[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 158 (Thursday, October 12, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H10031-H10032]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      SOLVING THE MEDICARE CRISIS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Colorado [Mr. McInnis] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, I would like, during the brief few minutes 
that I have to address, to talk about Medicare. Obviously, that is the 
issue of the day. It is obviously the issue of the year. It is an issue 
that we need to become more acquainted with, if you are not already 
well acquainted with it.
  I would like to very briefly go over the history of Medicare, talk 
about the question of whether or not Medicare is in trouble, talk about 
why it is in trouble, talk about what we are doing as far as the 
solution and what is the best bipartisan solution to do something to 
solve the Medicare crisis that we have in this country.
  Medicare was created in 1965, and it is a product of the Democratic 
Party, and it was a good product when it was created. Today, if we can 
reform Medicare, it will return to being a good product.
  In 1965, when the Democrats created Medicare, the Republicans helped 
them. The Republicans voted for it. The Democrats controlled the House.
  Is Medicare in trouble today? It is clearly in trouble. There is a 
nonpartisan group of trustees which oversees Medicare. That group of 
trustees issued a report in April of this year. By the way, three of 
those trustees were appointed by President Clinton. That report said in 
April this year, ``If you do not do something about Medicare, this 
program will be bankrupt in 7 years. This program will cease to exist 
financially in 7 years. You cannot wait until tomorrow. You cannot wait 
until next year. You cannot wait until 3 years from now to save this 
program. You have got to take action today.''
  Why is it in trouble? There are several reasons, four right off the 
top: First, people are living longer. In 1965, a 65-year-old gentleman 
or 65-year-old senior could expect to live 14.9 years more. In just a 
simple span of 30 years, a 65-year-old person now can expect to live 
17.5 years longer.
  What is the second reason that Medicare is in trouble? The 
recipients, the people that benefit from Medicare, are getting more out 
of the system than they put into the system. On average, an average 
couple on Medicare draws about $111,000 more out of the system than 
they put into the system.
  We have more retirees than we do in proportion to workers. For 
example, when Medicare first came about, there were 5.6 workers for 
every retired person. Today there are only 3.3 workers for every 
retired person. This spells trouble.
  A fourth reason, we have got a lot of fraud in the system, and I can 
give you examples, and some of the people that are opposing changes in 
Medicare, if they are honest with you, will also give you examples. The 
system has grown so massive that fraud is abundant within the system.
  Inefficiency is abundant within the system.
  We learned in the last few days, and I think it is driven by 
politics, people that want to maintain the status quo, they want to 
make all the people of America believe that there is not trouble with 
Medicare, that we do not need to worry about Medicare, the solution 
that is being proposed, one is a Republican solution, and they do not 
talk about bipartisan solutions. It is a Republican solution, and it is 
going to throw the seniors out in the street.
  What a bunch of baloney. Tell those people to get real. Tell them to 
get their heads out of the sand. We need a solution.
  Let me quote from an article called ``Medicare Mistake.'' This is 
written by a Democrat. Last year he was a Democrat Congressman from 
Minnesota.

       Today Medicare is facing a financial crisis. Democrats are 
     playing politics instead of coming up with constructive 
     solutions. Democrats in the United States Congress have not 
     only opposed Republican reform initiatives, they have also 
     refused to embrace the savings identified in President 
     Clinton's plans. Democrats moved from being the majority 
     party to being the minority party. This change, however, does 
     not mean that Democrats should also move from being a 
     responsible party to a irresponsible party.

  Ladies and gentlemen, if you do not want to help us reform Medicare, 
you 

[[Page H 10032]]
are, in my opinion, being irresponsible. This article was written by a 
Democratic Congressman from last year.
  What I urge all of us in this Chamber to do is join with us next week 
in this debate. Join with us to find a bipartisan solution, and if you 
do not have a solution, do not get in the way. Work with us, join with 
us, and let us save Medicare for every citizen of this generation and 
let us save Medicare for every citizen of the next generation.

                          ____________________