[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 90 (Wednesday, June 18, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H5473]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   PRIVATIZING MEDICARE IS A BAD IDEA

  (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, last night the House began the process of 
privatizing Medicare. The Committee on Ways and Means put out a bill, 
and it has a provision in it that says, by the year 2010, we are going 
to take away the guaranteed benefit that people have under Medicare, 
and we are going to give them a defined contribution.
  Now, that is a voucher under any other name. They call it premium 
support. They will try and confuse people. It is wrapped inside the 
drug bill so people will say, well, we want the prescription drug 
benefit. If you take it the way the Republicans are giving it to you in 
the House of Representatives, you have to accept that they are 
privatizing Medicare.
  Now, that is a concept that people simply do not understand what that 
means. Give $5,000 to every one of the 40 million old people in this 
country and send them out looking for a loving insurance company to 
take care of them. It is a bad idea. People should wake up and see what 
is happening in the next week.
  This rubber stamp Congress is going to put that bill out of here so 
that they can go home over the 4th of July and say, we gave you 
prescription drugs. They are going to give you privatized Medicare with 
it.

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