Jeff Bingaman: “on a late Friday afternoon back on September 3, 2004, the Bush Administration announced, just before the Labor Day…”

“on a late Friday afternoon back on September 3, 2004, the Bush Administration announced, just before the Labor Day holiday weekend, that there will be a 17.4 percent increase in the Medicare Part B premium for seniors and people with disabilities. The increase would raise premiums for seniors and people with disabilities from $66.60 per month to $78.20 per month and represents the largest dollar increase in the history of the Medicare program. In fairness, the premium is set in statute to reflect 25 percent of Medicare Part B spending. However, a large share of the increase is due directly to provisions that were included in the Medicare prescription drug bill that passed last year that did far more to help HMOs, insurance companies, and drug companies than it did for Medicare beneficiaries. As a result, today I am introducing legislation, the ``Affordability in Medicare Premiums Act,'' that would reduce the 17.4 percent premium increase announced by the Administration and instill greater fairness in the Medicare premium in the future.”