Jack Reed: “I thank you, Mr. President, Mr. President, my amendment this evening gives my colleagues of the Senate a clear choice to…”

“I thank you, Mr. President, Mr. President, my amendment this evening gives my colleagues of the Senate a clear choice to stabilize the solvency of the Medicare trust fund without including some of the provisions which we already talked about this afternoon, and others which undermine the concept of a universal Medicare system. Medicare provides excellent health care for all of our seniors--it is a system that has operated for 30 years, a system that works, a system that is supported by the vast majority of Americans. Specifically, what my amendment will do is provide for the revenue savings and the cost savings that are incorporated in the underlying bill, but remove from that bill those provisions that harm the structural integrity of the Medicare program. My amendment would retain the Medicare eligibility age of 65. It would strike the home health copay. It would add the current law that protects Medicare recipients with respect to balanced-billing protection for those recipients and beneficiaries who may choose to opt for private fee-for-service Medicare health coverage. It would also eliminate the means-tested provisions for Medicare. And, finally, it would eliminate the medical savings account as a Medicare option. All of these provisions which I have mentioned are not necessary to preserve the solvency of the Medicare fund. We can achieve solvency by agreeing to the savings and reimbursement changes which are in the underlying bill.…”