[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 78 (Thursday, May 11, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H4798]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                MEDICARE RECIPIENTS PLACED AT GREAT RISK

  (Mrs. CLAYTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, we now know that the majority proposes to 
reduce Medicare spending by $250 billion over the next 7 years. This 
will mean the average Medicare patient's benefits will be reduced by 
$132 in 1996 to $2,000 in the balanced budget year 2002. Out-of-pocket 
costs will rise as well. Each American on Medicare, and their families, 
can expect to be responsible for thousands of dollars of additional 
costs per year. The import of these huge spending reductions are 
profound--less people will have access to quality health care, and our 
Nation's hospitals will be put at great risk.
  As Medicare goes under the knife, so too does funding for medical 
education, especially teaching hospitals, such as Pitt Memorial, in my 
congressional district. Hospitals like Pitt Memorial receive about 30 
percent of their funding for resident training. They get additional 
funds for graduate medical education programs. These funds provide such 
hospitals with the financial cushion so that they can continue to 
provide care for Medicare patients. Who will pick up the slack for this 
essential funding--certainly not the States, the counties or the 
people? I invite my colleagues from across the aisle to really consider 
the impact that these deep spending reductions will have on millions of 
seniors and their families. This will end Medicare, as we know it.
  Mr. Speaker, if these huge reductions go into effect. Medicare 
patients and their families will suffer.


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