Political Quotes

“I rise to speak on the announcement of a dramatic increase in the Medicare Part B premium for seniors and the concern the people of Michigan have about trying to pay a 17.5-percent premium increase for next year. Just a day after President Bush touted his efforts to help our seniors and the disabled cope with increased medical expenses, his administration announced the largest premium increase in Medicare's history, dating back to 1965. Unfortunately, nothing has been done about record increases in the cost of health care over the last 4 years. Now we see the largest premium increase, a 17.5-percent increase. We have seen it consistently going up since 2001. It is time to say enough is enough. Seniors are only going to see about a 3-percent increase in their Social Security cost of living. Yet the Part B premium comes directly out of that track. So instead of getting at least a 3-percent increase to help pay for food and the mortgage and utility bills, prescription drugs and so on, they will actually see a reduction of 14.5 percent in what they receive through Social Security. This is absolutely unacceptable.”