[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 165 (Friday, November 6, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H12562]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday of this week I 
was here in this Chamber with my freshmen Republican colleagues, and we 
were preparing to do Special Orders about all the concerns we have with 
the 1,990-page Pelosi health care bill, and I had this bill with me, 
and it was in this bag. I was sitting in a chair and I was standing in 
the row next to it.
  I was approached by one of the fine, dedicated public servants we 
have, employees here in this Chamber that are dedicated to our safety 
and security. They came up to me because somebody had observed this 
rather large unidentified object from the gallery and wanted to make 
sure that it wasn't something left there intentionally, a hazard. I 
assured him this was not a hazard to the Members here, that this was a 
1,990-page Pelosi health care bill. Though, on second thought, it was a 
hazard, a hazard to anyone carrying it around, being as heavy as it is 
but a hazard to our health care system here in the country.
  Mr. Speaker, my background is health care. Twenty-eight years I 
worked on rehabilitation services serving older adults, mostly, 
licensed as a nursing home administrator, dedicated to make a 
difference in the lives of individuals facing life-changing disease and 
disability. I am here with tremendous concerns on behalf of our seniors 
tonight on what this bill does to them.
  Let me talk a little bit about Medicare. My Democratic colleagues 
must consider that Medicare is overfunded. I can tell you that it is 
not. Medicare today pays on the average of only 80 to 90 cents for 
every dollar of costs that a hospital or a doctor has, 80 to 90 cents. 
From the time that entitlement program was created, it was 
systematically underfunded.
  This is a primary reason, actually, that commercial insurance is so 
expensive because of the underfunding of Medicare. Yet my Democratic 
colleagues consider Medicare overfunded. Well, how do I know this? 
Because the bill, this bill in front of me, has over a half a trillion 
dollars in Medicare cuts.
  It must be overfunded in their minds if they can make half a trillion 
dollars in Medicare cuts. Where do those cuts fall at and where will 
they impact seniors? Well, it is going to impact seniors that go into 
hospitals, Medicare part A, significant cuts there, $175 billion, a 
minimum of that. That's cuts to those hospitals, and I know hospitals 
in my district are lucky to make a 1 to 3 percent margin annually. Out 
of that, they hopefully give cost-of-living increases and invest in new 
life-saving technology.
  But they don't stop there. The Democrats go on to cut Medicare in 
terms of skilled nursing facilities. Now that's an area where I was 
licensed as a nursing home administrator. People who go into nursing 
homes today are the sickest of sick. That's the only alternative they 
have when they need that high level of skilled care. To cut services 
there, that's just unacceptable.
  Let's move on to Medicare part B. Those are physician services. They 
are also outpatient services like rehabilitation. When an older adult, 
a senior citizen, has a disease or disability and they need 
rehabilitation, well, that's funded by Medicare part B. But Medicare 
part B, also, under the Democratic plan is scheduled and slated for 
significant cuts.
  Another one that is under Medicare part B is hospice services. Mr. 
Speaker, hospice services, that's a service that reaches out and 
provides services to people that are in their end days, people who are 
in the process of dying. Hospice service allows people to die with 
compassion and surrounded by friends and pain management. Yet the 
Democrats feel that Medicare is so overfunded that we can actually make 
cuts to hospice services.
  Medicare part D. Pharmaceuticals. Well, I never heard anybody say 
that our seniors actually have more than enough resources coming into 
pharmaceuticals, but that's one of the lines within this.
  Then there are wheelchair taxes, medical devices, medical devices 
that are innovations that help people live with dignity, help people 
live with independence, to live outside of institutional settings, 
which are certainly more cost-effective places. Medical devices allow 
people an opportunity to be able to age in place for seniors.
  Now, I assume my Democratic colleagues will assume that the people 
they tax, that will just come out of their pockets, but we know how 
that works. Taxes get passed on. And this will be passed on to the 
people on fixed incomes in this country, and that's unacceptable.
  I want to talk briefly about the flawed math that went into this. One 
of my Democratic freshman colleagues, a Democrat that's on the Rules 
Committee, I heard him make a statement about how this bill is so much 
less expensive than the previous version we saw back in July. I have to 
tell you that's flawed math.
  This bill was based on the fact that the Medicare growth rate would 
be at 4 percent. The average growth rate is 7 to 8 percent. In 2008, 
Medicare grew at 9 percent.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.

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