[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 78 (Thursday, May 11, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S6506]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  PRESERVING MEDICARE FOR OUR SENIORS

  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I rise to speak about the Medicare 
Program and the need to protect it from drastic cuts. The Republicans 
have announced their plans to cut the Medicare budget by over $250 
billion in order to fund tax cuts for the rich.
  Let me start by saying that I want to make sure that we keep the care 
in Medicare. I believe that the basic values of honoring your father 
and your mother should be the anchors of our public policy.
  I do not believe our seniors should have to pay almost $900 more in 
out of pocket health care costs each year. I do not believe that the 
typical Medicare beneficiary should have to see 40 to 50 percent of his 
or her Social Security cost-of-living adjustment eaten up by increases 
in Medicare cost sharing and premiums.
  We cannot let this happen. We owe it to our mothers and fathers, and 
to our family members.
  Last week I spoke at the White House Conference on Aging. It was an 
impressive gathering of 2,500 seniors and senior advocates from all 
over this Nation. Many of the delegates were current or former doctors, 
lawyers, administrators, business owners, nurses, social workers, 
gerontologists, and senior service providers.
  The delegates were charged with coming up with a navigational chart 
to meet the needs of our seniors today and to take us into the 21st 
century.
  The White House Conference on Aging came at a very crucial time in 
our history. We all know that our senior population is growing and 
growing rapidly. Demography is destiny. We must anticipate the future 
and what their needs are and what they will be.
  At the end of the conference, the delegates voted on priorities. 
Ensuring the future of the Medicare Program was one of the top five
 priorities. More specifically, the conference stated that the United 
States should:

       . . . reaffirm the covenant that it established with the 
     American people 30 years ago with the enactment of Medicare 
     and act to maintain and strengthen the program's structure 
     and purpose, its fiscal solvency, and widespread public 
     support.
       . . . continue to protect older Americans and disabled 
     Americans, especially those on low and fixed incomes with 
     respect to health care affordability and access, giving 
     special consideration to the burdens imposed by co-payments, 
     deductibles, and premiums.
       . . . ensure that programmatic changes safeguard the 
     viability of the Medicare trust funds.
       . . . ensure that any changes to Medicare provide access to 
     a standard package of benefits which includes affordable long 
     term care, strengthens the program's financial well-being, 
     preserves the social insurance nature of Medicare, enhances 
     the quality of care and improves the program for 
     beneficiaries within the broad context of health care reform

  There is much talk about another contract with America, but I believe 
the real contracts we must honor are Medicare and Social Security. We 
must preserve the covenant that we established with our seniors and 
their families to provide them with health insurance for their old age. 
Seniors have worked hard all their lives, paid their dues, paid into 
the system.
  We must remember who are seniors are. On May 8, we commemorated 
victory in Europe and the beginning of the end of World War II. Our 
seniors were part of the generation that saved Europe from tyranny and 
changed the course of history. We must never forget that.
  We cannot forget them and we cannot forget who will be the next 
generation of seniors. They will be many of us. And the next generation 
after that. They will be our children and grandchildren. We must 
continue to ensure that all seniors now and into the next century have 
the resources they need for their health care. Without such resources I 
fear they will become impoverished, their children may become 
impoverished, and we as a country will become impoverished.


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