Frank Pallone: “I was very upset because of this suggestion that somehow this is all politics, and I assure you it is not about…”

“I was very upset because of this suggestion that somehow this is all politics, and I assure you it is not about politics. If you talk to seniors in my district, they are very concerned because they do not have the extra money to spend for an increased premium in Medicare part B. They are concerned because they have had the same doctor or they have been able to go to a hospital that is close by for a number of years, and now all of a sudden they are hearing that they may have to go into an HMO or a managed care system where they will not have the choice of the doctor that they have had for years or the hospital that is close by. They cannot afford it. They have a budget, some of them, where $10 or $15 a month makes all the difference in the world because that is all they have to spend after they have figures out their budget for a month, and whether we talk about a $7 increase or a $30 increase or a $50 increase in Medicare part B, they cannot afford that difference, because they simply do not have the money on the fixed income they are living on.”