Political Quotes

“I rise today to direct the attention of the House to an alarming trend, denying benefit options to Medicare beneficiaries on the basis of where they live. The Medicare-plus choice program passed by Congress was intended to offer real health care options under Medicare. However, Americans in rural and smaller urban areas are being dropped from plans at an alarming rate. Many beneficiaries in my district have been notified they no longer have the option of enrolling in the Medicare HMO. It is an outrage that many of the disabled Americans and seniors can no longer enroll in a Medicare HMO because of discriminatory payment rates. How can HCFA justify a monthly payment rate in my area of $400, and yet in larger cities of $700 to $800? This discrepancy is not justifiable, it offends my basic sense of fairness, and we must work, Congress and the administration must work together to reverse this trend, and restore the availability of the Medicare-plus choice payment program to all beneficiaries.”