[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 13936-13937]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        MEDICARE'S 49TH BIRTHDAY

  Mr. NELSON. Madam President, this week Medicare is turning 49 years 
old. Since July 1965, Medicare has provided critical access to health 
care benefits for older Americans and people with disabilities. Florida 
alone is home to over 3.5 million Medicare beneficiaries.
  Medicare has become a landmark program based on its popularity among 
beneficiaries and the comprehensive benefits offered. In 1959, almost 4 
out of 10 Americans over age 65 were living below the poverty line, as 
compared with about 1 in 10 seniors living in poverty in 2000. Prior to 
Medicare, seniors paid almost half of the cost of their health; in 
1997, seniors paid only 18 percent of their health care costs. Medicare 
pulled millions of Americans out of poverty by not only providing them 
with important health benefits, but also by enabling seniors to use 
their hard-earned retirement savings for needs other than their health 
care.
  As chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, I understand that Medicare 
is essential to the Nation, particularly as the baby boom generation 
enters retirement. Those served by Medicare often have modest incomes 
and complex health conditions that depend on these lifesaving benefits. 
As a committee, we have looked at Medicare's prescription drug benefit, 
researched ways to eradicate fraud and waste in the program, and 
ensured that seniors have access to quality, affordable care. In fact, 
just yesterday, the committee convened a hearing about how to improve 
Medicare beneficiaries' access to skilled nursing care.
  The Affordable Care Act has helped to reduce costs, increase 
benefits, and improve health care delivery for Medicare beneficiaries. 
Earlier this year, Derrick in Tampa wrote to me about how much the ACA 
has meant to his family in providing care for his mother. His mother 
was the victim of gun

[[Page 13937]]

violence and will need extensive medical care for the rest of her life. 
So Derrick wrote that when Congress passed the ACA, ``I was excited for 
my mother and the many others'' who will benefit from the improvements 
in providing health care to America's seniors. For example, thanks to a 
provision I fought for in the ACA, Floridians have saved more than $756 
million on their prescription drugs.
  While we can still make improvements, the Medicare trustees report, 
released earlier this week, reported that the Medicare hospital 
insurance trust fund solvency has been extended by 4 additional years 
from last year's estimate and 13 years longer than it was prior to the 
passage of the Affordable Care Act. Today, Medicare is more solvent 
than it was in 1965.
  It is our job, in Congress, to ensure that Medicare is available for 
all Americans when they need it and, as was the case for Derrick's 
mother, when they are impacted by ``circumstances not of their own 
doing.'' Though the new projections are encouraging, we must continue 
to work to preserve Medicare for generations to come.

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