Gerald Kleczka: “This bill was before the Committee on Ways and Means a short time ago. And after listening to the debate, I come down on…”

“This bill was before the Committee on Ways and Means a short time ago. And after listening to the debate, I come down on the same side as my colleague from Florida (Mrs. Thurman), who indicates that the long-term care insurance is something that I think we should not only consider but also encourage. We find that the population in the country is living longer. We also find that long-term care is something that many people are going to be in need of, and so to encourage people today where they can get a premium rate that is somewhat reasonable versus waiting until you are 55 or 60 years old is something this Congress should be involved in. The other provision of the bill deals with the personal exemption to those who provide home care to dependents. Again, we should thank and encourage these people to stay home. The option is to put your relative in a nursing home or assisted living which will cost much more. The thing I think is not a fatal flaw in the bill, but one is kind of like a turkey as referred to by the gentleman from California (Mr. Stark), that is the MSAs for Medicare+Choice. We tried this failed policy before with the general population. We found that the only people buying MSAs were doctors and attorneys; and to now subject the Medicare+Choice elderly to an MSA is ridiculous.”