Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, this motion would allow the Department of Health and Human Services to offer a Medicare prescription drug plan. There is no need for this type of government-run fallback because the House-passed legislation already guarantees that every Medicare beneficiary will have a choice of at least two Medicare prescription drug plans. My colleague represents rural Texas. I represent rural Illinois. We know that one of the problems in the past was Medicare plans leaving rural areas. I think the benefit of what we have crafted is that it broadens the scope of the region, so it brings in urban and suburban and rural areas. The motion also instructs conferees to recede to the Senate and remove the hospital market basket update adjustment contained in the House bill. I would note for my colleagues that we are not cutting hospital reimbursement. We are reducing the increase they are going to receive. According to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, MedPAC, the nonpartisan panel of experts that advises Congress on Medicare policy, hospitals make a 10 percent profit for Medicare inpatient services and a 5 percent profit, on average, for all services provided to Medicare patients. MedPAC unanimously advised Congress to increase payments by 3 percent, which is what the House bill does.”