[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 65 (Friday, May 10, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H4805]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              REPUBLICANS ARE NOT TRYING TO SAVE MEDICARE

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, this notion that somehow the Republicans 
are trying to save Medicare is just a lot of baloney, but they are at 
it again. They are at it again, basically making these cuts in the 
Medicare Program just to pass on tax breaks to the wealthiest 
Americans, and they are going to destroy the Medicare Program in the 
process. What they are essentially doing is making cuts that are so 
severe that we will see hospitals closed and we will see the quality of 
health care services for seniors significantly decline. And they are 
also passing and changing the Medicare Program in a way that the senior 
citizens will not have a choice of doctors. They will be pushed into 
managed care systems. They will be forced to spend more money out of 
pocket that goes back to Medicare providers in order to have the same 
benefits that they have now.
  So this idea that somehow they are solving the problem with Medicare 
or they are dealing with the potential insolvency is not true. The 
President has put forth a proposal in his budget that would guarantee 
the continued solvency of the Medicare Program, but the Republicans are 
going way beyond that. They are cutting $44 billion more than what the 
President proposes. They are not trying to deal with Medicare in an 
effective way.

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