[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 21]
[House]
[Page 28196]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     MEANINGFUL HEALTH CARE REFORMS

  (Mr. LEE of New York asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. LEE of New York. A recent report by the Obama administration 
confirmed that Speaker Pelosi's health care bill will cut seniors' 
Medicare benefits and, in particular, Medicare Advantage. The report 
from the nonpartisan Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said 
that Speaker Pelosi's bill would slash Medicare and Medicare Advantage 
by more than $500 billion. According to The Washington Post, these 
massive cuts ``would sharply reduce benefits from some senior citizens 
and could jeopardize access to care for millions of others.''
  My district in western New York has the greatest number of Medicare 
Advantage enrollees in New York State. Medicare Advantage provides 
seniors a comprehensive health care plan that they can afford, yet 
Speaker Pelosi's bill will all but destroy this program.
  It's important that Congress enact meaningful reforms to our health 
care system to improve affordability and accessibility, but we should 
not financing these reforms on the backs of seniors.

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