[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 125 (Monday, July 31, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H8060-H8061]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                  WILL MEDICARE SEE ITS 40TH BIRTHDAY?

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Fox] is recognized for 
10 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, this week marks the 30th 
birthday of Medicare, very important health care program for our senior 
citizens, and this week is very important, that we look to Medicare and 
see how we 

[[Page H 8061]]
can strengthen, preserve, and protect Medicare.
  We have heard disturbing news, however, that Medicare, as strong as 
it has been, as much good as it has done, could be in trouble unless we 
make some changes. Currently the Medicare board of trustees has 
reported in a bipartisan fashion to the Clinton administration that in 
fact, if Medicare is not preserved, protected, and improved within 7 
years' time, the Medicare funds will be depleted. In fact, the hospital 
insurance trust fund, which pays beneficiaries' bills, begins to run a 
deficit in the near future. Only 2 years following the initial problems 
we will find there to be $126 billion in the hole.
  Republicans and some reform-minded Democrats in the House of 
Representatives recognize the gravity of the situation, Mr. Speaker, we 
know that Medicare must be protected for the sake of current and future 
generations. To do this, we have determined that there are six basic 
principles which will guide our efforts to strengthen, preserve and 
protect the Medicare Program.
  First, we must act immediately to preserve Medicare for current 
retirees and to protect the system for the next generation of 
beneficiaries. The President's trustees have reported that the Medicare 
Part A Trust Fund will be bankrupt in 7 years. Medicare must be 
preserved and prompt, decisive action--at once--is imperative.
  Second, Medicare spending will increase at a controlled rate. Under 
the proposed new budget, spending per beneficiary would increase at 
least from $4,800 this year to $6,700 over the next 7 years, and that 
includes adjustment for new beneficiaries.
  Third, senior citizens deserve the same choices available to other 
Americans. Medicare currently gives seniors only one choice--an 
outdated, bureaucratic fee-for-service program that is rife with waste, 
fraud and abuse. Our seniors, like all Americans, deserve to choose a 
plan that best fits their personal needs.
  Fourth, Government must not interfere in the relationship between 
patients and their doctors. Medicare currently dictates to doctors how 
to treat patients, limits patient options and worse, it has buried both 
the patient and the doctor under an avalanche of duplicative 
regulations. To succeed in reforming the system, we need to ease this 
burden by reducing regulation and needless paperwork.
  Fifth, senior citizens should be rewarded for helping to root out 
waste, fraud and abuse in the system. Seniors have proven themselves to 
be fine stewards of public funds by frequently calling attention to 
fraud and abuse in the Medicare system. We need to reward their efforts 
to make the system more efficient. According to the Government 
Accounting Office [GAO], there already exists $44 billion in fraud, 
waste and abuse in the Medicare/Medicaid systems.
  Sixth, strengthening Medicare is too important to be left to 
``politics as usual.'' All Americans see how important it is for 
Medicare to be saved. They expect Republicans and Democrats to work 
together to get the job done and that is exactly what we will do, Mr. 
Speaker.
  To help is find the best solutions on a local level, many of us have 
formed local Medicare preservation task forces, as I have in the 13th 
District of Pennsylvania. Our task force has taken public testimony 
from doctors, health care professionals, senior citizens, insurance 
companies, and health care consumers to suggest a course of action that 
we should take to preserve and protect Medicare. The task force has had 
four hearings, heard from dozens of witnesses and has read volumes of 
materials regarding possible solutions. They are drafting a report 
which has been prepared for my inspection on September 5 when I will 
have a public meeting in the district at a town meeting at Montgomery 
County Community College at 7 p.m. the day after Labor Day. I will 
present the task force report to the people of the 13th District, and 
thereafter, Mr. Speaker, I will transmit back to this House those 
suggestions so that we may make the kinds of legislative initiatives 
that will preserve, protect, and preserve Medicare as the outstanding 
health care program for our seniors which it has been.
  Saving Medicare will make the 30th birthday of Medicare a happy 
occasion after all. By working together, Republicans and Democrats, we 
can save Medicare for the beneficiary of today and tomorrow, and by 
doing so we will insure that Medicare will have a bright future and 
many happy returns.


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