[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 175 (Tuesday, November 7, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H11789]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HOSPITALS WILL BE FORCED TO CHARGE MORE

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to revise and extend her 
remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, it is not just seniors who will be asked to 
pay more under the Republican Medicare bill. Businesses and working 
people can expect to see that their health care costs are going to rise 
as well. In today's health care system, private patients and their 
insurers pay the price for the uninsured. This cost shifting will 
accelerate under the Republican Medicare proposal.
  According to a story that ran this weekend in the New York Times, as 
Medicare payments fall short of covering the cost of care, hospitals 
will be forced to make up the difference by charging their private 
patients more. Many people who work for small businesses could also 
lose their insurance altogether.
  An independent health care research firm, Lewin VHI, estimates that 
$66 billion will be shifted on to the privately insured. That is too 
big of a burden for our small businesses, and yet another reason to 
oppose the Republican Medicare cuts.

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