[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 4, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H9985-H9986]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              PRESERVING PROTECTING AND ENHANCING MEDICARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the house, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Fox] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I come to the well of the House 
tonight to speak about a very important topic to all Americans, and 
that is the preservation, the protection and enhancement of Medicare.
  Medicare is the important healthcare program for our senior citizens, 
and the President's trustees not long ago told us if we do nothing to 
improve Medicare's financial stability, by the year 2001 it will be out 
of business. So we in the House and Senate, as well as the President, 
need to work together to make sure we preserve and protect Medicare.
  You may say to yourself, how did we get to this point? We have $30 
billion a year in fraud, waste and abuse by providers; not all 
providers, but some providers, whether it be doctors, hospitals, or 
insurance companies, have led us to a $30 billion a year figure of 
fraud, waste and abuse.
  So, Mr. Speaker, the majority party has introduced legislation which 
we hope will be eventually passed, which will in fact clue for the 
first time healthcare fraud as a crime, so that those who would 
systematically and regularly bilk the Federal Government through 
Medicare fraud, waste and

[[Page H9986]]

abuse, would in fact be eligible for a 10 year jail term and lose their 
rights as providers.
  Further items in this reform legislation would include reducing our 
paperwork cost. Twelve percent of Medicare now goes to paperwork. We 
can reduce that with electronic billing to just 2 percent.
  Further, on medical education, very important medical education for 
our interns and residents at teaching hospitals, it is a program that 
should be supported. Maybe it should not be part of the Medicare 
Program, but it should be part of the Federal Government's allotment of 
funds, so teaching hospitals continue to have the finest education and 
doctors turned out of medical schools so we can make sure that we have 
the education we need, but not as part of Medicare. Medicare should be 
for our senior citizens' health care.

                              {time}  1815

  Another provision of the bill is for the Medicare lockbox. Any 
savings we get from fraud, waste and abuse would in fact go to health 
care for our seniors.
  Finally, the legislation proposed would make sure that we in fact 
have options. We would retain the fee-for-service choice of doctor and 
choice of hospital for every senior across the country, but also give 
them the option of having managed care Medicare to include eyeglasses 
and pharmaceuticals for the healthiest of seniors, and also medical 
savings accounts under Medicare which would give them the chance to 
invest the money they want to their health care and have the extra 
dollars they keep be rolled over to the following year when they might 
need the funds more.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I think it is very important that we as Republicans 
and Democrats work together to save Medicare for our seniors, for this 
generation of seniors and the next, to make sure that health care is 
there and Medicare is there and we do so in the proper way for the 
protection of all our senior citizens.

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