[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 25814]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         HALLOWEEN HEALTH CARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, this year at Halloween, the Feds will 
be going door to door playing trick or treat on seniors by taking their 
Medicare coverage. When they knock, seniors should not answer the door. 
When they peek through the peephole, the bureaucrats will be dressed as 
snake oil salesmen because they are cutting Medicare parts A, B, C and 
D. They are going to try to sell seniors on the new bill which we call 
Medicare part E, but it doesn't cover one senior citizen. Not one. Just 
call it Halloween health care because it is really scary.
  What is in this Halloween health care bill? Well, just look at the 
latest and greatest Senate bill. You know, that is the bill that is 
being drafted in the dark corners and the dungeons of the Capitol where 
the light of transparency and truth never reaches.
  The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says the Halloween health 
care will do the following things: It will cut Medicare part A for 
hospitals by $128 billion. It will cut Medicare part B for doctor 
reimbursement $130 billion. It will rob Medicare part C, Medicare 
Advantage, off $133 billion. We are not through yet. And yes, Medicare 
part D for prescription drugs is cut $20 billion. The total: $411 
billion cut for seniors and Medicare. That is enough to scare 
everybody.
  This new Medicare part E takes a half-trillion dollars out of 
Medicare, but it doesn't cover the seniors. In this new Medicare part 
E, the ``E'' stands for everybody else, including those in the country 
illegally.
  I know, they keep talking about and saying that illegals will not be 
covered. But when attempts were made to require proof of citizenship to 
sign up for Halloween health care handouts, the amendments were voted 
down. The bill also raises $424 billion in new taxes.
  Now why would they do that when the country is in a recession? The 
country is broke. We don't have the money. Well, Halloween health care 
will cost a trillion dollars, and they have to get the money from 
somewhere. We can't afford another thousand-page, trillion dollar bill. 
Our seniors are going to pay for more than half of the tab out of 
Medicare, and not one single senior will get more coverage out of this 
new health care bill.
  Here is where it really gets dicey. The new Halloween health care 
proposal still rations health care services based on age. If you need a 
pacemaker, the snake oil salesmen are going to look at your age, the 
cost in what they call survivability rates. If the bureaucrats think 
your health care needs are just too expensive, they will hand out pain 
pills instead of approving that new pacemaker. That is what they 
already do in other countries where the government runs the health care 
system. In England it is called, and get this, the Quality Adjusted 
Life Years, and they have the power to make these life-and-death 
decisions on seniors.
  When the Federal Government is in charge of health care, they are the 
only game in town and this so-called public option will be costly. You 
think health care is expensive now, just wait until it is free.
  There are commonsense health care reforms we can all agree on. We 
don't have to have the government take over the whole system to fix 
what is specifically wrong with the system. That is like pulling all of 
your teeth when you have a toothache.
  Halloween health care will be another thousand page, trillion-dollar 
bill. It will raise Medicare and other premiums, raise taxes, and slash 
Medicare coverage for seniors. This is not reform, that's abuse. But 
that is Halloween health care and it is coming to your door. Trick or 
treat.
  And that's just the way it is.

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