Janice Schakowsky: “This motion is not about giving senior citizens more than they already have; this is about preventing something from…”

“This motion is not about giving senior citizens more than they already have; this is about preventing something from being taken away from 4 million seniors. As my colleague stated, the entire Medicare bill is subject to a $400 billion spending limit because of the insistence of the Republican leadership. If we are going to provide the funding necessary so that 4 million retirees do not lose their coverage, we need to find the money somewhere. We can take it from the health savings accounts, or we can reduce the meager drug benefit even more, or we can cut provider payments. My motion says that taking it from the health savings accounts is the best of all of the options that the other side has given us. We know what this motion means. It is a choice whether we vote to protect retiree health coverage, or we are going to vote for health savings accounts that will not meet their goal of covering the uninsured. More important, the retirees who have employer-sponsored insurance and do not want to lose it know what this vote is about. They will be watching us. I urge support for the motion to instruct.”