[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 106 (Tuesday, June 27, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H6378-H6379]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                CUT WASTE, FRAUD, AND ABUSE IN MEDICARE

  (Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks and include 
extraneous material.)
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I met with 100 senior 
citizens from my district to talk with them about the cuts they will be 
facing under this new Republican budget plan that came out of the 
conference committee. They do not understand why leaders in Washington 
would cut their senior health care plan in order to finance a tax cut. 
Frankly, Mr. Speaker, I do not either.
  I also had a chance to visit with some doctors who asked me not to 
cut Medicare. These doctors were declared Republicans. They said, for 
the first time in 30 years, they have been able to adequately provide 
health care for seniors through the Medicare program. We should cut 
fraud in Medicare by funding Operation Restore Trust, to eliminate 
fraud in health care, but we should not arbitrarily cut Medicare to 
finance our egregious tax cut plan.
  The Republican budget agreement cuts Medicare, education, job 
training, and then cuts taxes. They want to cut taxes and also cut 
Medicare at the same time. Then they say that are not cutting Medicare 
to finance their tax break. Something is fishy.
  Mr. Speaker, Congress should work hard to cut the waste, fraud, and 
abuse in Medicare. I hope we can agree that seniors should not be used 
to balance the budget for sound bites in Washington. Let us be fair to 
the students and seniors and not punish them for a balanced budget. 
It's not good government.
  Mr. Speaker, I submit for the Record an article from the Houston 
Chronicle.
              Congressmen Warn Seniors of GOP Budget Cuts

                           (By Stefanie Asin)

       Democratic U.S. Reps. Dick Gephardt and Gene Green told 
     about 100 senior citizens Monday the Republicans want to 
     balance the budget at their expense.
       The GOP wants a $270 billion cut in Medicare and Medicaid 
     spending, and if the GOP's budget agreement passes this week 
     in the House, seniors could expect $1,000 more a year in 
     medical costs, said Gephardt, House minority leader from 
     Missouri.
       ``It is wrong to do this,'' he said. ``A lot of you live on 
     your Social Security. You're already having trouble paying 
     for rent, housing, groceries and prescription drugs.''
       Gephardt, who heard support from the seniors as he spoke, 
     encouraged them to speak out and fight the proposed cuts. 
     Congress should cut defense spending instead, he said.
       ``I strongly object to the priorities that have been set,'' 
     said Green of Houston. ``You can't balance the budget on the 
     backs of the senior citizens.''
       Green said 286,000 Harris County senior citizens receive 
     more than $1.5 billion in Medicare payments annually and 
     cannot afford to lose their health care.
       GOP leaders say Medicare spending must be slowed before the 
     system goes bankrupt. If Medicare payments continue at their 
     current rate--$4,700 to the average person per year--the fund 
     will be bankrupt by 2002, said Tom Hoopes, spokesman for Rep. 
     Bill Archer, R-Houston, chairman of the House Ways and Means 
     Committee.
       ``If we don't slow the increase, these people will get 
     absolutely nothing,'' Hoopes said.
       ``We think it's foolhardy for political gain to spend too 
     much now and end up with nothing after the next couple of 
     elections. We would tell the senior citizens we are truly 
     concerned about Medicare and its future.''
       Susie Davis, 85, and several others asked the congressmen 
     many questions about how the Democratic and Republican 
     proposals would affect them. Davis, who lives alone 

[[Page H 6379]]
     with no family left, said she needs subsidized health care.
       ``I don't have anything else,'' she said. ``It's bad to do 
     us that way.''
     

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