[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 117 (Wednesday, July 19, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H7181]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             SAVE MEDICARE

  (Mr. LARGENT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LARGENT. Mr. Speaker,
   a few weeks ago, the Medicare Trustees, a bipartisan group appointed 
by both Republican and Democrat administrations, confirmed to Members 
of the House of Representatives that unless substantial reforms are 
made, Medicare will go bankrupt in just 7 years.

  To reemphasize--if no action is taken to reform Medicare, and 
spending continues to increase at the current rate, Medicare will go 
bankrupt by the year 2002.
  This is why we have been working in the House to develop proposals to 
preserve and protect Medicare. During this work the first and foremost 
concern is to ensure that Medicare patients receive quality, 
affordable, and easily accessible health care.
  After studying the problem, we learned that preserving the financial 
stability of the Medicare system can be achieved by doing two things.
  First, we must simplify the Medicare system--we must cut out 
burdensome paperwork and redtape. By private industry standards, the 
program today is an outdated, Government-run bureaucracy.
  We must open up more opportunities within Medicare for seniors to 
have access to the same type of voluntary offerings available in the 
private sector.
  Second, we must aggressively go after waste, fraud, and abuse that 
exists in the Medicare system. Ten percent or $16 billion of the 
Medicare budget is spent on fraudulent and abusive claims each year.
  Critics are already claiming that this reform is a cut in the 
Medicare Program. This is simply not true. By enacting these modest 
reforms, Medicare will continue to increase--but at a slower rate.
  In fact, costs per beneficiary will continue to increase from $4,800 
per participant in 1995, to $6,400 per recipient in 2002. How is that a 
cut?
  To play politics with this issue does not help in finding a solution 
to this problem. To do nothing is totally irresponsible, and 
unacceptable, as it will result in the Medicare system going bankrupt 
in 7 years.
  Our commitment is to simplify Medicare in order to save Medicare--it 
is just that simple.

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