Lincoln Chafee: “I think today, as we go on to further consideration of this Medicare legislation, we are going to really see who is…”

“I think today, as we go on to further consideration of this Medicare legislation, we are going to really see who is concerned about the future of this program and who is concerned about it being there, not just to the end of this century, which is 3 years from now, but well into the next century. I think everybody who has taken the trouble to read the report of the trustees of Social Security and Medicare has seen the danger this program is in. It is going broke. It isn't something that is just automatically going to be there; we are used to these things. Somehow people think, 'Oh, it can't happen.' Well, it can happen. So from the Finance Committee has come a series of proposals to do something about the security of the Medicare Program to ensure that it is going to be there, hopefully well into the next century. What is the particular issue before us today, Mr. President? The issue is, is it all right, proper, to have a $5 copayment in some instances--in some instances, Mr. President--for those who are visited by the home health care agents, officials, the nurses and those who come in a home health care visit.”