Martin Hoke: “the Medicare trustees have just issued their annual report and the news in that report is not good. Medicare is now…”

“the Medicare trustees have just issued their annual report and the news in that report is not good. Medicare is now losing money for the first time ever. We are actually taking in less than we are spending. It is going to be completely broke by 2001, according to the trustees, unless prompt, effective, and decisive action is taken to control costs. I think it is important, Mr. Speaker, to understand that the trustees are not a partisan group. They include three members of the Clinton Cabinet. Last year those trustees projected that Medicare would not run out of money until 2002. This year they are saying that under the middle scenario, because the way that they do their projections, they have to come up with three different scenarios, best case, worst case, and middle case. They are saying that under the middle scenario, it is going to run out of money in 2001 and that under the worst scenario it could be 1999 when the trust fund runs out of money. So as bad as the news is, what the American people need to know is that regardless of who wins in November, Medicare's financial crisis is going to be solved, because letting Medicare go bankrupt is simply not an option.”