[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 18480-18481]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       SHAMEFUL MEDICARE INCREASE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, President Bush said about a year ago 
he would veto any Medicare bill that cost taxpayers more than $400 
billion. The President then signed a bill that cost $551 billion. His 
Medicare Administrator, who had lied to Congress, who had not shared 
any of this information as they continued to say it was $400 billion to 
people on both sides of the aisle, his Medicare Administrator knew the 
true bill's cost long before the President signed it, and you have got 
to think that the President knew what the bill cost since the Medicare 
Administrator works for the President, that the President knew what the 
bill cost before he picked up his pen and signed that legislation late 
last year.
  Seniors would have been outraged had they known that this bloated 
bill that the President signed would have increased their Medicare 
premiums 17 percent. Image that, the Medicare premiums that seniors 
have paid, they have fluctuated a little over the years, but imagine a 
17 percent increase, the largest increase in Medicare premiums in 
Medicare history. Thirty-eight years of Medicare, never an increase 
like this. But seniors would obviously have been outraged to know that 
Republicans in Congress and the Administrator not only made this happen 
by passing that bill, but that the President and the administration and 
the Republican leadership knew that this increase was going to happen 
because of this bill.
  But, of course, this increase happened. Of course, George Bush had to 
push forward and announce a 17 percent increase. Why? Because of the 
increased subsidies in the Medicare bill for the insurance industry, 
for the HMOs. The health maintenance organizations had a 50 percent 
profit increase last year, yet we are subsidizing them additionally 
under this bill to the tune of billions of dollars. So, of course, we

[[Page 18481]]

have to take money out of seniors' pockets in increased Medicare 
premiums and then turn that money over to Medicare HMOs.
  Here is how it works. In this Medicare bill that Congress passed last 
year, a year ago, starting in March 2004, Medicare HMOs got from 
taxpayers $229 million. In April they got $229 million. Still no 
Medicare drug benefit, which does not go into effect until 2006, but 
the HMOs were getting subsidized by the Federal Government.
  In June, $229 million. In July $229 million from seniors and 
taxpayers to the Medicare HMOs, to the health maintenance 
organizations, yet still no Medicare drug benefit. July $229 million. 
August $229 million. This month, $229 million more, and still no 
prescription drug benefit for seniors. September, October, November, 
December and all of next year Medicare HMOs, private insurance 
companies, will continue to get a subsidy from the Federal Government 
of $229 million extra that they were not getting before this Medicare 
bill took effect.
  Of course, the President had to increase premiums 17 percent to pay 
these insurance companies subsidies. Why would the President raise 
Medicare premiums to give money to insurance companies? Well, it might 
be the fact that insurance companies have given tens of millions of 
dollars to the President's reelection, tens of millions of dollars to 
my friends on the other side of the aisle. It might have something to 
do, too, with the fact that this Medicare bill was written by the drug 
companies, written by the insurance companies.
  Drug company profits will go up $180 billion over the next 10 years 
because of this prescription drug bill. Insurance companies subsidies, 
subsidies directly from seniors through higher premiums and taxpayers 
will go up literally tens of billions of dollars to those insurance 
companies, to those HMOs.
  The whole Medicare bill, middle of the night debate, vote at 6 
o'clock in the morning after the rolls were kept open for 3 hours. One 
Republican Member accused his own leadership of trying to bribe him on 
the House floor; arm twisting in the middle of the night; and then the 
secrecy of trying to foist this 17 percent Medicare increase by 
announcing it sort of under the cover of darkness, late in the 
afternoon, right before Labor Day weekend; the secrecy of this whole 
administration, and ultimately the payoff that this Medicare bill has 
done, the payoff to the drug and insurance industries because of 
political contributions.
  Remember, a 17 percent increase; a record in the history of Medicare; 
never an increase this big; 17 percent, the largest premium increase in 
Medicare history in order to subsidize the insurance companies, in 
order to give even bigger profits to this country's drug companies.
  Mr. Speaker, it is shameful.

                          ____________________