II 109th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 222 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES January 31, 2005 Ms. Stabenow (for herself, Mr. Kennedy, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Dayton, and Mr. Corzine) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to stabilize the amount of the medicare part B premium.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Keep the Promise of Medicare Act of 2005.

2.

Stabilization of medicare part B premium

(a)

Findings

The Senate finds the following: (1) The 2005 Medicare part B premium is 17.5 percent higher than the 2004 Medicare part B premium. (2) Medicare part B premiums have increased nearly 45 percent over the last 4 years. (3) The increase in the 2005 Medicare part B premium is the largest dollar increase in Medicare’s history and the largest percentage increase in more than a decade. (4) The increase in the 2005 Medicare part B premium increases annual costs for each Medicare beneficiary by almost $140. (5) The 2005 Social Security COLA increased only 2.7 percent. (6) An average retiree with a Social Security benefit of $914 will spend 47 percent of his or her 2005 Social Security COLA on the increase in the 2005 Medicare part B premium. (7) 2,100,000 Medicare beneficiaries nationwide have had their entire 2005 Social Security COLA consumed by the increase in the 2005 Medicare part B premium. (8) Almost 13,000,000 Medicare beneficiaries will have over 50 percent of their 2005 Social Security COLA consumed by the increase in the 2005 Medicare part B premium. (9) The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 directly contributed to the increase in the 2005 Medicare part B premium by including provisions to privatize the Medicare program, making the program less efficient. (10) The Medicare expenses that beneficiaries must pay will increase from 37 percent of a beneficiary's Social Security check in 2006 to nearly 50 percent in 2021. (b)

Sense of the Senate

It is the sense of the Senate that Congress should enact legislation to protect Medicare beneficiaries from dramatic increases in the Medicare part B premium. (c)

Stabilization

Section 1839(a)(3) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395r(a)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: Notwithstanding the preceding sentences, the monthly premium rate determined under this paragraph for each month in 2005 may not exceed an amount equal to the monthly premium rate determined under this paragraph for each month in 2004 adjusted by the percentage change in the average Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI–W) for the third quarter of 2003 to the third quarter of 2004..