[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 75 (Friday, May 27, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E990-E991]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    OPPOSING REPUBLICAN EFFORTS TO ELIMINATE MEDICARE AS WE KNOW IT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. SILVESTRE REYES

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 27, 2011

  Mr. REYES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to strongly oppose the 
Republican's plan to eliminate Medicare as we know it. The Republican 
budget ends the Medicare benefits guarantee and replaces it with an 
inadequate voucher system where seniors will have to buy their own 
health insurance in 2022. These actions

[[Page E991]]

will fulfill Republicans' longtime goal of privatizing Medicare. Their 
plan eliminates critical provisions of the Affordable Care Act, 
including those that provide no-cost preventative screenings for all 
seniors and eliminates a 50 percent discount for brand-name drugs for 
seniors in the `donut hole.' Above all, the Republican plan increases 
the age eligibility for Medicare from 65 to 67, raising health care 
costs for millions of seniors who will have to wait longer to gain 
access to Medicare.
  The plan to dismantle Medicare will have a devastating impact in my 
district. There are over 76,000 seniors in El Paso, and over 2.4 
million seniors in Texas according to the most recent U.S. Census 2010 
numbers. Based on Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis, the 
Republican plan would more than double a senior's out-of-pocket health 
care spending in 2022, compared to what their costs would be under 
traditional Medicare--increasing their out-of-pocket costs by more than 
$6,000 annually. By 2030, the GOP plan would nearly triple this cost to 
seniors.
  These drastic changes to Medicare are a clear reflection of continued 
efforts to cut vital services for hardworking families to subsidize tax 
breaks for millionaires. It is simply irresponsible to balance the 
budget on the backs of seniors, while millionaires who can afford the 
high cost of health care, benefit from more tax breaks. Republicans are 
wrongly targeting vulnerable seniors, many of whom survive on limited 
incomes. Their plan will undoubtedly place additional burdens not only 
on seniors, but on their children, who will bear more costs to help 
meet the health care needs of their parents. This plan will also have a 
disproportionate impact on low income communities, such as those in the 
district that I represent, that will be overburdened with uninsured 
patients who will use public hospitals to meet their health care needs.
  We have an obligation to protect our seniors and ensure they continue 
to have access to Medicare and receive the health care they need in the 
years ahead. That is why I will strongly oppose any effort to privatize 
Medicare and to increase health care costs for seniors.