Richard Burr: “Medicare is going broke. Not maybe. Not way down the road. If this Congress does not address this crisis, our Medicare…”

“Medicare is going broke. Not maybe. Not way down the road. If this Congress does not address this crisis, our Medicare system will be out of money by the year 2002. This is not an issue for partisan bickering. This is not an issue where business-as-usual is appropriate. The pending insolvency of Medicare threatens the availability of health care to more than 32 million of America's senior citizens. The Medicare crisis was defined in April by the Medicare Board of Trustees--including Secretaries Reich, Shalala, and Rubin. In their report on the status of the Medicare Program, they indicate that 'the Medicare program is clearly unsustainable in its present form' and they 'strongly recommend that the crisis presented by the financial condition of the Medicare trust funds be urgently addressed.' Mr. Speaker, we owe it to our senior citizens to face this Medicare crisis head on. It is the responsibility of Congress to fulfill our commitment to this country's seniors and initiate Medicare reform making this program financially sound now and in the years to come.”