[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 13164-13165]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               GIVING SENIORS A MEDICARE BIRTHDAY PRESENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Grayson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GRAYSON. Mr. Speaker, 50 years ago this week, President Lyndon 
Johnson signed the law that created Medicare and Medicaid--the most 
important healthcare programs in our country's history prior to the 
Affordable Care Act. With one stroke of his pen, President Johnson 
guaranteed both poor Americans and older Americans the right to high-
quality, affordable medical treatment.
  Thanks to Medicare, for 50 years now, our seniors have received the 
health care they have needed to stay healthy and to live full lives; 
but despite the success, there are gaps in Medicare coverage that need 
to be closed. The most glaring gap is the fact that Medicare does not 
provide basic medical coverage for seniors' eyes, ears, and teeth. It 
is as though Medicare assumes that seniors don't need to see or to hear 
or to chew.
  We are not talking about exotic, high-tech treatments. We are talking 
about no Medicare coverage for eyeglasses, eye exams, hearing aids, 
cavity fillings, and dentures. We are talking about no treatment for 
medical conditions that lead to blindness, deafness, lost teeth, and 
serious gum disease, which has been strongly linked to heart disease. 
It is unthinkable that we deny our seniors this elementary level of 
care.
  There are 2.7 million seniors in America who are blind. How many of 
them would be able to see today if they had received simple annual eye 
exams as part of their Medicare coverage?
  Medicare is a promise that we make to ourselves--the young to the 
old, one generation to the next. The promise is that, after you reach 
your 65th birthday, your medical needs will be met. To keep that 
promise, our seniors have paid into the system, in some cases for a 
half a century, before they receive a single earned benefit. They 
deserve the best care we can provide for them.

[[Page 13165]]

  This week, to honor the 50th anniversary of this lifesaving program 
we call Medicare, I am introducing the Seniors Have Eyes, Ears, and 
Teeth Act. This bill will amend title XVIII--the Medicare provision of 
the Social Security Act--to repeal the arbitrary exclusion of 
eyeglasses, eye exams, hearing aids, hearing exams, and dental care 
from Medicare coverage. Two short lines in the U.S. Code have barred 
that coverage for 50 years. I simply delete those lines. I urge my 
congressional colleagues to enact this quick, easy, and necessary 
reform.
  Medicare should provide health coverage for every part of your body, 
including eyes, ears, and teeth. Over 50 million Americans enjoy 
Medicare coverage. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Medicare, let's 
guarantee to 50 million Americans the health care they need in order to 
look into the eyes of the ones they love, to see our Fourth of July 
fireworks each year, and to hear it when freedom rings.

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