[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9115]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              WE NEED TO KEEP OUR PROMISES TO OUR SENIORS

  (Ms. HANABUSA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. HANABUSA. Mr. Speaker, during these difficult times, we define 
ourselves as a society and a country by how we treat those who are less 
fortunate and those who are dependent. We also define ourselves by how 
we keep our promises, and this is why it is so important that we keep 
our promises to our seniors.
  I'm speaking, Mr. Speaker, about Medicare and the Republican plan to 
do away with Medicare as we know of it today. You hear many things, but 
we owe it to our seniors to be honest and up front with them as to 
exactly what this plan is going to do.
  You will hear that Medicare will not affect those seniors who are on 
Medicare now. That is not true. Seniors who are on Medicare now will 
see that doughnut hole reappear. In other words, they're going to pay 
for prescription drugs again. You will see figures like 3.9 million of 
them paying $2.2 billion next year, alone, for that doughnut hole.
  We will also see that it will cost them a total of about $111 million 
next year because they will now have to copay for their wellness visit.
  This is not the way we keep our promises to the elderly.

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