[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 58 (Wednesday, May 1, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E680]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                MEDICARE

                                 ______


                            HON. RON PACKARD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 1, 1996

  Mr. PACKARD. Mr. Speaker, the Congressional Budget Office has 
recently reported that Medicare is in far worse shape than the Clinton 
administration originally led the American people to believe. Left 
unchecked, Medicare beneficiaries face losing coverage and in the 
process our children will be robbed of the benefits of a balanced 
budget.
  Last April, the Clinton administration predicted the trust fund would 
take in $45 million more this fiscal year than it would spend. Instead, 
it is $44.2 billion in the hole in just the first half of this fiscal 
year.
  According to a new CBO study, the trust fund will be in the red $443 
billion by the year 2005. That $443 billion figure represents the extra 
money the Government would have to add to the trust fund over the next 
decade to pay for benefits through the end of 2006. Even with the 
honest numbers of the CBO, the President and his advisers refuse to 
recognize the grave situation facing Medicare. My Republican colleagues 
and I have faced the challenge head on.
  We have proposed measures that will not only save, but improve 
Medicare. The President has consistently refused to come to the table. 
He would rather make this an election-year issue, demagoging Medicare 
and scaring our seniors.
  Medicare's problems are much more serious than President Clinton and 
his Medicare trustees will admit. It is now apparent that more is 
needed than the same old smoke-and-mirror gimmicks this administration 
relies on.

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