Whereas
Medicare was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in Independence,
Missouri, on July 30, 1965, as title XVIII of the Social Security Act;
Whereas
Medicare was created to provide health insurance to the elderly in part because
only about half of the elderly population had health insurance;
Whereas
Medicare continues to achieve its purpose of improving health and financial
security for Medicare beneficiaries by assuring access to affordable health
care and contributing to the significant decrease in the poverty rate among the
elderly, which has fallen from nearly 30 percent in 1966 to approximately 10
percent in 2002;
Whereas
Medicare played a fundamental role, together with the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
in desegregating the American health care system by assuring access to care,
regardless of race or age;
Whereas
Medicare has contributed to improvements in life expectancy for persons over 65
years of age;
Whereas
Medicare began with 19 million beneficiaries, and since then has provided
health care services for approximately 105 million beneficiaries over the last
40 years;
Whereas
Medicare today provides comprehensive health insurance for nearly 42 million
Americans, which includes more than 35 million senior citizens and 6 million
people under 65 years of age who are permanently disabled or living with end
stage renal disease, and by 2030 the number of Americans who will rely on
Medicare for their health care is expected to reach 78 million, which is nearly
double the number today;
Whereas
Medicare ensures coverage along a continuum of health care settings such as
inpatient hospital care, physician and outpatient hospital care, and other
post-hospitalization benefits such as home health care, skilled nursing
facility services, and hospice care;
Whereas
Medicare has evolved over time to help beneficiaries maintain their health,
prevent disease and injury, and to provide better benefits, including more
preventive care, such that Medicare, which covered about 42 percent of
expenditures for the elderly in 1968, covered approximately 55 percent of
expenditures by 1997;
Whereas
Medicare serves a diverse population of beneficiaries with complex health care
needs—71 percent of beneficiaries have two or more chronic health conditions,
29 percent are in fair to poor health, and 23 percent have cognitive
impairments;
Whereas
many who depend upon Medicare have modest incomes and assets—a majority of
Medicare beneficiaries have incomes below 200 percent of the Federal poverty
level ($19,140 for individuals and $25,660 for married couples in 2005) and 48
percent of non-institutionalized Medicare beneficiaries have assets below
$10,000;
Whereas
Medicare provides health insurance for nearly 6 million individuals under the
age of 65 who live with disabilities or illnesses such as multiple sclerosis,
spinal cord injuries, depression, and HIV/AIDS, and who are more likely than
those who are elderly to be in poor health and be unable to live independently
and perform basic activities of daily living;
Whereas
Medicare provides health insurance coverage for nearly one-in-five adult women
in the United States and plays an especially important role in assuring access
to health care for older women who have lower average annual incomes than men
of the same age (average difference in income being $14,000) and fewer
resources to pay for health care services;
Whereas
Medicare covers important preventive and health maintenance services, including
vaccinations, prostate and mammography screening, bone mass measurement, and
glaucoma screening;
Whereas
Medicare has achieved its major purpose of providing access for the elderly and
individuals with disabilities to needed health care such that nearly 98 percent
of elderly adults report that they have access to needed health care;
Whereas
elderly Medicare beneficiaries are more satisfied with their coverage than
privately insured nonelderly adults and Medicare beneficiaries are more likely
to rate their health insurance coverage as very good
or
excellent
and to report they were very satisfied with the care
they received; and
Whereas
Medicare is a remarkably efficient program, with administrative costs that
average less than 2 percent of expenditures compared to about 12 percent in
private plans and average per capita cost increases below those of the private
sector, further highlighting its efficiency: Now, therefore, be it
That it is the sense of Congress
that—
(1)for the past 40 years, Medicare has made
significant medical, social, and economic contributions to our Nation;
(2)the access to care provided by Medicare has
changed the course of health outcomes for the elderly and those with
disabilities, preventing physical deterioration and preventing more individuals
from slipping into poverty; and
(3)Congress must continue to support,
strengthen, and enhance the quality of care in this vital Federal health
insurance program that guarantees all Medicare beneficiaries affordable health
care that meets their needs.