Political Quotes

“I would like to talk primarily on the Medicare provisions because we worked long and hard in this House to bring out a bipartisan bill on Medicare. The other body, in raising the eligibility from 65 to 67, have brought forward a major change in policy in Medicare without any public hearings on this side, without really thinking out what that policy would mean. We have provisions in our bill that set up a commission to look at the long-term solvency of Medicare, but by increasing the age from 65 to 67 we have not thought out how these individuals are going to receive health benefits. Are we expecting the employer-provided health benefits to cover? If so, then we have one of the largest new mandates on the private sector with no idea how it is going to be funded. Do we expect our seniors 65 and 66 to pick up this cost, the extra five 5, 6, $7,000 a year? Can they afford it recently retired? I doubt it. Do we expect our seniors to go without any insurance coverage, to increase the number of uninsured? These are questions that must be answered first before we increase the eligibility age for Medicare.”