John Doolittle: “Yesterday the Medicare Board of Trustees, made up entirely of Clinton administration appointees, reported that Medicare…”

“Yesterday the Medicare Board of Trustees, made up entirely of Clinton administration appointees, reported that Medicare is going bankrupt sooner than expected, now projected to be by early in the year 2001. Last year the Republicans led the fight to save this system with a Medicare Preservation Act. This act increased benefits, attacked waste and preserved Medicare for future generations, and it put the program in sound financial condition. In that plan we proposed increasing per-person spending by over $2,000 per year over the course of the next 7 years. But the President vetoed the plan. Yesterday, Mr. Speaker, the trustees showed yet again it is time for action to save Medicare. Let us hope that the Congress and the President will act cooperatively to save Medicare while there is still time. As the trustees write in their own report, "prompt, effective and decisive action is necessary."”