[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 121 (Tuesday, July 25, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H7559]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                           MEDICARE-MEDICAID

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentlewoman from Connecticut [Ms. DeLauro] is recognized 
during morning business for 2 minutes.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the Republican plan 
to cut Medicare for our seniors in order to pay for a tax cut for the 
privileged few.
  The GOP plan is to end Medicare as we know it, a proposal that will 
devastate American seniors. Do not take my word for it. Just look at 
what the conservative newspaper, the Washington Times, reported 
recently. According to the article, the GOP's ultimate goal is to 
privatize Medicare.
  Privatizing Medicare will mean that seniors will pay more in premiums 
and deductibles and will lose their choice of doctors. The Washington 
Times reports that recipients who now pay $46.10 per month for Medicare 
Part B would pay more than $110 per month. And in the year 2002, this 
plan will cost seniors more than $1,000 in out-of-pocket expenditures. 
They will be forced to give up their doctors.
  It is ironic, Mr. Speaker, that Republican attempts to dismantle 
Medicare coincide with the program's 30th anniversary. When Medicare 
was originally proposed in 1965, 93 percent of Republicans supported a 
privatized health plan that relied on seniors paying the premiums. 
Today, 30 years later, we see history repeating itself, Republicans 
looking to dismantle a program that they never wanted in the first 
place, and that is Medicare.
  My message to the American people is a simple one: Do not be fooled 
when the Republicans talk about slowing the growth of Medicare. It is a 
sham and a scam. The reality is that their plan will result in very 
real cuts to benefits and very real increases in costs for seniors who 
are on Medicare.
  Do not be fooled when the Republicans say that these cuts are being 
made to fix Medicare or to reduce the budget deficit. The reality is 
that Medicare is being cut to pay for a $245 billion tax cut for large 
corporations and the privileged few.

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