[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 143 (Thursday, September 14, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H8914]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             SENIORS CANNOT AFFORD INCREASED MEDICARE COSTS

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I listened this morning to what the Speaker 
said about the Medicare issue. I was very upset because of this 
suggestion that somehow this is all politics, and I assure you it is 
not about politics.
  If you talk to seniors in my district, they are very concerned 
because they do not have the extra money to spend for an increased 
premium in Medicare part B. They are concerned because they have had 
the same doctor or they have been able to go to a hospital that is 
close by for a number of years, and now all of a sudden they are 
hearing that they may have to go into an HMO or a managed care system 
where they will not have the choice of the doctor that they have had 
for years or the hospital that is close by. They cannot afford it. They 
have a budget, some of them, where $10 or $15 a month makes all the 
difference in the world because that is all they have to spend after
 they have figures out their budget for a month, and whether we talk 
about a $7 increase or a $30 increase or a $50 increase in Medicare 
part B, they cannot afford that difference, because they simply do not 
have the money on the fixed income they are living on.

  I also have to tell you about the hospitals and providers.

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