Frank Pallone: “Under the medical savings accounts proposal, basically you are going to get a Medicaid voucher that could be used to buy…”

“Under the medical savings accounts proposal, basically you are going to get a Medicaid voucher that could be used to buy a catastrophic health insurance policy with a high deductible, it might be as high as $10,000. Any difference between the cost of that policy and the voucher amount would be placed in a tax-favored medical savings account. So if you just want to use your Medicare money, if you will, or a voucher, to have a high deductible account, you can do that. But then if you get sick, of course, you have to pay that out of pocket. But the problem is that only the healthiest and the wealthiest seniors could afford to gamble with this kind of high deductible policy. Those individuals who buy the MSA's, the healthier and wealthier people, will be outside the traditional pool, so we believe the average costs eventually of those remaining in Medicare would increase. Again, these are significant changes, I believe, and I think it is self-evident, in the Medicare program as we know it.”