Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, we support the rule which, as my colleague and friend on the Committee on Rules has pointed out, waives all points of order against the conference report and is necessary because the conferees added new material not included in the House or the Senate bill. The addition is minor. That is why we agreed unanimously last night to this rule for the conference report. The legislation we are about to consider under this rule would expand the availability of an experimental Medigap Program, known as Medicare Select, from 15 States to the rest of the country. The Medicare Select Program makes available to senior citizens a managed care insurance policy to fill in the gaps of Medicare coverage. It differs from other Medigap policies that require senior citizens to participate in the insurer's selected network of health care providers in order to receive payment for Medicare's cost sharing amounts. There have been a number of substantial concerns raised about the operation of Medicare Select Programs. In its initial estimate of the bill, CBO noted that a preliminary study of this program by the Health Care Financing Administration found very little management of care by the insurers and no measurable cost savings to Medicare.”