[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 98 (Friday, June 28, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7304-S7307]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. COCHRAN (for himself and Mr. Specter):
  S. 1926. A bill to provide for the integrity of the Medicare Program 
under title XVIII of the Social Security Act, and for other purposes; 
to the Committee on Finance.


             THE MEDICARE EMERGENCY PROTECTION ACT OF 1996

 Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, earlier this month, the Medicare 
trustees released their 1996 annual report on the fiscal solvency of 
the Medicare trust fund. The bottom line is that the Medicare trust 
fund is going broke. And it is going broke sooner that we had been 
told.
  Last year's report revealed Medicare's deteriorating financial 
condition, but it was optimistic compared to the report released 
earlier this month. This month's report predicted the program will be 
bankrupt just 5 years from now--possibly running out of money as early 
as calendar year 2000.
  This means by that time, there will be no funds available to pay for 
the hospital care for our Nation's senior citizens.
  Last year, Congress passed and sent to the President a balanced set 
of reforms which would have kept Medicare solvent through the next 
generation while still increasing spending per beneficiary from $4,800 
per year to more than $7,100 per year. It also offered seniors more 
choices and included incentives to combat fraud and abuse.
  Unfortunately, President Clinton vetoed the Medicare Preservation 
Act, which was included as a part of the Balanced Budget Act.
  Because I am tired of the partisan conflict on this issue, I am 
introducing the Medicare Emergency Protection Act of 1996, which 
incorporates the President's Medicare cuts. If the President will not 
approve our Republican proposal for reform of the Medicare program, I 
suggest we pass the President's bill. We cannot allow partisan

[[Page S7306]]

bickering and political grandstanding to prevent the resolution of this 
crisis. The American people are fed up with this kind of politics with 
the gridlock on this issue. It is like Nero playing his fiddle while 
Rome burned.
  I am fed up with this stalemate too. I suggest we adopt the short-
term changes recommended by the President which cut the costs of the 
program and create the commission to recommend the longterm changes to 
save Medicare.
  My bill has two parts. The first part incorporates the President's 
proposed cuts in Medicare. But it excludes his accounting gimmick which 
would transfer the costs of home health care from the Hospital 
Insurance Program to the Supplemental Medical Insurance Program. While 
this transfer would extend the technical solvency of the trust fund, it 
would shift billions of dollars in additional costs to the general 
taxpayer.
  The second part of this legislation creates a commission similar to 
the National Commission on Social Security Reform. As some of my 
colleagues will recall, that Commission was established by President 
Reagan and the Congress in 1981. The Commission suggested reforms which 
will maintain the fiscal solvency of the Social Security trust fund 
until sometime after the year 2025.

  Last year, Majority Leader Dole and Speaker Gingrich proposed a 
similar commission to address the fiscal insolvency of the Medicare 
trust fund. Unfortunately, the Clinton administration rejected that 
proposal.
  However, in their recent report, the Medicare trustees, which include 
three members of President Clinton's Cabinet, themselves proposed the 
establishment of a commission.
  Now, there is obvious bipartisan support for this proposal. The 
National Commission on Medicare Reform will have 1 year to consider 
options for reform to secure the long-term fiscal solvency of the 
Medicare trust fund. Once the members of the Commission have settled on 
a set of reforms, the President will review the proposal. If he 
approved it, he will submit the proposal to the Congress. Under 
expedited procedures, the House of Representatives and the Senate will 
consider it and, without amendment, vote up or down to approve or 
reject the reforms.
  I urge my colleagues to approve this legislation. Each day that 
passes makes the eventual solutions more difficult to achieve.
  I ask unanimous consent that copies of the statement I made on this 
subject in the Senate on June 6 and 7 be reprinted in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

             [From the Congressional Record, June 6, 1996]

                          Medicare Insolvency

       Mr. Cochran. Mr. President, this afternoon, we had a 
     interesting hearing in the subcommittee for appropriations 
     which is chaired by the distinguished Senator from 
     Pennsylvania [Mr. Specter]. The witness was the Secretary of 
     Health and Human Services, Secretary Shalala. We were 
     examining the budget request being submitted by the 
     administration for appropriations to operate the Department 
     of the Government for the next fiscal year than begins 
     October 1.
       Secretary Shalala happens to be in another capacity a 
     trustee of this group who have the responsibility of 
     monitoring the trust fund that supports the benefits paid out 
     under the Medicare Program. Since that group of trustees had 
     just made their report public yesterday at the news 
     conference which we all read and heard about, that subject 
     came up.
       It occurred to me, since there was before the general 
     public a suggestion by the President that he had made 
     recommendations that were almost identical with the 
     Republican suggestion about how to protect the benefits of 
     this Medicare Program and how to deal with this impending 
     insolvency of that fund, it occurs to me that we are going to 
     see more of the same kind of political shenanigans from now 
     until the end of this year, with nothing being done unless 
     somebody is ready to say, ``OK, we will go along with your 
     proposal.''
       The President can say that to the Congress, or we can say 
     that to the President. I am prepared at this point to 
     suggest, in a serious way, and said this to Secretary Shalala 
     at the hearing, the Congress accept the President's 
     suggestions. We can pass the suggested changes for short-term 
     relief of pressure on that fund, but at the same time appoint 
     a commission which is also called for by the President and 
     the trustees in their report to propose long-term changes, 
     changes to affect the long-term insolvency problems of the 
     trust fund, and that the Congress, through its leaders and 
     the President himself, agree to implement the recommendations 
     of that commission for long-term changes.
       It seems to me that is one way to resolve this as a part of 
     this argument over whether Republicans are trying to cut 
     taxes, to impose changes on Medicare beneficiaries as a part 
     of a budget balancing act. We already, in the Congress, 
     submitted to the President proposals to rescues the Medicare 
     Program. That was a part of the Balanced Budget Act which the 
     President vetoed. He has already rejected what Congress has 
     suggested. After weeks and weeks of negotiations with leaders 
     of the Congress and the President at the White House, all we 
     got out to it were some photo ops, some political posturing, 
     partisan sniping. We have had enough of that. The American 
     people are fed up with that kind of politics. That is not the 
     way to run the Government. I am tired of it.
       I have recommended and seriously urge this Congress to 
     accept the recommendation of the President--not the one, of 
     course, that says that home health care ought to be paid for 
     out of the general Treasury; I am talking about changes that 
     will reduce the costs of the program in a way that saves the 
     program from insolvency--they recommended last year that we 
     had to act before the year 2002, that we were going to see an 
     insolvency, there would be a bankrupted fund, in effect.
       Now, the report this year is worse than that. The year 
     before it was going insolvent. Under the last report, it is 
     going to lose $33 billion, and the following year $100 
     billion. Contrary to what the junior Senator from West 
     Virginia said, that this is a Republican-manufactured crisis, 
     that is an outrageous comment. That is totally outrageous. 
     These trustees are Democrats by and large. Secretary Rubin 
     said it, Secretary Shalala said it is going to be insolvent, 
     the head of the Social Security Administration was standing 
     there and agreed with them. That is not a group of 
     Republicans. The Republicans are not manufacturing a crisis. 
     The crisis is real. The crisis is now.
       It is irresponsible for us to continue to sit here and 
     listen to this kind of arguing made by Senators on the other 
     side that this is some kind of effort by Republicans to 
     frighten older people. I am frightened. I am not an eligible 
     beneficiary yet. We have to act.
       I want to commend the Senator from Pennsylvania for his 
     leadership in an effort to get the Secretary to agree to 
     recommendations to the administration, that they take a 
     stand, put their recommendations in the form of legislation, 
     send it to the Hill, and see if we can pass it.
                                                                    ____


                          Medicare Trust Fund

       Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, first, I want to commend the 
     distinguished Senator from Georgia [Mr. Coverdell], and those 
     who spoke this morning on the subject of a balanced budget 
     amendment and the unfortunate consequences of our failure to 
     deal with the problem of the ever-increasing deficits.
       We also had a few of those Senators mention, as an aside, 
     the problem with the Medicare trust fund. I wanted to remind 
     Senators that we had a hearing yesterday in the 
     Appropriations Subcommittee that funds the Department of 
     Health and Human Services, and Secretary Donna Shalala came 
     before the committee to present the President's proposed 
     budget for that Department for the next fiscal year. She 
     serves, along with others in the administration, on this 
     panel of trustees, whose responsibility it is to monitor and 
     help keep Congress and the administration informed about the 
     integrity of the trust fund, and supports the Medicare 
     Program.
       The trustees, earlier this week, talked about the fact that 
     the worst case scenario for future deficits in that program 
     had been exceeded, and that rather than having the program go 
     bankrupt, be hopelessly insolvent by the year 2002, it was 
     going to be bankrupt earlier. By the year 2000, it would be 
     out of balance by over $30 billion, and the following year, 
     it would be out of balance and in deficit at the figure of 
     $100 billion.
       The consequences of this report have to wake up everybody 
     to the realization that unless Congress and the 
     administration quit playing politics with this issue, it is 
     going to be insolvent. This program is going to be in 
     jeopardy, and benefits are going to be in jeopardy as well.
       I think the time has come for us to say, OK, the Republican 
     Congress passed a balanced budget act last year. It included 
     in that suggested reforms in the Medicare Program that would 
     have put it in balance, would have kept it solvent, would 
     have made some needed changes in the program to give older 
     citizens more choices, more protection, so that their medical 
     expenses and benefits could continue to be paid through this 
     program.
       The President vetoed the bill. He rejected the balanced 
     budget act. So we started over again. This year, the Budget 
     Committee is wrestling with the problem of reconciling budget 
     resolutions, which contain projected expenditures under this 
     program, as well as all other Federal programs, with an 
     effort to continue to build toward a balanced budget plan as 
     soon as possible. Their projection is the year 2002.
       What I am going to suggest is that, in this politically 
     charged environment of Presidential politics and campaigns 
     for House and Senate seats underway--and we have to admit 
     it--it is unlikely that this administration is going to 
     change its mind and embrace the Republican proposals. And so 
     we have to acknowledge that.

[[Page S7307]]

       The President, at the same time, has made a counteroffer, 
     as I understand it, and has proposed some changes in the 
     Medicare Program, which would achieve savings of $116 billion 
     over the same period of time. The Republican proposals would 
     have achieved savings of almost $170 billion.
       Let us say, OK, Mr. President, have it your way for the 
     short term. Let us introduce the President's proposed changes 
     in the Medicare Program. Let us accept his proposals for 
     changes and cuts in the Medicare Program and enact them next 
     week, or the week following. If the reconciliation bill from 
     the Budget Committee's resolution is vetoed by the President 
     or not supported by the Democrats in that area of the budget, 
     let us isolate the Medicare Program changes and enact some 
     changes.
       I suggest, let us enact the President's proposed changes 
     and cuts in the program and, at the same time, establish a 
     commission--which the President has recommended, the trustees 
     have recommended in their report, including Secretary 
     Shalala, Secretary Reich, Secretary Rubin, and others, who 
     serve on that trustee panel--to recommend long-term changes 
     in the Medicare Program that would ensure its solvency and 
     protect the benefits for the older citizens in our society 
     over the long term.
       I do not see anything wrong with that. As a matter of fact, 
     I have been suggesting that that be considered as an 
     alternative. If Congress and the President cannot agree on 
     what changes ought to be made, get a commission together, 
     much like the Base Closure Commission, or the Social Security 
     Commission, which was formed in 1983 and chaired by Alan 
     Greenspan. It made recommendations to save the Social 
     Security trust fund from bankruptcy, and Congress and the 
     President agreed at that time to accept the recommendation of 
     that commission and implement it.
       That ought to be a part of this legislation--that we 
     establish that commission, agree to implement its 
     recommendations, and have a vote on it. If you do not want to 
     implement them, vote no; be against everything. But we have 
     to come to terms with the reality of the situation. The 
     longer we wait, the harder the solution is going to be and 
     the more sacrifices that are going to have to be made by 
     everybody--the taxpayers. If we do not make these changes, do 
     you know what is going to happen? Pretty soon, you are going 
     to see the taxes on the employers and employees to fund this 
     program being increased--and by substantial sums.
       Now, the older population is getting older and, thank 
     goodness, medical science is wonderful and it is giving us 
     all opportunities for longer lives. But coming with that, 
     too, are added expenses, as you get older, for medical care. 
     Our senior citizens confront the reality every day of this 
     terrible fear, and that is that they will not have the funds, 
     they will not have access to the care they need to enjoy the 
     longevity that they now have, compliments of medical science, 
     good nutrition, and the advances that we have made for good 
     health in our society.
       So I say that it is time to stop the partisan politics. Let 
     us quit throwing rocks at each other across the aisle, 
     blaming each other for not getting anything done. I am 
     prepared to say, as a Member of the Republican leadership in 
     the Senate, OK, Mr. President, let us enact your proposal.
       I am going to introduce a bill next week, and I hope there 
     will be Senators on both sides of the aisle who will say, OK, 
     let us go along with this suggestion as an alternative to 
     what we have been getting. And what we have been getting is 
     nothing--gridlock, confrontation, yelling at each other, 
     people getting red in the face, and nothing getting done.
       I think the American people are fed up with that kind of 
     politics, fed up with that kind of Government. I am fed up 
     with it. It is time to change. We ought to do it now--before 
     it is too late.
                                 ______