Frank Pallone: “I think that the problem that we face with this Breaux-Thomas voucher proposal is the following: Right now, because…”

“I think that the problem that we face with this Breaux-Thomas voucher proposal is the following: Right now, because Medicare applies to everyone over 65 and is a program that most people can rely on and is a quality program, there is substantial support for it, I think, all over the country. But, as my colleague from Ohio points out, the Republicans traditionally were not very supportive of Medicare from the beginning. And that statement about Medicare withering on the vine that Speaker Gingrich made I think is exactly what would happen with this Breaux- Thomas voucher plan, it would wither on the vine. Because once this voucher plan went into effect, people would be paying more and getting less. So they are going to be paying more out of pocket because they are just going to get a set amount of money which is not going to cover a lot of expenses.”