Political Quotes

“The truth is that Republicans are holding the Children's Health Insurance Program, 9 million kids, and the Community Health Center program, 15 million people, hostage to wreak even more havoc on our healthcare system and make children and seniors sicker and undercut Medicare. Paying for children's health insurance on the backs of seniors is simply a disgrace. This bill would increase Medicare part D and part B income-related premiums, charging higher income seniors the entire cost. This is a structural attack on Medicare, and that is why the AARP, which supports the Children's Health Insurance Program, opposes this bill. Imposing a 100 percent premium is unfair because these seniors already pay more, and it will drive many out of Medicare altogether, undermining its solvency. To make matters worse, the Republican income threshold is not based on current income, but on a 2-year period. So, for example, seniors' income is volatile, and if you sold your home, you could get a massive premium penalty, even if you used the money you got from selling your home to buy in to assisted living and that money wasn't available. Income-related premiums are simply unnecessary. There are many other ways to pay for the CHIP program without using Medicare as an ATM. Democrats have offered reasonable alternatives, but Republicans opposed all of them. I urge my colleagues to oppose this legislation.”