[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16958]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                DON'T RAISE ELIGIBILITY AGE FOR MEDICARE

  (Mr. COHEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, we're in these fiscal cliff talks, and the 
President and the Speaker are trying to work out a solution. They're 
talking about tax rates for the top 2 percent and taxing their wealth. 
That's something they should do because it's fair and it gives the 
other 98 percent tax relief. But at the same time they're talking about 
increasing the Medicare age from 65 to 67. That's taxing the wealth of 
the less fortunate people who are 65 and 67. For them and for 
everybody, your health is your wealth. Jimmy Copeland, a friend and 
semi-philosopher, said that ``your health is your wealth.'' If you 
raise the Medicare age from 65 to 67, you're going to sacrifice the 
health of people who are not the most fortunate. So while we tax the 
income of the most wealthy, we'll be taxing what wealth the less 
wealthy have--their health. That's wrong. Mr. President and Mr. Speaker 
should not increase that age and tax the poor.

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