Christopher Shays: “We want to get our financial house in order and balance the budget. I get into this whole issue of Medicare, which is…”

“We want to get our financial house in order and balance the budget. I get into this whole issue of Medicare, which is really trying to save our trust funds. There is not a Member of Congress who does not represent a number of seniors, and we have had to talk to our constituents about this issue. It has been very interesting to me because what they want, we are giving them. I, as a Member of Congress, pay 28 percent of my health care like any other Federal employee. I do not get anything other than any other Federal employee. I pay 28 percent, and the Government pays 72 percent. The wonderful thing is that we get choice. What do we do with Medicare is we do not increase the copayment or increase the deductible. We keep it at 31.5 percent; the taxpayers pay 68.5 percent, and we give choice. We allow recipients to join plans where they might get eye care, dental care, hearing aid assistance, where they might have their copayments paid for by an HMO if they choose to join an HMO, but they can stay where they are.”