[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 80 (Tuesday, June 4, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H5759-H5760]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         GINGRICH-DOLE MEDICARE PLAN AND DEMOCRATIC ALTERNATIVE

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, this weekend on NBC's ``Meet the Press,'' 
House Speaker Newt Gingrich went on the attack on Medicare once again, 
and now he claims that the President and the Democrats in Congress are 
deliberately misleading the American people about his plan; that is, 
the Republican plan, so-called plan to save Medicare. I would like to 
tell my colleagues that nothing could be further from the truth. Last 
year the American people overwhelmingly rejected the Republican plan to 
cut $270 billion from Medicare to pay for tax breaks primarily for the 
wealthy, and the Speaker knows the public opinion is not on his side, 
so he is trying to confuse the American people by making extreme 
attacks on Democrats' integrity rather than addressing the Medicare 
issue correctly.
  I guess we should not be surprised because it was Speaker Gingrich 
who last year said it was his goal to see Medicare, and I quote, 
``wither on the vine.'' The bottom line, Mr. Speaker, is that the 
Republicans want to use the budget, this budget that they passed a few 
weeks ago and is now in conference with the Senate, as the vehicle for 
transforming Medicare in a very radical way.
  My position is, and I believe it is that of most Democrats, if 
changes in Medicare are to come they should not be made in the context 
of the budget, they should not be a vehicle to make cuts in Medicare 
that would be used for other priorities, such as tax breaks for the 
wealthy or increased defense spending or whatever other initiatives the 
Republicans plan for the budget.
  Now, we know this Wednesday the Medicare trustees are going to come 
out with their annual report and already we are hearing that the 
Speaker and the Republican leadership are going to use this report, 
which will show again that Medicare does need some changes in order for 
it not to become insolvent 5 or 6 years from now, but the bottom line 
is that the Republican leadership plan to save Medicare is not an 
effort to make some adjustments in Medicare so that it remains solvent 
and so that the money is available to continue the program as it 
currently exists. Rather, they want to make major radical structural 
changes in the Medicare program that will reduce the quality of care, 
will reduce senior's ability to choose their own doctors or hospitals 
and basically force most senior citizens in either managed care 
programs where they do not have choices or alternatively make them pay 
more out of pocket for the services that they get.

  I wanted to point out in the time I have remaining here what I would 
call a number of key issues that I think reveal the true colors of the 
Gingrich-Dole Medicare plan. First, the Republican leadership claims 
that Medicare is going broke and they are saving it. Well, last year 
they knew they were cutting Medicare before the Medicare trustees' 
report came out. The trustees' report was used and will be used again 
this year to masquerade their true motives, which is to cut Medicare 
for tax cuts for the wealthy.
  Second, it is likely that the Medicare trustees will report that the 
part A trust fund will become insolvent, they are claiming, I think, we 
expect the report to say that the insolvency projection is about 5 
years from now. Well, Democrats are interested in shoring up the 
Medicare trust fund and have voted for plans that achieve this goal.
  President Clinton has proposed a plan that will extend the life of 
the Medicare program, if you will, for at least another 10 years. So 
this notion that somehow the Republicans are saving Medicare is simply 
false. The Democrats have put forward proposals that would save 
Medicare and prevent solvency but not make basic structural changes in 
the Medicare program.
  Third, the GOP claim they are merely slowing the rate of growth of 
Medicare with their drastic cuts. Well, let us be honest about it. When 
the Gingrich-Dole rate of growth does not keep pace with the increasing 
medical costs, then seniors will either pay more or see reduced 
services and second class health care.
  This was Speaker Gingrich's main point over the weekend on ``Meet the 
Press.'' He claimed, oh, we are just slowing the growth of Medicare, we 
are

[[Page H5760]]

not making cuts. Well, if the growth does not keep up with inflation 
how in the world are average senior citizens going to get quality care 
or the same level of services they get now?
  Fourth, the GOP claims the Gingrich-Dole Medicare plan offers 
choices. In fact, they are taking away senior choices. Their plan will 
co-op senior citizens into managed care plans or HMO's, forcing them to 
give up their choice of doctors.
  And lastly, I wanted to mention, Mr. Speaker, how the Gingrich-Dole 
plan differs from the Democratic alternatives. In addition to the steep 
cuts, the Gingrich-Dole plan makes radical structural changes to 
Medicare. For instance, it calls for steeper cuts to hospitals, 
compounded with extreme Medicaid cuts, and hospitals will simply close.
  Additionally, the Gingrich-Dole plan will allow doctors remaining in 
the traditional Medicare to charge seniors more in out-of-pockets 
costs. The protection existing now when you go to the doctor, he cannot 
charge you more than 15 percent. That is gone. Now they can charge 
whatever they want.
  And, last, concerning the controversial medical accounts, the MSA's, 
or I call them the wealthy-healthy accounts, the nonpartisan 
Congressional Budget Office found any plan to incorporate the wealthy-
healthy accounts will actually hasten Medicare's insolvency. It will 
cost the trustees over $3 billion. That is certainly no way to save 
Medicare.

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