[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 137 (Monday, December 6, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H10899]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF MEDICARE MODERNIZATION ACT

  (Mr. BURGESS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, we come up on the 1-year anniversary of the 
President signing the Medicare Modernization Act. This is truly an 
accomplishment of which this Congress can be proud. We begin the 
process of the transformation of Medicare.
  Mr. Speaker, with the advances in medical science, and those that are 
to come in fields such as genomics and protenomics, we are going to see 
improved longevity and improved health outcomes. Medicare, for the 
first time, will pay for wellness instead of compensating for disease.
  In our bill, we allowed the expansion of health savings accounts. 
Health savings accounts will change the way the next generation 
approaches paying for health insurance, giving them far greater power 
over their own health decisions. Mr. Speaker, today's seniors, next 
year, will have the missing piece of Medicare when coverage for 
prescription drugs begins.
  Mr. Speaker, this was indeed landmark legislation that passed this 
House a year ago, and I salute those on the committees of jurisdiction 
that had a hand in getting this legislation passed. Every Member of 
this Congress and their staffs can be proud of their accomplishment.

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