[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 221 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 221

 Providing that consideration in the House of Representatives and its 
   committees and subcommittees thereof of any legislation changing 
   existing law with respect to medicare or medicaid pursuant to the 
reconciliation instructions of the concurrent resolution on the budget 
  for fiscal year 1996 shall be preceded by adequate time for public 
   examination of such legislation and public hearings thereon, and 
  expressing the sense of the House that the Senate should similarly 
           provide for such public examination and hearings.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 13, 1995

 Mr. Gephardt (for himself, Mr. Bonior, Mr. Dingell, Mr. Gibbons, Mr. 
  Waxman, Mr. Stark, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Ackerman, Mr. Andrews, Mr. 
   Baesler, Mr. Baldacci, Mr. Barcia, Mr. Barrett of Wisconsin, Mr. 
   Becerra, Mr. Beilenson, Mr. Bentsen, Mr. Berman, Mr. Bevill, Mr. 
Bishop, Mr. Borski, Mr. Boucher, Mr. Browder, Ms. Brown of Florida, Mr. 
   Brown of Ohio, Mr. Brown of California, Mr. Bryant of Texas, Mr. 
Cardin, Mr. Chapman, Mr. Clay, Mrs. Clayton, Mr. Clement, Mr. Clyburn, 
 Mr. Coleman, Mrs. Collins of Illinois, Miss Collins of Michigan, Mr. 
 Condit, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Costello, Mr. Coyne, Mr. Cramer, Ms. Danner, 
 Mr. de la Garza, Mr. DeFazio, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Dellums, Mr. Deutsch, 
 Mr. Dicks, Mr. Dixon, Mr. Doggett, Mr. Dooley, Mr. Doyle, Mr. Durbin, 
  Mr. Edwards, Mr. Engel, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Evans, Mr. Faleomavaega, Mr. 
Farr, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Fazio of California, Mr. Fields of Louisiana, Mr. 
Filner, Mr. Flake, Mr. Foglietta, Mr. Ford, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, 
  Mr. Frazer, Mr. Frost, Ms. Furse, Mr. Gejdenson, Mr. Pete Geren of 
     Texas, Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Gordon, Mr. Gene Green of Texas, Mr. 
   Gutierrez, Mr. Hall of Ohio, Mr. Hall of Texas, Mr. Hamilton, Ms. 
Harman, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Hefner, Mr. Hilliard, Mr. Hinchey, 
Mr. Holden, Mr. Hoyer, Ms. Jackson-Lee, Mr. Jacobs, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. 
   Johnson of South Dakota, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. 
 Johnston of Florida, Mr. Kanjorski, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Kennedy of Rhode 
 Island, Mr. Kennedy of Massachusetts, Mrs. Kennelly, Mr. Kildee, Mr. 
 Klink, Mr. LaFalce, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Levin, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mrs. 
   Lincoln, Mr. Lipinski, Ms. Lofgren, Mrs. Lowey, Mr. Luther, Mrs. 
Maloney, Mr. Manton, Mr. Markey, Mr. Martinez, Mr. Mascara, Mr. Matsui, 
Ms. McCarthy, Mr. McDermott, Mr. McHale, Ms. McKinney, Mr. McNulty, Mr. 
 Meehan, Mrs. Meek, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Mfume, Mr. Miller of California, 
   Mr. Mineta, Mr. Minge, Mrs. Mink, Mr. Moakley, Mr. Mollohan, Mr. 
      Montgomery, Mr. Moran, Mr. Murtha, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Neal of 
   Massachusetts, Ms. Norton, Mr. Oberstar, Mr. Obey, Mr. Olver, Mr. 
Ortiz, Mr. Orton, Mr. Owens, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Pastor, Mr. Payne of New 
Jersey, Mr. Payne of Virginia, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Peterson of Florida, Mr. 
   Peterson of Minnesota, Mr. Pickett, Mr. Pomeroy, Mr. Poshard, Mr. 
 Rahall, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Reed, Mr. Richardson, Ms. Rivers, Mr. Roemer, 
 Mr. Romero-Barcelo, Mr. Rose, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Rush, Mr. Sabo, 
 Mr. Sanders, Mr. Sawyer, Mrs. Schroeder, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Scott, Mr. 
   Serrano, Mr. Skaggs, Mr. Skelton, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. Spratt, Mr. 
Stenholm, Mr. Stokes, Mr. Studds, Mr. Stupak, Mr. Tanner, Mr. Taylor of 
 North Carolina, Mr. Tejeda, Mr. Thompson, Mr. Thornton, Mrs. Thurman, 
 Mr. Torres, Mr. Torricelli, Mr. Towns, Mr. Traficant, Mr. Tucker, Mr. 
 Underwood, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Vento, Mr. Visclosky, Mr. Volkmer, Mr. 
Ward, Ms. Waters, Mr. Watt of North Carolina, Mr. Williams, Mr. Wilson, 
 Mr. Wise, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Wynn, and Mr. Yates) submitted 
 the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Providing that consideration in the House of Representatives and its 
   committees and subcommittees thereof of any legislation changing 
   existing law with respect to medicare or medicaid pursuant to the 
reconciliation instructions of the concurrent resolution on the budget 
  for fiscal year 1996 shall be preceded by adequate time for public 
   examination of such legislation and public hearings thereon, and 
  expressing the sense of the House that the Senate should similarly 
           provide for such public examination and hearings.
Whereas the conference report on the concurrent resolution on the budget for 
        fiscal year 1996 (H. Con. Res. 67, 104th Congress) and the accompanying 
        statement of managers contain reconciliation instructions to the 
        Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on Commerce that assume 
        reductions in spending on medicare of approximately $270,000,000,000 
        below what would be spent on medicare under current law during fiscal 
        years 1996 through 2002;
Whereas that conference report and statement of managers contain reconciliation 
        instructions to the Committee on Commerce that assume reductions in 
        spending on medicaid of approximately $182,000,000,000 below what would 
        be spent on medicaid under current law during fiscal years 1996 through 
        2002;
Whereas that conference report and statement of managers contain reconciliation 
        instructions to the Senate Committee on Finance that assume reductions 
        in spending on medicare and medicaid totalling $452,000,000,000 below 
        what would be spent on those programs under current law during fiscal 
        years 1996 through 2002;
Whereas approximately 37,000,000 elderly and disabled Americans rely on medicare 
        for their health insurance and health security;
Whereas more than 36,000,000 women, children, and elderly and disabled Americans 
        rely on medicaid for their health insurance and health security, and for 
        protection against the cost of nursing home care;
Whereas hundreds of thousands of doctors, hospitals, laboratories, and other 
        health care providers participate in the medicare and medicaid programs 
        and receive direct or indirect reimbursement for their services from the 
        Federal Government in connection with these two programs;
Whereas administrative and overhead costs are less than two percent of total 
        program costs for medicare and less than four percent of total program 
        costs for medicaid, far smaller percentages than any private sector 
        health insurance enterprise currently in operation in the United States;
Whereas achieving the level of reductions in medicare and medicaid assumed by 
        the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 1996 cannot 
        therefore be achieved solely by reducing waste, fraud, and abuse;
Whereas achieving reductions of the magnitude contemplated by the budget 
        resolution can only be accomplished by (1) increasing the payments 
        required from women, children, elderly, and disabled beneficiaries, (2) 
        reducing payments to physicians, hospitals, nursing homes, and other 
        health care providers, (3) reducing coverage for current or future 
        beneficiaries, or (4) some combination of the foregoing three 
        strategies;
Whereas the budget resolution requires committees to submit their reconciliation 
        recommendations to the Committee on the Budget by September 22, 1995;
Whereas as of the date of the introduction of this resolution, no legislative 
        language to achieve the medicare and medicaid cuts contemplated by the 
        budget resolution has been introduced or otherwise made public, so that 
        members of the public and their Representatives in Congress have not had 
        the benefit of adequate time to examine, analyze, and understand the 
        impacts of the changes that will have to be proposed to achieve the 
        contemplated reductions;
Whereas the Congress should serve as a partner with the American people in 
        addressing the Nation's health care needs and problems;
Whereas with the exception of national security matters, there are few reasons 
        for Congress to act behind closed doors in formulating policy that will 
        directly and dramatically impact more than 73,000,000 Americans and 
        their families and will indirectly impact every American;
Whereas there is concern that the lack of public and media access to the 
        formulation of changes in the existing medicare and medicaid laws in 
        connection with the reconciliation process threatens the ability of all 
        affected Americans and their Representatives to evaluate such changes 
        adequately when they are finally made public;
Whereas public hearings on the consequences for the United States and its health 
        care system of any such changes in medicare and medicaid are necessary 
        to educate the public who must live with those consequences and their 
        Representatives in Congress who must act on the forthcoming medicare and 
        medicaid changes: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) any markup in the committees of the House of 
        Representatives or any subcommittees thereof of any legislation 
        changing existing law with respect to medicare or medicaid 
        pursuant to the reconciliation instructions of the concurrent 
        resolution on the budget for fiscal year 1996 shall be preceded 
        by a minimum of four weeks for public disclosure of the 
        legislative text of such changes, during which time additional 
        and thorough public hearings on such text shall be held;
            (2) no such legislation shall be considered in the House of 
        Representatives until the requirements of paragraph (1) have 
        been met; and
            (3) it is the sense of the House that the Senate should 
        guarantee public and media access to and consideration of the 
        legislative text of any changes to be considered in that body 
        by adopting a similar schedule for public disclosure and 
        hearings.
                                 <all>