Political Quotes

“I wanted to go back to the issue of Medicare, but I also wanted to respond to the gentleman from Pennsylvania because he also brought up the issue of Medicaid. I would point out that the Republican budget not only devastates and ends Medicare, but it essentially does the same thing to Medicaid because of the level of cuts that are put in place for Medicaid. Now, senior citizens are very much aware of the fact, I think, that if Medicare ends, then they are thrown out in the private insurance market, and if they have to buy insurance on the private market at the whim of the insurance companies, that they will be in bad shape. They may not be able to get insurance. If they get it, it will be a very skeletal package. It won't cover and guarantee their benefits. I think they also realize that the budget, if it repeals the health care reform, will go back to having this huge doughnut hole, which will cause them to pay a lot out of pocket and also will eliminate the lack of copays that now exist for preventive care, such as mammograms and other diagnostic tests that now are free without a copay. So they will pay a huge amount of money out of pocket if the Republicans get their way by ending Medicare. But the gentleman from Pennsylvania also brought up Medicaid, and I would point out that many seniors are not aware of the fact that most of the money spent on Medicaid actually pays for nursing home care because Medicare doesn't cover nursing home care.…”