Pete Domenici: “I thought I would just suggest to the Senate and those listening how many senior citizens are covered by this means…”

“I thought I would just suggest to the Senate and those listening how many senior citizens are covered by this means testing. And here is what I think it is. First of all, let me put it in dollars. The premiums collected over the next 5 years amount to $125 billion. The income-conditioned premiums, the means-tested premiums, amount to $4 billion. That is 3.1 percent of the premiums will be means tested. What does that amount to in numbers? The best we can figure, out of 38 million Americans, it is 5 percent--5 percent will be financially affected by this amendment. So if you are going into some neighborhood and talking to seniors about this, chances are pretty good that you are not talking to a senior that is affected by this because only 1 out of 20 will be affected by this and 19 will not be affected at all. I think that is a pretty realistic approach to trying to change this basic part B law to be more realistic to those people who are working hard, paying taxes, are not even earning as much money as the retirees, perhaps raising two or three children, and unless their employer is paying insurance for them many do not have insurance. So I believe this is a good approach, and I am prepared to yield back the remainder of my time.”