[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 22400]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 MEDICARE CUTS WOULD IMPACT OUR SENIORS

  (Mr. BOUSTANY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office stated that seniors with current private 
Medicare plans could see their benefits cut or costs increase under one 
of the health care overhaul proposals currently being debated. Many 
seniors, including more than 140,000 in my home State of Louisiana, 
depend on these Medicare benefits for their health care.
  Far too often, patients in our current government-run programs lack 
real access to a doctor. Now, under congressional Democrats' plans, 
they would see their benefits cut or higher costs, according to CBO, 
the official scorekeeper for Congress.
  We can do better. We can achieve commonsense solutions in a 
bipartisan way. But the current bills in Congress focus on where we 
disagree. House Republicans have put forward a commonsense plan to 
revitalize the American health care system to lower costs for families 
and businesses and to improve quality.
  Our plan puts patients first and their doctors back in control of 
health care decisions. Our plan makes health care affordable and more 
accessible with patients able to see their doctor of choice.
  Let's work together to put the patient and doctor back in control of 
their health care destiny.

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