Pete Stark: “I am voting against the spending provisions of the budget resolution today for several reasons. The Ways and Means…”

“I am voting against the spending provisions of the budget resolution today for several reasons. The Ways and Means Committee approved the Medicare title of the budget bill in a bipartisan manner. We were given a number--$115 billion--by the Budget Committee. $115 billion is a higher number than I would have liked, but it was what we were given. We've successfully made all the groups and lobbyists in town equally unhappy--a sure sign that we've done something right. But there are still many unacceptable provisions in the Medicare title. Medical savings accounts have no place in the Medicare Program. They are a terrible scam to rip off Medicare for the sake of insurance companies and healthy, wealthy beneficiaries. Every legitimate health care policy expert has concluded that MSA's would create extra costs, resulting in a weakened trust fund. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the extra cost to Medicare for each person who signs up for an MSA will be $1,000 in 1999, rising to an extra $1,650 by 2007. These costs are far too great to bear when we are trying to cut Medicare spending in order to preserve the program for future generations. We could have--and should have--done more to fight fraud and abuse in the Medicare Program.”