[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 140 (Monday, September 11, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S13178]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                PREMIUMS UNDER REPUBLICAN MEDICARE PLAN

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, the Republican secret plan for deep cuts 
in Medicare will finally be unveiled, we are told, this Thursday. Yet, 
only 4 days before the announcement, the Republican disinformation 
campaign about what their program will mean for senior citizens is 
still in high gear.
  Before the 1994 election, the Republicans said they were not planning 
to cut Medicare at all, but their budget resolution provides for an 
unprecedented $270 billion in Medicare cuts. After the budget 
resolution was adopted, the Republicans said the cuts would not hurt 
senior citizens. That pledge was preposterous on its face since cuts of 
that magnitude would obviously have a substantial impact on millions of 
elderly Americans.
  Now our Republican friends are beginning to reveal the true impact. 
Yesterday, on ``Meet the Press,'' the Speaker of the House of 
Representatives stated that the Republican plan would require the part 
B premium for Medicare to be set at 31.5 percent of program costs. He 
claimed that this program would cost senior citizens an additional $7 a 
month. He also said that the premium increases under the Republican 
plan are not in any way unreasonable.
  The facts are otherwise. According to the independent actuaries at 
the Health Care Finance Administration, if the premium is set at 31.5 
percent of cost as the Republicans propose, the monthly premium will go 
up to $96 a month, an increase of $37 a month compared to current law, 
not $7. On an annual basis, seniors will have to pay an additional $442 
in the year 2002, a premium of almost $1,200 a year, more than twice as 
much as they pay today. That is from the Health Care Finance 
Administration. Those are their estimates.
  Over the life of the Republican plan, each senior citizen will have 
to pay an additional $1,750 in Medicare premiums. Each senior couple 
would pay $3,500 more. These numbers are approximate because they are 
based on current projected spending under Medicare part B. They will 
undoubtedly change somewhat when the full Republican plan is finally 
laid out to the American people. Estimates by the Congressional Budget 
Office may even be higher.
  However, the basic point is clear. We are not talking about senior 
citizens paying a few dollars more for Medicare. Under the Republican 
plan, senior citizens will be asked to pay thousands of dollars more 
for Medicare in order to fund a Republican tax cut for wealthy 
Americans.
  That additional burden is unreasonable and unfair, and I believe the 
American people will reject the Republican plan. I urge the Congress to 
do so as well.
  Mr. President, these figures that I am quoting are the result of the 
Health Care Finance Administration and their actuaries from their 
evaluation of the Republican plan.

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