[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 167 (Thursday, October 26, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2046-E2047]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   MEDICARE PRESERVATION ACT OF 1995

                                 ______


                               speech of

                          HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY

                             of California

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 19, 1995

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2425) to 
     amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to preserve and 
     reform the Medicare Program.

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Chairman, now is the time to stand up for seniors by 
voting down this plan to raid Medicare to provide tax breaks for 
wealthy special interests. Instead of continued partisan bickering, we 
need a bipartisan effort to save Medicare by eliminating the waste and 
fraud that cost billions each year.
  I come to this floor today as the Representative for Sonoma and Marin 
Counties in California. As I always say to my colleagues, I am so 
fortunate to represent such a concerned and caring constituency.
  For the last several months, I have been speaking to the people in my 
Congressional District. I have been speaking with senior citizens, with 
hospital administrators, with physicians, and with working families. 
Seniors are scared to death because they will have to pay more for less 
at a time when so many are struggling to get by. And families are 
scared to death because they do not understand how they will support 
aging parents and send their kids to college at the same time. The 
people of Sonoma and Marin Counties have spoken loud and clear: they do 
not support $270 billion in Medicare cuts in order to pay for $245 
billion in tax breaks.
  The new majority is making the argument that these massive cuts in 
Medicare are needed to save the system. I agree that Medicare and 
Medicaid can be improved, and that Congress should vigorously support 
efforts to make this system better. But I disagree with Speaker 
Gingrich that the way to keep Medicare solvent is to operate on it with 
an axe, instead of a scalpel.
  Speaker Gingrich would like to convince the American public that 
Medicare is in a sudden crisis. However, concerns about the Medicare 
Trust Fund are not new. The Medicare Trustees have on eight previous 
occasions warned that the Trust Fund would be insolvent within 7 years. 
Each time, Congress responded immediately in a bipartisan way to make 
the changes necessary to keep Medicare solvent. However, the cuts 
proposed by Speaker Gingrich go far beyond what is needed to protect 
the Medicare Trust Fund. What is more, since the proposed premium 
increases do not even contribute to the Medicare Trust Fund, it is 
clear that the new majority is increasing premiums only to pay for a 
special interest tax giveaway, not to strengthen Medicare.
  In other words, the Gingrich Medicare plan is a major cut. According 
to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the rate of growth in 
health care spending per person in the private sector over the next 7 
years will be 7.9 percent. The Gingrich Medicare plan, however, brings 
the rate of growth of Medicare spending down to 4.9 percent per 
beneficiary. This means that the Gingrich plan will not keep up with 
the pace of inflation and the growing population of older and disabled 
Americans. As a result, there will be major increases in costs: by the 
year 2002, seniors will spend $400 more in Medicare premiums. Moreover, 
seniors may lose their choice of doctor because they will be forced 
into a government-mandated managed care plan. In addition, hospitals 
and emergency rooms will be forced to reduce care and and many will 
close. Some health care experts predict that up to 25 percent of all 
hospitals could close if Speaker Gingrich's assault on Medicare becomes 
law.

  But I do support making Medicare stronger. That is why I voted for 
the Democratic substitute to reform Medicare, and am a cosponsor of 
H.R. 2476, the Common Sense Medicare Reform Act.
  The Democratic substitute saves $90 billion over the next 7 years. It 
reduces seniors' premiums, while providing coverage for new benefits 
such as more frequent mammograms, colorectal screenings, Pap smears and 
diabetes screening. The Democratic substitute increases seniors' 
choices of health care coverage, but does not force them to give up 
their own doctors. Under the Democratic substitute, 

[[Page E2047]]
the Medicare program will be strong and solvent, and seniors will 
continue to receive high quality care from doctors they know and trust.
  I also support the approach taken in the Common Sense Medicare Reform 
Act, which strengthens Medicare by eliminating real waste, fraud, and 
abuse in the Medicare system. It will also save the amount needed to 
keep Medicare solvent for years to come. This bill will give law 
enforcement more tools to fight Medicare fraud, a crime which harms 
Medicare and the American taxpayer. And this bill, unlike the new 
majority's plan, will require that any funds recovered through cuts or 
savings from waste, fraud, and abuse will be automatically returned to 
the Medicare Trust Fund--not used to pay for a special interest tax 
giveaway.
  In addition, I would also like to raise my objection to the way that 
Speaker Gingrich has conducted the debate on his massive changes to 
Medicare. As someone who believes in the Democratic process, I am 
outraged that the new majority only allowed for one day of public 
hearings on this assault on Medicare. As a former Petaluma City Council 
member, I remember that we talked longer and harder about sidewalk 
repairs than the House of Representatives has about an issue which 
affects the health of millions of Americans. This is unfair and 
undemocratic!
  So, I am here to speak out for the people who have been shut out of 
the Democratic process by this new majority. These people should not be 
silenced, and they should not see their concerns ignored by a Congress 
bent on pursuing a partisan agenda.
  We would all do better if we listened carefully to those we 
represent. As one man in my district said,

       I worked hard all my life, raised ten kids and fought in 
     two wars to live my life in peace. Living on only $801 a 
     month, I need all the help I can get.

  To my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I would like you to 
remember these words. Think about this man, and the millions of seniors 
just like him all over America who do not deserve second rate medical 
care and who do not deserve to have their pockets picked for a special 
interest tax giveaway. I call on my colleagues to reject this bill, 
take the tax giveaways off the table, and get on with the bipartisan 
job of restoring Medicare's solvency by eliminating rampant waste and 
fraud. Stand up for seniors by voting down this bill.

                          ____________________