Pete Stark: “I again join with many of my colleagues who support the tenor of the bill but have serious reservations about its budget…”

“I again join with many of my colleagues who support the tenor of the bill but have serious reservations about its budget implications. I would hope that if there is a chance to revisit this bill we can find a more sensible way to pay for it. Further, I would like to, in the spirit of bipartisan suggestion, urge the distinguished chairman of the subcommittee, the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas), to hark back to the eighties when we tried in the Pepper Commission to develop a long-term care proposal. Let no one make any mistakes. This growth in home health care has been generated by the lack of any ability to pay for long-term care in the Medicare system. Rather than see the industry sneak a long-term care policy into the back door of acute care Medicare, we should honestly propose and debate a long-term care social insurance program. If it were fairly presented, with the problems in long-term care discussed, I think we could find a way to include it in the Medicare system rather than tinkering with ways to squeeze down the cost of home health.”