unprecedented transparency and monitoring of Iran’s program. The initial step would also provide additional time to negotiate a long-term, comprehensive solution that addresses all of the international community's concerns about Iran's nuclear program.