[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 128 (Thursday, August 3, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H8312]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  MEDICARE PATIENTS NEED TRUE CHOICES

  (Mr. BROWN of Ohio asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, the Congress is about to embark on 
major changes in Medicare. These reforms we will be considering will 
offer patients less choice, not more, unless we take action to ensure 
that their choices are protected.
  Many of the so-called reform plans include efforts to increase the 
use of managed care for Medicare patients. A study released last week 
found that three-fourths of Americans age 50 and over said they would 
not join a Medicare managed care plan without the freedom to choose 
their doctor; 82 percent believe that the freedom to choose out-of-
network physicians or specialists would be ``very important'' or 
``critically important'' to their decisions about whether to join a 
Medicare managed care plan.
  The message is simple. Choice is essential to older Americans. A 
point-of-service option provides true choice by allowing Medicare 
patients to go outside of a network when they need services. This 
option should be built into every health plan involving Medicare 
patients.
  Madam Speaker, $270 billion in cuts in Medicare to pay for tax breaks 
for the rich is wrong. It is equally wrong to force America's elderly 
into managed care and take away their choice of physician.


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