[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Page 24375]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            MEDICARE PART B

  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I rise to respond to the 
Senator from New Hampshire, to point out that the offset to the 
amendment that would freeze the Medicare Part B premium for senior 
citizens is not as the Senator from New Hampshire had been led to 
believe in Medicare Part D, which is the prescription drug benefit. No, 
the offset is in the new proposed changes to Medicaid that would make 
Medicaid be distributed through the States through managed care.
  Under the current law, the prescription drugs that are available 
through Medicaid have to be discounted and provided to Medicaid 
recipients. The new waivers to the States allowing Medicaid to be 
dispensed through HMOs is going to allow those discounts to go away, 
and it will be a negotiated item. There is a savings of up to $2 
billion if one does not allow that law to be changed so that the 
discount goes away by law.
  Therefore, Medicaid recipients very possibly pay more. It is that 
savings, by keeping that discount of up to $2 billion, which is the 
offset that we pay for, keeping senior citizens whole by not raising 
their Medicare Part B premiums.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.

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