[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 85 (Tuesday, June 8, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S4630]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, amid all the various crises Americans 
face at the moment, one of the most exasperating has to be the 
increasingly high cost of health care. The American people do not 
understand how an administration that devoted more than a year talking 
about health care could end up with a bill that actually raises the 
cost of care instead of lowering it.
  Seniors are particularly upset about this legislation, and that is 
why the White House is staging an event today aimed at convincing them 
they are actually getting a good deal. But seniors are right to be 
skeptical. They were told this law would strengthen Medicare, when, in 
fact, it takes $\1/2\ trillion out of Medicare to fund a new government 
program. They were also told that if they liked their plan, they could 
keep it. Yet now we hear that millions of seniors will lose their 
Medicare Advantage benefits they already have and like as a result of 
the Democratic health care bill.
  The centerpiece of today's event is a $250 rebate check the 
administration will pass out to the fraction--fraction--of seniors who 
qualify for it. I am sure anyone who gets these checks is happy to take 
that extra cash, especially in the current economy. What the 
administration, however, will not mention at today's event is that for 
every senior who gets a check, more than three other seniors will see 
an increase in their prescription drug insurance premiums. In other 
words, behind every $250 check is more than three seniors who will be 
paying more as a result of this bill. The reason for this is that the 
health care bill Democrats forced on Americans earlier this year 
requires higher government-mandated minimum standards for everyone. 
Those who opted for anything below that minimum will now see their 
premiums go up, and the number of seniors in this category far, far 
outnumbers those getting a check. The administration can tout the check 
it is giving out to some seniors, but by failing to mention those 
seniors for whom it is causing rates to go up, it is hiding the whole 
truth.
  That has been the story all along about this bill--a lot of promises 
that could not be kept. That is why the story now is not the bill 
itself but the administration's broken promises. Americans never wanted 
this bill. They never wanted it in the first place. And they are 
reminded every day why they opposed it.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.

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