Thomas Daschle: “2 years ago, we passed the Balanced Budget Act. It was a monumental example of what Congress can achieve when we work…”

“2 years ago, we passed the Balanced Budget Act. It was a monumental example of what Congress can achieve when we work together. Not only did we end 30 years of deficit spending with the Balanced Budget Act, we also extended the life of the Medicare Part A Trust Fund by 13 years. And we added important new preventive benefits, including mammograms and Pap smears, for Medicare beneficiaries. We made many changes that achieved a lot of good. We also know now that we made some miscalculations. Frankly, that is to be expected. Very often, when you make a lot of changes, you don't get everything right the first time. But the miscalculations we made about Medicare in the Balanced Budget Act are causing real hardships for some of our most vulnerable citizens--hardships that cannot be justified on either financial or medical grounds. We did not anticipate these consequences when we passed the Balanced Budget Act. But now that we know about them, we have a responsibility to address them. Today I am introducing the Medicare Beneficiary Access to Care Act of 1999.”