Tammy Baldwin: “it is clear that most of the Members of this institution want to provide help to seniors who receive Medicare and Social…”

“it is clear that most of the Members of this institution want to provide help to seniors who receive Medicare and Social Security benefits. There are two proposals that we are considering today which purport to help those seniors. One bill will provide seniors with a tax cut, including the wealthiest in our society . . . which is virtually guaranteed to deplete the Medicare Trust Fund and jeopardize the future of this vital program. This legislation to repeal the 1993 tax provision will make it more difficult for the government to finance adequate Medicare prescription drug coverage, as well as other improvements that ultimately should be included in the Medicare benefit package, such as catastrophic costs and long-term care. This legislation is a hundred billion dollar raid on the Medicare Trust Fund and replaces the money with an IOU. Although we are currently in the era of surpluses, we should not forget that Medicare's fiscal future is troubled. After several years of deficits in the 1990s, the Part A trust fund is now running a small cash surplus. This is only temporary, however--Part A will begin running cash deficits again by 2010, according to the most recent Medicare Trust Fund trustees report. Beyond 2010, its cash deficits will grow larger, totaling nearly $7 trillion in the next 40 years.”