[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 76 (Tuesday, May 31, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H3765]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE FUTURE OF MEDICARE

  (Mr. BURGESS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BURGESS. Many people didn't notice that a little over 3 weeks 
ago, the Medicare Trustees Report came out and advised that the 
Medicare program would in be serious difficulty in the year 2023.
  Now you might ask, What is Congress doing about this? We have well 
over 10 years to react. The Republican budget that was passed a few 
weeks ago did indeed lay out a pathway for dealing with the problems in 
the future. Unfortunately, the Democratic leadership in the other body 
has decided not to take up any type of roadmap or pathway that may lead 
to a resolution of this problem.
  So we are left with the program that was essentially laid out by the 
President in the Affordable Care Act, and this program relies heavily 
upon a group called the Independent Payment Advisory Board: 15 people, 
not elected but appointed by the President, well paid to sit on a board 
and to deliver to Congress every year a menu of cuts in the amount of 
money that Medicare may spend.
  Now, Congress, true enough, has the ability to accept or reject this 
menu of cuts, but if Congress rejects it, it must come up with its own 
plan. If Congress does not agree--and when has that ever happened?--the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services will have the ability to 
institute those cuts as planned.

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