Jay Rockefeller: “I am here to talk about the Medicare Program. In the recent days, I have noticed all kinds of people expressing deep…”

“I am here to talk about the Medicare Program. In the recent days, I have noticed all kinds of people expressing deep concern for Medicare. That is comforting, because there is more than enough reason to be concerned. Let me get right to the point. The Republican leaders in Congress, and the chairs of both Budget Committees in Congress, want to balance the budget in 7 years. If they keep their word and leave Social Security and defense spending completely alone, that will require cuts totaling $1.2 trillion. If they throw in the tax cuts for top income-earners that will require another whopping $345 billion to finance those cuts. Now here's the key point for anyone concerned about Medicare: as we have seen in papers distributed by the Senate Budget Committee itself, this drive for a balanced budget--and presumably some tax cuts--will require cuts in Medicare to the tune of $250 to $300 billion in 7 years. Medicaid will also have to help out with $160 to $190 billion in cuts. The recent talk about Medicare is not really saying this. It is all about the need to shore up the Medicare trust fund, because it could be insolvent in 7 years. It is all about the idea of restructuring Medicare to save the program. The argument we are hearing is that Medicare has to be drained of $300 billion to save the program. A curious argument.…”