[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15885]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    MEDICARE PART B PREMIUM INCREASE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, we take to the floor to deal with the 
daily reminders of turmoil around the world: the unrest in the Middle 
East, especially in Syria and ISIS; the sad reality of an unending 
string of events regarding gun violence.
  There is a certain amount of unrest here in the House, as our 
Republican colleagues right now are trying to chart a path forward to 
reconcile differences of opinion within their own ranks that have some 
spillover effects for us. But in the background, there is a critical 
issue that we should be focused on that may not command the headlines; 
but it is, nonetheless, a critically important item.
  We are faced with arcane formulas that govern dealing with Medicare--
the rates that recipients pay for their services--that have a perverse 
impact on some of the lowest income seniors. Through no fault of their 
own, 7.7 million senior citizens are going to be treated very unfairly. 
These are the 30 percent of Medicare recipients who are going to pay 
the burden for all Medicare recipients for the cost increases.
  We have a provision in place that holds harmless people who get no 
increase in their Social Security payments, and they are immune from 
premium increases. But that is not so for the other 30 percent. These 
are the people who are facing a 52 percent increase in that part B 
premium, over $54 a month.
  Now, remember, nobody gets an increase in their Social Security, and 
there is going to be about a $76 increase per month in the deductible.
  A typical Medicare beneficiary pays almost $5,000 per year for 
premiums, cost sharing, and other services that aren't covered by 
insurance. For many, that is not an unreasonable contribution for their 
health care, but not for everyone.
  More than half the beneficiaries have incomes of $24,150. These 30 
percent, the 7.7 million who will pick up the slack for everyone else, 
are going to be facing a significant impact, given their low incomes. 
It doesn't actually have to be this way.
  There are proposals that are available for Congress to deal with. 
Representative Dina Titus, Representative Jan Schakowsky, and Senator 
Ron Wyden all have proposals that would eliminate or minimize the 
impact on these vulnerable senior citizens.
  And, bear in mind, it will also impact the States $2.3 billion in 
terms of Medicaid programs, which inevitably will translate into 
service reductions, again, for some of our most vulnerable.
  It is time for Congress to empower negotiators in both parties, in 
both Chambers to act now. If we get involved with these potential 
solutions, the costs are going to be far less than if we wait until the 
next year, and we will be shielding some of our most vulnerable 
citizens from significant increases at a time when they can ill afford 
it. This is one area where there is overwhelming support on both sides 
of the aisle.
  I would call upon my friends in the Republican leadership to take a 
break from this strange process they are going through and debate in 
the acrimony and the churn. Let's take a break and empower people to 
solve these problems now. Our senior citizens deserve no less.

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