Pete Stark: “This is a bad bill because there is no assured benefits and there is no set premiums because the Republicans are…”

“This is a bad bill because there is no assured benefits and there is no set premiums because the Republicans are privatizing Medicare. They are giving this whole benefit to the private insurance companies. Now you have to remember that the chairman of the committee chaired the Medicare Commission and spent an entire year trying to get a voucher system for senior citizens in Medicare. This is his second try. Buried in this bill is the creation of a new private benefit management company or management authority that will handle the HMOs and will handle the private drug plans. Now you think I am making this up, but if you take the bill, and I will bet you there is not a person on this floor that has read page 157, line 16, which prevents the Secretary of HHS from 'interfering in any way with the negotiations between the private drug plans and the Medicare+Choice organizations and drug manufacturers.' Now what this is saying is that the Secretary of Health and Human Services, whoever that may be, has no ability to stand up for the people of this country, the senior citizens, the 40 million people that count on this program, and negotiate for them.”