[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 9 (Wednesday, February 2, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E133]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    SENIORS' HEALTH CARE FREEDOM ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. RON PAUL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 2, 2005

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the Seniors' Health Care 
Freedom Act. This act protects seniors' fundamental right to make their 
own health care decisions by repealing federal laws that interfere with 
seniors' ability to form private contracts for medical services. This 
bill also repeals laws which force seniors into the Medicare program 
against their will. When Medicare was first established, seniors were 
promised that the program would be voluntary. In fact, the original 
Medicare legislation explicitly protected a senior's right to seek out 
other forms of medical insurance. However, the Balanced Budget Act of 
1997 prohibits any physician who forms a private contract with a senior 
from filing any Medicare reimbursement claims for two years. As a 
practical matter, this means that seniors cannot form private contracts 
for health care services.
  Seniors may wish to use their own resources to pay for procedures or 
treatments not covered by Medicare, or to simply avoid the bureaucracy 
and uncertainty that comes when seniors must wait for the judgment of a 
Center from Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) bureaucrat before 
finding out if a desired treatment is covered.
  Seniors' right to control their own health care is also being denied 
due to the Social Security Administration's refusal to give seniors who 
object to enrolling for Medicare Part A Social Security benefits. This 
not only distorts the intent of the creators of the Medicare system; it 
also violates the promise represented by Social Security. Americans pay 
taxes into the Social Security Trust Fund their whole working lives and 
are promised that Social Security will be there for them when they 
retire. Yet, today, seniors are told that they cannot receive these 
benefits unless they agree to join an additional government program!
  At a time when the fiscal solvency of Medicare is questionable, to 
say the least, it seems foolish to waste scarce Medicare funds on those 
who would prefer to do without Medicare. Allowing seniors who neither 
want nor need to participate in the program to refrain from doing so 
will also strengthen the Medicare program for those seniors who do wish 
to participate in it. Of course, my bill does not take away Medicare 
benefits from any senior. It simply allows each senior to choose 
voluntarily whether or not to accept Medicare benefits or to use his 
own resources to obtain health care.
  Forcing seniors into government programs and restricting their 
ability to seek medical care free from government interference 
infringes on the freedom of seniors to control their own resources and 
make their own health care decisions. A woman who was forced into 
Medicare against her wishes summed it up best in a letter to my office, 
``. . . I should be able to choose the medical arrangements I prefer 
without suffering the penalty that is being imposed.'' I urge my 
colleagues to protect the right of seniors to make the medical 
arrangements that best suit their own needs by cosponsoring the 
Seniors' Health Care Freedom Act.

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