Bob Kerrey: “I oppose the effort to strike this important provision in the Finance Committee's bill. Since Medicare was enacted in…”

“I oppose the effort to strike this important provision in the Finance Committee's bill. Since Medicare was enacted in 1965, there have been many legislative efforts to make it more fair, to make it more progressive. Most colleagues, I suspect, support the Qualified Medical Beneficiary Program, the QMB Program and the SLMB Program, the dual-eligibility program. All of these programs are efforts not in 1965, but much later, to make the program fair, to help lower-income beneficiaries, to make it more progressive. That is what these programs do. Dual eligibility in Medicaid is a terrific program. It enables that low-income individual to be held harmless against all costs, premium, deductibles, copayment, as well as additional Medicaid coverage. QMB does premium deductible and copayment for all Medicare beneficiaries under 100 percent of poverty. And it made the program fair, more progressive. SLMB is up to 120 percent. The chairman has added a provision that would allow it to go from 120 to 150 percent because of the changes recommended by the President, shifting home health from part A to part B. Those who argue against this change say that we are on the slippery slope somehow. We have done this before. There have been constant efforts to try to evaluate Medicare and to try to make it fair. This proposal makes Medicare more fair on its face. Individuals earning up to $50,000 a year will continue to enjoy a 75 percent subsidy in part B. That doesn't change.”