[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 161 (Wednesday, October 18, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H10295-H10296]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 VOTE AGAINST REPUBLICAN MEDICARE BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Florida [Mrs. Meek] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote 
against the Medicare bill tomorrow.
  I am a senior citizen. I understand the issues in this bill, and I 
want to say to you, much of it is mendacity, in that what has happened 
here is that the senior citizens of this country are being sold a bill 
of goods and it is not right. Do not think that they are crazy. They 
are sophisticated. They understand that they are not getting full 
treatment here. They understand that they will not be able to get the 
high quality of care that they are getting now.
  We could not bring a chart in front of every one of them here and 
prove to them that they are going to get the same quality of care when 
this bill passes, if it does, that they are getting now. So they know 
better.
  The so-called Medicare Preservation Act of 1995 raises more questions 
than it answers. The Republican plan is really not tough on waste, 
fraud and abuse because first of all it fails to really criminalize 
waste and fraud in the bill, and it does not give the high quality of 
care that I just talked about.

  The burden of proof should not be placed on the Government, but it is 
in this bill. In terms of knowing why the Republican leadership raises 
premiums for the elderly at the same time that it makes it easier to 
rip off the Medicare system, I cannot understand.
  One of their own Members here in this article from the Washington 
Times, a Republican ex-prosecutor upset by handling of the program's 
abuse, and I quote, he said here that I support the GOP Medicare reform 
generally but the fraud and abuse provisions are woefully inadequate. 
It fails to criminalize Medicare fraud, it raises the threshold of 
proof necessary to convict a doctor, hospital or other care providers 
under Federal anti-kickback statutes.
  It is important that we know, that seniors know what is going on, 
they are aware of these things and we must be sure to keep saying it.
  My constituents want to know why the Republican leadership bill will 
cut Medicare payments to hospitals that serve the poor. For years and 
years I worked in the Florida legislature to be sure that a 
proportionate share was given to those hospitals who serve the poor.
  My constituents want to know why the Republican leadership is cutting 
Medicare by $270 billion so that there can be a $245 billion tax cut. 
Let me tell you how the Republican leadership plans to increase 
Medicare premiums will affect a constituent who wrote to me last month. 
She is 69 years old and her husband is 67. Their monthly income is $811 
from Social Security. She pays a rent of $475, utilities of $150, and 
insurance of $98. That leaves the couple $88 a month in cash along with 
$96 in food stamps for everything else, for food, for clothing and for 
all medical expenses that they have to pay out of their own pocket. She 
has cancer and her husband has diabetes and cancer. The Republican 
leadership bill says that the part B Medicare premium which under 
current law would be $43 per month next year will rise to $54 a month 
next year and continue to rise until it reaches $87 a month 7 years 
from now.
  How is my constituent going to pay that? An extra $11 a month next 
year may not seem like a lot of money to the people getting those big 
tax cuts but let me tell you, it is a lot of money to an elderly 
person. If you do not believe it, just talk to them, that has only $88 
a month for food, clothing, and prescription drugs.
  Why does the Republican leadership want to raise Medicare premiums at 
the same time it is retreating in the war against Medicare fraud and 
abuse? That is what my constituents want to know. One of them called my 
attention 

[[Page H 10296]]
to a recent report by Citizens Against Government Waste, an 
organization that has 600,000 members. The report is called ``Medicare 
Fraud: Tales from the Gypped.'' This report gives examples of Medicare 
fraud from all parts of the country.
  Why is it we do not strengthen these laws instead of weakening them 
as Republicans do in this bill? FBI Director Louis Freeh has testified 
that cocaine distributors in southern Florida are turning to Medicare 
fraud. We need to strengthen that in the Republican bill instead of 
weakening it. It is so important that you realize that senior citizens 
in Florida and in other States must be given an opportunity for quality 
care, not a three-tiered level of care but one level of care that 
everyone can make their quality of lives much better.
  I could go on and on, Mr. Speaker, but there is an epidemic in this 
country of people who want to beat the system. Why should we make it 
better? Why should the Republican leadership do this?
  There are a majority of Republicans who voted against Medicare, Mr. 
Speaker. Why is it now they are such proponents of Medicare? We should 
kill this bill tomorrow, Mr. Speaker.

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