[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 789 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 789

    To express the sense of the Senate that Medicare should not be 
             dismantled and turned into a voucher program.


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 12, 2011

   Mr. Baucus (for himself and Mr. Nelson of Florida) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                                Finance

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                                 A BILL


 
    To express the sense of the Senate that Medicare should not be 
             dismantled and turned into a voucher program.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT MEDICARE SHOULD NOT BE DISMANTLED 
              AND TURNED INTO A VOUCHER PROGRAM.

    (a) Findings.--The Senate makes the following findings:
            (1) The Medicare program has been providing affordable 
        health care for elderly and disabled Americans for decades.
            (2) Forty-seven million Americans currently rely on the 
        Medicare program for their health care.
            (3) The Congressional Budget Office has stated that under 
        the House Budget Committee fiscal year 2012 budget resolution 
        ``most elderly people would pay more for their health care than 
        they would pay under the current Medicare system''.
    (b) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) Medicare should not be dismantled and turned into a 
        voucher or premium-support program;
            (2) deficit reduction should not be achieved by simply 
        passing on the costs of health care to Medicare beneficiaries;
            (3) guaranteed Medicare benefits should be preserved;
            (4) medical decisions should be made by seniors and their 
        doctors, not insurance companies; and
            (5) deficit reduction should be achieved by lowering health 
        care costs through delivery system reforms.
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