[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 17833-17834]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        RISE IN MEDICARE PREMIUMS CATASTROPHIC EVENT FOR SENIORS

  (Mr. BERRY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BERRY. Madam Speaker, I remember in 1995 when the leadership on 
the other side of the aisle stood before this House and talked about 
how they wanted to see Medicare and Social Security wither on the vine. 
It is a matter of public record. It is not speculation; it is not 
putting words in someone's mouth. Now they have been in

[[Page 17834]]

power long enough to begin to accomplish that goal.
  Part B Medicare premiums have gone up 17 percent, from $66.60 to 
$78.20. We have raised $10 a year the deductible for part B services, 
and the story goes on and on. This is a catastrophic event for senior 
citizens, particularly in rural America, where they get charged four 
times as much for their prescription medicine as anyone else in the 
world.
  This administration has been working on this issue for 4 years. It 
gets worse and worse and worse. It is time to make a change.

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