Political Quotes

“Madam President, I oppose the Scott amendment, which would gut the bipartisan Postal Service Reform Act by nullifying the Medicare integration proposal. Medicare integration is an absolutely key part of this bipartisan bill to provide long-term financial stability for the Postal Service. My colleague Senator Portman spoke recently about why these criticisms of Medicare integration are simply unfounded. This bill simply provides for future postal retirees, who have already paid into Medicare throughout their entire careers, to enroll in Part B and Part D. Roughly a quarter of postal retirees do not enroll in Medicare even though they are eligible. This means the Postal Service is stuck paying higher premiums. This bill simply allows the Postal Service to do what other businesses and employers already do all across our country by integrating these retirees into Medicare. This saves the Postal Service money and saves taxpayer money. This bill reduces the deficit over 10 years by nearly $1.5 billion. CBO has also made clear that the bill does not affect the Part A trust fund and will not have any effect on Medicare Part B or Part D premiums. Postal workers are already eligible for Part A, and the number of new postal workers going into Part B will be fewer than 40,000 individuals, and that compares to 62 million people currently in the program. The Postal Service Reform Act does not harm Medicare. It provides savings to the Postal Service and to taxpayers.…”