Jim McDermott: “The Governor of Texas decided he didn't want health care coverage for 1.2 million or 1,314,000 people.”

The creation of Medicare in 1965 was one of the great policy achievements in the history of this country.

Let me take an example, because we hear a lot of examples given up here.

Mr. Blumenauer put through a bill, Mr. Levin and I put a bill in 25 years ago, that everybody in Medicare ought to file an advance directive.

A strong Medicare doesn't mean we turn the program over to the insurance industry, and it doesn't mean we shift more costs on to the beneficiaries.