[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 116 (Tuesday, July 18, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H7077-H7078]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


               THE HISTORY OF MEDICARE AND ITS IMPORTANCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Dingell] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to discuss the history of Medicare 
and to discuss the importance of that program to the United States. I 
have heard a lot of people discuss how it is that Medicare is in 
trouble. Well, Medicare is one of the best working and most efficient 
programs in the history of this country. The cost of collecting money 
and disbursing it is less than 1\1/2\ percent.
  The problem of Medicare is that costs of Medicare have, like all the 
costs of all other programs for paying for health, been stressed almost 
beyond belief by enormous increases which have occurred in health care 
costs across this country. The problem of Medicare is not one that it 
is not serving people. On the contrary, it has raised the number of 
Americans from something like 40 percent to better than 97 percent in 
the senior citizen category who have health insurance available to them 
now, something which was previously not available. Now, under Medicare, 
Americans can be assured that that health care system is going to meet 
their health care concerns.
  Is Medicare going to go bankrupt? Yes, if something is not done. But 
not until 2002. Nothing need be done to cut the benefits, but rather to 
assure additional efficiencies. And what really needs to be addressed 
is to understand that getting control of the overall costs of health 
care is something which has to be done in order to protect not only 
Medicare, but Medicaid, Blue Cross, and all of the other health care 
programs, that are both public and private inside this country.
  It is only fair to say that my colleagues on the Republican side of 
the aisle are talking not about cutting Medicare to save the system, 
but, rather, they are talking about cutting Medicare in order to make 
possible a tax cut.
  Medicare benefits are going to be cut, according to the Republican 
budget, about $270 billion. However, a health care cut of this 
magnitude is going to be matched by a tax cut which will go mostly to 
the richest 10 percent of the people in this country, and will cost the 
government about $240 billion.
  A wiser approach would be to address the underlying problems of our 
health care system. A wiser approach would be to see to it that we 
address the concerns of all in preserving Medicare, but to do so not to 
provide a tax cut to the wealthy, but rather to address the significant 
problems which exist in all health care costs and in payments for all 
health care costs.
  You know, it is a matter of history that the Republicans voted 
overwhelmingly against Medicare, and they opposed it time after time 
whenever the issue was before this body or was before the House or 
before the Senate. They opposed it in committee as well as on the floor 
of the two bodies.
  Medicare is something which was enacted because the Democrats forced 
it through. It is something which will be protected and preserved 
because the Democrats prevented the Republicans from eviscerating that 
program or from converting it into a private program. There are 
significant attempts going on now to privatize Medicare.
  One of the remarkable things which occurred in the early discussion 
was the comments of Republican Members who criticized Medicare, 
pointing out that it was socialized medicine, claiming that it was 
going to threaten independence and individual liberties of Americans 
who would derive benefits under that particular program.
  Well, history has shown that Medicare has been one of the great 
blessings, not only to this country, but to senior citizens, not only 
to senior citizens, but to the younger Americans 

[[Page H 7078]]
who no longer have to choose between providing for themselves, for 
their own retirement, or the education of their children, and providing 
for the health care desperately needed by American senior citizens.
  This has been one of the great and shining examples of success of 
Government action in the history of this country. It and Social 
Security are two of the most popular programs in the lexicon of 
Government programs, and they are supported by almost everyone. Cuts in 
those programs would be regarded by almost every American as being 
something not only unwise, but dangerous from the standpoint of the 
well-being of our society, our economy and of this country.
  Indeed, these programs have not only contributed to the well-being of 
Americans and their health and peace of mind, but they are also 
programs which have done much to make meaningful the promise of 
America.
  I urge my colleagues and I urge my fellow Americans to support the 
idea that Medicare can be saved, not by draconian cuts, but by wise 
changes in administration. Let us use the money we have in Medicare for 
protecting the senior citizens and the people of this country, and not 
for tax cuts to the wealthy.


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