Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act Of 2009
Floor Speech
SERVICE MEMBERS HOME OWNERSHIP TAX ACT OF 2009 -- (Senate - December 03, 2009)
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Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this important piece of legislation.
Again, I point out to my colleagues, and to anybody else who may be observing, the volume of this bill. This is 2,100 pages and 21 pounds, which means it is about a pound per 100 pages. It is $1.2 billion dollars per page, $6.8 million per word, and it creates 70 new government programs. It gives the Secretary of Health and Human Services--in 1,600 or 1,700 instances in this bill--the opportunity to create, define, and determine things in the bill.
This is a big government bill, a massive expansion of the Federal Government--$2.5 trillion, when it is fully implemented. Of course, the paid-fors in the bill--all the things in this bill, not only those intended things but also the unintended consequences of the bill--you have some revenue to pay for these things. Where do we get the revenue?
In the Reid bill, they decided they are going to raise taxes on small businesses, individuals and families and they are going to cut Medicare by about $ 1/2 trillion.
What is ironic about that is, a few years ago, the Republicans, back when we were in the leadership in the Senate, tried to do a budget bill that actually achieved some savings in Medicare and Medicaid, to the tune of $27 billion combined. But the Medicare savings in that bill was $10 billion. That was over a 5-year period, at $2 billion per year. I wish to remind some of my colleagues on the other side about some of the comments they made about that.
Senator Reid, at the time--bear in mind this was to reduce Medicare by $2 billion per year, $10 billion over 5 years. The now-majority leader said:
Unfortunately, the Republican budget is an immoral document.
The Senator from West Virginia said this:
This proposed budget would be a moral disaster of monumental proportions.
A couple other colleagues in the Senate commented. The Senator from Michigan said:
People who rely on Medicare and Medicaid are going to be hurt by this bill.
The Senator from Wisconsin said:
I urge my colleagues to reject this bill, and the irresponsible and cruel budget of which it is part.
The former Senator from New York, Mrs. Clinton, said this:
This bill slashes $6.4 billion from Medicare over the next 5 years.
It was actually $10 billion. My point is simply this: It was $10 billion over 5 years, $2 billion per year. Those were the statements--overstatements--about the impact that a $2 billion reduction per year in Medicare was going to have on people in this country. Now we are talking about $ 1/2 trillion in Medicare cuts.
Where do their cuts come from? They will come from $118 billion from Medicare Advantage, which now we have about 11 million Americans impacted by Medicare Advantage. Every State has seniors who have subscribed to that program whose benefits will be cut if this bill is enacted. You get it out of hospitals because there are $135 billion in reductions and reimbursements to hospitals; $15 billion in reductions to nursing homes and reimbursements; $40 billion in reductions to home health agencies; and $8 billion in reductions to hospices.
Those are all the ways this $2.5 trillion expansion of the Federal Government is to be paid for. I didn't even get into the tax cuts, which will be a debate for another day.
The Medicare cuts in this bill are unlike anything we have seen in the past.
Clearly, when you compare it to 3, 4 years ago, when we were trying to achieve $10 billion in savings over 5 years, you thought the sky was falling. Now here they are trying to pay for a $2.5 trillion expansion of the Federal Government by cutting $500 billion out of Medicare.
The point I also wish to make, because it has been made by the other side--by the most recent speaker--is that somehow this recent CBO analysis should be hailed as good news. The corks are popping in the celebration, and people are crowing about the new CBO report because it has such good news for this bill and the impact it will have on people who buy health insurance in this country.
What is it they are celebrating? CBO, in its report, essentially said this: 90 percent of Americans are going to see their premiums increase or see virtually the same increases as they do today year after year.
That is preserving the status quo, not decreasing costs, as promised. President Obama, when he was running for office in 2007, said when he got a chance to do health care reform, he was going to reduce costs by $2,500 for every family in this country and cover everybody.
This bill, after spending $2.5 trillion and creating 70 new government programs, doesn't cover everybody. There are still 24 million Americans who don't get covered under this bill, according to the CBO. Furthermore, nobody--I shouldn't say nobody--90 percent of Americans, those who don't get subsidies, don't come out any better. They will still see the year-over-year increases in premiums they have been seeing for the past several years, and the cost of health care is growing at twice the rate of inflation. If you assume a year-over-year increase similar to the past several years, in the small group market, you are looking at annual increases of over 6 percent for the cost of health care--to the point where a family that, today, is paying $13,000 a year for health insurance, in 2016, will pay over $20,000 a year for health insurance. So nobody gets any better out of this, except a handful of people who will get subsidies. If you are in the individual marketplace, your premiums go up. According to the CBO, there will be a 10- to 13-percent increase in premiums in the individual market. If you are in the large group market, you will see an almost 6-percent increase a year. If you are in the small group market, premiums will go up over 6 percent a year.
We are talking about spending $2.5 trillion, cutting reimbursements to nursing homes, to hospitals, to home health agencies and hospices, and raising taxes on health care providers, medical device manufacturers, prescription drugs, raising the Medicare payroll tax which, incidentally, doesn't go to preserve or extend the lifespan of Medicare or put it on a path toward sustainability but creates a whole new government entitlement.
We are going to do all that for what? At best, to keep the status quo for people today; at worst, to increase their premiums by 10 to 13 percent. That is the bottom line. That is what this says. That is the new CBO report. That is the CBO report about which the other side is saying this is great news. They are celebrating. It is great news that premiums are going to continue to go up at twice the rate of inflation, just like in the past, protecting and preserving the status quo as we know it in America today.
This bill does nothing about the fundamental issue of cost. It doesn't matter what market you are in--small group market, large group market--it stays the same, at best, and in the individual marketplace, your premiums will go up 10 to 13 percent. That is the news being hailed by the other side as validating the argument for why we need to pass a 2,100-page, $2.5 trillion monstrosity of a bill with 70 new government programs in it.
We will vote on the Medicare amendment later. Senator McCain has a motion to commit the bill to essentially take the Medicare cuts out of it. I hope my colleagues vote for it. They are arguing it doesn't cut Medicare. How can you say that with a straight face? How can you say you are going to find $500 billion to pay for this bill out of Medicare and then say it doesn't cut Medicare? Of course it cuts Medicare. Of course it raises taxes. You can't finance $2.5 trillion of new spending unless you find a way to finance it.
The way they have chosen to finance this is to hit seniors squarely between the eyes and cut reimbursements to the providers all across this country that are dealing with the serious health needs our senior citizens are experiencing. In South Dakota, we have a lot of people who are employed in the health care industry. I think that is true of every State. Even in small towns in South Dakota, in nursing home employment you are talking about almost 6,000 employees. You are going to take $15 billion out of nursing homes, $40 billion out of home health agencies, $135 billion out of hospitals, and what we are talking about are huge reductions in Medicare, unlike anything we have seen.
As I said, to put it into perspective, a few short years ago, when we were in the majority, in a budget trying to reduce Medicare by $10 billion over a 5-year period, it was referred to as ``immoral,'' as a ``monumental disaster,'' as ``cruel''--$10 billion over 5 years. This has $ 1/2 trillion in Medicare cuts--cuts to Medicare Advantage and providers.
I hope my colleagues will support the McCain motion.
I yield the floor.
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