Kevin Brady: “Mr. Speaker, let us clear up the facts again so we do not continue to scare our seniors for political purposes. The fact…”

“Mr. Speaker, let us clear up the facts again so we do not continue to scare our seniors for political purposes. The fact of the matter is that the Medicare entitlement has not changed. Medicare seniors will be able to choose the same fee-for-service they have for years. They will be able to choose it all throughout the country. The proposal we are talking about tonight actually saves money and lengthens the solid stability of Medicare. The fact of the matter is when you hear Members talk about 'we do not want to privatize Medicare,' what they are saying is we do not want to provide the same choices the Members of Congress have. When they talk about giving money to the big, bad HMOs, they do not say, just like we do in the plans of Members of Congress. The fact of the matter is that in this proposal the reforms we are offering, the choices, are that we are giving seniors an opportunity to choose the plan that is best for them, plans like we have for our families here in Congress, but apparently we do not want to offer for our seniors. What we do know from history is two things: One is that low-income seniors, when they have a choice between just Medicare and other plans, they choose the other plans, because they get better value for their money, better health care, and we can make Medicare last longer.”