Jim Inhofe: “I am very concerned because what I see coming at us right now is a very fast train. And that train is a giant giveaway…”

“I am very concerned because what I see coming at us right now is a very fast train. And that train is a giant giveaway entitlement program. We might be in a position to do something about now, but if we wait, we will not be able to do anything about it. Medicare already accounts for roughly 12 percent of the Federal spending and will only grow as more and more baby boomers retire. When Medicare was proposed in 1965--and I am one of the few people around old enough to remember that--I can recall the estimate of Medicare Part A that would cost $2.9 billion in 1970. This was 1965. The actual expenditures in 1970 were $5.3 billion, roughly twice what they were estimating back in 1965. The estimate for 1980 was $5.5 billion. This is Medicare now. The actual expenditures that year totaled $25.6 billion. That is five times the estimated amount. The predicted expenditures for 1990 were $9.1 billion, but the actual expenses totaled $67 billion, nearly seven times the estimated amount. Currently, 76 percent of the Medicare beneficiaries already have some form of drug coverage. We have talked about the fact that something that is not broken does not need to be fixed. When we start looking at establishing an entitlement program today and go by the Medicare model, this is something that none of our kids and grandkids are going to be able to afford.”