[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 16]
[House]
[Pages 21775-21776]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          EXPIRING MEDICARE PROGRAM NEEDS URGENT CONSIDERATION

  (Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I want to bring to the attention of the 
House a matter that really needs urgent consideration. There are 
160,000 elderly and disabled Americans who depend on Medicare part B, a 
program called the QI program, qualified individual. That program is 
due to expire on Friday. That program, that benefit, pays Medicare part 
B benefits to people with incomes that are 120 percent to 135 percent 
of the Federal poverty level. How that translates is that people who 
are making less than $1,092 per month as an individual or $1,459 per 
couple, they are due to lose their benefit which, for some people, 
would be almost 10 percent of their income. The Medicare part B 
insurance program covers medical services like physician service, lab 
service, durable medical equipment, outpatient and home health visits. 
We have a bipartisan bill sponsored by myself and the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. LaTourette), H.R. 3800. We have to act

[[Page 21776]]

in the next 24 hours to save the financial condition for 160,000 
elderly and disabled Americans.

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