[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 186 (Tuesday, December 6, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H8145-H8146]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  (Mr. FLEMING asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. FLEMING. Mr. Speaker, nearly 3 years ago, the President of the 
United States stood in this Chamber and said we need health care reform 
to address ``the crushing cost of health care'' and to ``strengthen 
Medicare for years to come.''
  Well, we got the President's type of health care reform. Seniors had 
to help pay for it, however, by removing $500 billion--a half trillion 
dollars--from Medicare in order to subsidize ObamaCare. But guess what. 
That has made Medicare even weaker.
  Today we're trying to find billions of dollars to pay for another 
temporary fix to Medicare reimbursement rates to ensure access by 
patients to their physicians. Last year it cost $19 billion, and it 
will cost more in future years.
  ObamaCare did not bend the cost curve down as it was promised; it 
just pushed the issue down the road.
  Republicans are committed to getting the doc fix done and finding a 
permanent solution; but Medicare is running out of money, and these 
fixes are getting more expensive. It's time to repeal ObamaCare and 
replace it with reforms that truly strengthen Medicare for years to 
come.

[[Page H8146]]



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