[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 29 (Tuesday, March 17, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E396]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            ON INTRODUCTION OF THE MEDICARE EARLY ACCESS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 17, 1998

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Democratic leadership and 
all committees of jurisdiction, and at the request of President 
Clinton, we are pleased to introduce the Medicare Early Access Act. 
This bill provides health insurance for 400,000 people at a vulnerable 
point in their lives. At the same time, it closes gaping loopholes in 
Medicare to recapture millions of dollars in fraud and abuse.
  Democrats created Social Security in 1935 when Franklin Delano 
Roosevelt was in the White House. We perfected Medicare in 1965 when 
Lyndon Johnson was President. And in 1985, I was privileged to draft 
the COBRA coverage law with the support of a Republican President, 
Ronald Reagan. This year, under the leadership of President Clinton, we 
plan to follow in this bipartisan tradition and enact legislation to 
open up Medicare to early retirees and displaced workers who can't buy 
adequate health care in the private market.
  We can do this at no cost to the taxpayer. The Medicare Early Access 
Act is fully paid for through premiums and anti-fraud savings.
  Insurance companies don't want to sell policies to people between the 
ages of 55 and 65. Employers are trying to stop covering them. States 
are not filling the gap. It's time for the federal government to step 
forward and solve the problem of diminishing access for early retirees 
and workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.
  Early Medicare is also an option for workers age 55 to 62 who have 
lost their jobs and aren't eligible for COBRA. And despite gloomy 
predictions in some quarters, the Congressional Budget Office has given 
the Medicare buy-in bill a thumbs up.
  The fraud part of this package will close gaping loopholes that now 
permit some providers to abuse our country's largest health care 
system. We give Secretary Shalala the authority to take the necessary 
steps to save Medicare billions of dollars.
  The President's Medicare buy-in proposal sets the stage for a federal 
government that is fiscally conservative and socially responsible. With 
the support of progressive lawmakers, we will work toward enactment of 
this important bill this year.

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