[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 14552]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      45TH ANNIVERSARY OF MEDICARE

  Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, tomorrow our Nation celebrates the 45th 
anniversary of Medicare, a vital program that has provided health care 
for millions of Americans through the years. During my career in the 
Senate, I have fought to ensure that our Arkansas seniors and all 
seniors receive the best health care possible. I have fought to protect 
Medicare benefits for our Arkansas seniors, so they can receive the 
care they need, when they need it.
  I believe in the promise our government made to working Americans 
that if we work hard, Medicare will be there to help us in our golden 
years. Medicare has made a healthy and secure retirement possible for 
tens of millions of Americans, including my own mother.
  More than 500,000 Arkansans are enrolled in Medicare, and I am proud 
of my work on their behalf. In particular, our Arkansas seniors will 
see significant new benefits because of the Patient Protection and 
Affordable Care Act, which I played a major role in crafting.
  The new health care law will enhance the life and well being of our 
seniors in many ways. For example, I fought successfully to reduce the 
Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage gap known as the doughnut 
hole, which will save seniors money beginning this year. In addition, 
the legislation will immediately extend Medicare payment protections 
for small rural hospitals and other health care providers that play 
vital roles in their communities.
  I am proud that the Senate health care reform law explicitly states 
that no reductions in guaranteed Medicare benefits will be made, and 
that any savings generated for the Medicare program will extend 
Medicare solvency, reduce Medicare premiums and cost-sharing for 
beneficiaries, improve or expand Medicare guaranteed benefits, and 
preserve access to Medicare health care providers.
  In addition my Medicare Advantage lemon law included in the bill 
creates a 45-day period--January 1through February 15--beginning in 
2011 during which beneficiaries who enroll in Medicare Advantage or 
prescription drug plans during the annual enrollment period can 
disenroll and return to traditional fee-for-service Medicare. This 
proposal will help protect seniors from losing benefits or the ability 
to see their doctors if they have discovered they signed up for a 
Medicare Advantage plan that does not cover their doctors or does not 
meet their health care needs, a problem we have experienced often in 
Arkansas.
  As we commemorate the 45th anniversary of Medicare, I would like to 
take this opportunity to thank the entire Arkansas health care 
community for their dedicated efforts to ensure that their fellow 
Arkansans receive the best care possible. In particular, I commend our 
health care professionals for their participation in the Medicare 
program, providing comfort and care and making a healthy retirement 
possible for millions of Arkansans since the program's inception 45 
years ago.

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