[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 81 (Wednesday, June 5, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H5821-H5822]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     RADICAL CHANGES IN MEDICARE NOT NECESSARY TO KEEP FUND SOLVENT

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, the previous speaker, my colleague from 
Ohio, is once again trying to use the Medicare trustees report which 
comes out today as justification for the large cuts in Medicare that 
will be used by the Republican leadership to finance tax breaks for the 
wealthy.
  This trustees report is out again, it comes out every year, and what 
it says to us is that we need to do something, we need to make some 
changes in the Medicare Program, but the Democrats have already 
proposed that. We have already voted on the President's budget, which 
most Republicans oppose, which would basically make some cuts in 
Medicare but preserve the program.
  The problem is that the Republican proposal is to change radically 
Medicare, to make it so you do not have a choice of doctor, to increase 
out-of-pocket costs with overcharges and also essentially forcing 
senior citizens into managed care, into HMO's.
  We do not need the radical changes in Medicare that the Republicans 
are proposing. We only need to make some minor adjustments to make sure 
that

[[Page H5822]]

the trust fund remains solvent. But that can be done with the 
Democratic proposal without the radical changes in Medicare that the 
Republican leadership is proposing.

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