Bob Dole: “the Medicare trustees have now released their report on the state of the Medicare trust fund, and the news is not good.…”

“the Medicare trustees have now released their report on the state of the Medicare trust fund, and the news is not good. Instead of going bankrupt in the year 2002, as they had previously forecasted, the trustees now conclude that Medicare will go bankrupt in the year 2001--just 5 years from now. For the past year and a half, this Republican Congress has attempted to deal honestly and forthrightly with the impending Medicare meltdown. We have put forward a budget that would protect, preserve, and strengthen Medicare by reducing the unsustainable rate of growth, while still allowing for a healthy growth rate. We did not claim that our plan was perfect or that it solved a long- term problem. But it was a real attempt to alleviate a crisis that will immediately impact 37 million Americans and will have repercussions on tens of millions more. Along with our proposals to provide for short-term solvency in the Medicare trust funds, I also suggested, on numerous occasions, that President Clinton appoint a blue ribbon, bipartisan advisory committee, similar to the one I served on in 1983 that rescued Social Security, to help deal with this long-term crisis in Medicare. My response to the initial report of the Medicare trustees was based on my belief that leadership means more than just talking about the problem; it also means doing something to solve it.”