[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 23]
[House]
[Page 31843]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          MEDICARE SENIORS CANNOT AFFORD THE REID-PELOSI PLAN

  (Mr. FLEMING asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. FLEMING. Mr. Speaker, Democrats in the Senate are desperately 
looking for 60 votes for health care, so desperate that, in a new 
report released last week, the chief actuary of Medicare found the 
Reid-Pelosi bill would cause many physicians to stop treating seniors 
because of $465 billion in cuts to the Medicare program.
  Unfortunately for Medicare beneficiaries, the CMS actuary also found 
that 20 percent of hospitals and nursing homes would go into the red 
within the next 10 years due to these cuts, seriously threatening the 
ability of seniors to rely on these institutions for their care.
  As if that were not enough, the Reid bill would also cut payments to 
Medicare Advantage plans by roughly $120 billion, plans that 11 million 
seniors enjoy today. These cuts, according to the actuary, will result 
in 3.7 million seniors losing benefits under Medicare, causing many to 
pay more out of pocket each month for the drugs and services they lost. 
The.
  Reid-Pelosi bill will make it harder for seniors to find treatment or 
afford care when they are sick.

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