[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 123 (Thursday, July 27, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H7914]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   THE REPUBLICAN RECORD ON MEDICARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Pallone] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, it was 30 years ago today that Medicare 
passed the House of Representatives, and even in 1965 Republicans did 
not support the program.
  Their record on Medicare has been clear and is illustrated with this 
chart that we have here. At the time when Medicare was voted upon in 
1960, 97 percent of Senate Republicans voted against creation of the 
Medicare Program; in 1962, 86 percent of Senate Republicans voted 
against creation of the Medicare Program; in 1964, 85 percent of Senate 
Republicans voted against creation of the Medicare Program; and then in 
1965, 93 percent of the House Republicans voted to replace Medicare 
with their voluntary, no guarantees substitute. The rest of the chart 
indicates the remainder of the Republican record 30 years ago.
  Even the lead Republican presidential contender today, Senator Bob 
Dole, voted against the passage of the Medicare Program when he was in 
Congress 30 years ago this very day. And now that the Republicans are 
in control of Congress, one of their first acts is to dismantle the 
program that has assisted so many senior citizens in living a longer 
and decent life.
  As many know, the Republicans seek to cut $270 billion from the 
Medicare Program, costing senior citizens over a $1,000 in additional 
costs per year. Republicans claim that these cuts will not hurt senior 
citizens, but if health costs continue to rise faster than the growth 
in Medicare to seniors, then they will either get less services or pay 
more money. It is that simple.
  Of course the Republicans have not discussed the specific details of 
their Medicare plans, because they are afraid to tell seniors what will 
happen with the $270 billion in cuts that they have proposed.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge senior citizens to ask their Congressmen how 
these $270 billion in cuts will affect them, because if these cuts were 
not going to hurt seniors, then the plans would have been announced 
before a budget number was chosen.
  Instead, the Republicans are reforming Medicare backwards by 
arbitrarily picking $270 billion, the largest Medicare cut in history, 
and hiding the true facts from seniors. When Medicare was passed 30 
years ago today, most Republicans said that it was not needed. Mr. 
Speaker, the facts could not be more clear.
  I would like to illustrate the positive impact that the Medicare 
Program has had on the lives of senior citizens through a few 
illustrations that we have here today.
  The first chart talks about the poverty rate for the age, which has 
dropped since 1967. If you look at the figures, for the general 
population and the senior population since the time Medicare was 
enacted, you can see the significant drop in the poverty rate for 
senior citizens.
                              {time}  2320

  Mr. PALLONE. Next we would like to show the drop in the death by 
stroke, which is indicated on this chart. For those over 65, rates have 
fallen by 63 percent in the years between 1960 and 1991, basically the 
30-year or so period that we are talking about since the beginning of 
Medicare.
  Mr. Chairman, death by heart disease has also dramatically decreased. 
For those over 65, rates have fallen by 40 percent in the years between 
1960 and 1991, again from the beginning of the debate on Medicare until 
relatively recently.
  Finally, Mr. Chairman, the next chart will show the number of seniors 
who have health coverage. In 1959, only 46 percent of America's seniors 
had health care coverage before Medicare was enacted, and of course 
this year in 1995, after Medicare and after 30 years of the program, 99 
percent of America's senior citizens now have health care coverage.
  Mr. Chairman, instead of realizing these benefits, unfortunately, 
Republicans want to gut Medicare to meet their other backward promises. 
One plan that the party is floating is the voucher plan, which would 
basically limit the health care coverage of senior citizens. This plan 
will give seniors substandard health care, unless they have the ability 
to spend money out of their own pocket to pay for better coverage.
  Mr. Chairman, another plan would force seniors into managed care. 
Some people know them as HMO's. Many seniors are happy with their 
doctors and are not ready to be told which doctors they can or cannot 
seek, which is often the case with HMO's or other managed care 
programs.
  Life before Medicare for senior citizens was a world of poverty, low 
life expectancy and despair. Medicare has played an integral role in 
seniors' lives by not forcing them to choose between health care, food 
or shelter. Unfortunately, the Republicans want to take us back to the 
days when seniors had to make those unfortunate choices.
  Mr. Chairman, I just want to read one story from a New Jersey 
resident who submitted testimony for the record during the Committee on 
Ways and Means debate on Medicare during the early 1960's, because I 
think it illustrates the problems that many senior citizens had before 
the enactment of the Medicare program. This person testified before the 
committee on Ways and Means and said, ``I hope and pray that I do not 
live long enough to be a senior citizen. It is very hard for me to beg. 
I would rather do without, whether it is food, medicine or a doctor. 
Only severe pain or an emergency would get me into a hospital. I 
control my condition with pills''.
  Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I just hope and pray that the Republicans 
realize how vital Medicare is to every senior citizen. Those who cannot 
remember the past are unfortunately condemned to repeat it, but 
hopefully, we will not see it repeated with the Medicare Program being 
gutted.


                          ____________________