James Davis: “Mr. Speaker, the legislation that passed this body a few weeks ago will essentially turn the Medicare program over to…”

“Mr. Speaker, the legislation that passed this body a few weeks ago will essentially turn the Medicare program over to private health insurance and the HMOs, the very organizations that have dropped 52 percent of the Medicare enrollees in my State of Connecticut over the last 4 years. It will do so by requiring fee-for-service Medicare to compete against private plans to offer doctor and hospital coverage by the year 2010. You know the phrase ``buyer beware''? Let me just say, seniors beware. There has been no HMO or private health insurer who has come forward to date since the passage of this legislation to say they want to do this. And they do not want to do it. Why? Because they do not believe that it is going to be profitable to them. And what they want from the Federal Government is a guarantee that they will get subsidies from the Federal Government to make sure that their profit margins are what they want. The goal of the Republican bill is simple: lure beneficiaries away from the program. Leave Medicare to care for only the sickest seniors. Drive up the program's costs and effectively turn Medicare into a program that could be cut or even eliminated. This is the beginning of the end of Medicare. It will turn it into a voucher program.”