Servicemembers Home Ownership Tax Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. BARRASSO. I would add to that, following on my colleague from Oklahoma, that there is the coordinated care, which is one of the advantages of Medicare Advantage, but there is also the preventive component of this. We talk about ways to help people keep their health care costs down, and that has to do with coordinated care and preventing illness.
Mr. COBURN. And we heard from the freshman Democrats that they want to put a new preventive package into the program. Yet they want to take the preventive package out of Medicare Advantage. It is an interesting mix of amendments, isn't it?
Mr. BARRASSO. We want to keep our seniors healthy. That is one way they can stay out of the hospital, out of the nursing home, and stay active. Yet with the cuts in Medicare Advantage, the Democrats have voted to do that--to cut all the money out of this program that seniors like. Eleven million American seniors who depend upon Medicare for their health care choose this because there is an advantage to them.
My colleague from Oklahoma, the other physician in the Senate, has talked, as I have, extensively about patient-centered health care--not insurance centered, not government centered. Medicare Advantage helps keep it patient centered. So when I see deals being cut behind closed doors where they are cutting out people from all across the country and providing sweetheart deals to help seniors on Medicare Advantage in Florida in order to encourage one Member of the Senate to vote a certain way, I have to ask myself: What about the seniors in the rest of the country, whether it is Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, or Arizona?
A lot of seniors have great concern, and I would hope they would call up and say this is wrong; we need to know what is going on, and to ask why it is there is a sweetheart deal for one selected Senator from one State when we want to have that same advantage; and why are the Democrats voting to eliminate all this Medicare money.
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Mr. BARRASSO. Additionally, the Senator from Arizona talked about the closed-door meetings, secretly trying to come up with things.
There was an article in the paper today that the Democrats are turning to actually throwing more people on the Medicare and Medicaid rolls as they are trying to come up with some compromise; the idea being it is going to be compromising the care of the people. They are trying to put more people onto the Medicaid rolls. The Senator from Tennessee has said many physicians don't take those patients because reimbursement is so poor. It is putting more people into a boat that is already sinking. They want to put more people on Medicaid and more on Medicare, but at the same time they are cutting Medicare by $464 billion. This is a program we know is already going broke. Yet they want to now put people age 55 to 64, add those to the Medicare rolls, which is a program we have great concerns about.
Special deals for some, cutting out many others, now adding more people to the Medicare rolls--to me, this is not sustainable. Yet these are the deals that are being cut less than 100 feet from here off the floor of the Senate, when we are out here debating for all the American people to see the things we think are important about health care. Jobs are going to be lost as a result, if this bill gets passed. People who have insurance will end up paying more in premiums, if this bill is passed. People who depend on Medicare, whether it is Medicare Advantage or regular Medicare, will see their health care deteriorate as a result of this proposal. I turn to the Senator from Arizona, who has been a special student of this.
Mr. McCAIN. So seniors, by losing Medicare Advantage, would then lose certain provisions Medicare Advantage provides and then they would be forced, if they can afford it, which they are now paying zero because it is covered under Medicare Advantage, then they would have to buy Medigap policies that would make up for those benefits they lost when they lose Medicare Advantage.
Guess who offers those Medigap insurance policies. Our friends at AARP, which average $175 a month. We are telling people who are on Medicare Advantage today, when they lose it, they can be guaranteed, if they want to make up for those benefits they are losing, they would be paying $175 a month, minimum, for a Medigap policy. A lot of America's seniors cannot afford that.
Mr. COBURN. That is $2,000 a year.
Mr. McCAIN. They can't afford it.
Mr. COBURN. I will make one other point. Over the next 10 years, 15 million baby boomers are going to go into Medicare. We are taking $465 billion out of Medicare; on the 10-year picture, $1 trillion. So we are going to add $15 million and cut $1 trillion. What do you think is going to happen to the care for everybody in Medicare? The ultimate is, we are going to ration the care for seniors, if this bill comes through.
Mr. McCAIN. How much time remains, Madam President?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Five minutes is remaining.
Mr. McCAIN. I ask Dr. Barrasso, have you treated people under Medicare Advantage?
Mr. BARRASSO. I have. People know there is an advantage to being in this program, and that is why they sign up for it. That is why citizens all around the country have signed up for Medicare Advantage. They realize there is value in prevention and there is value in coordinated care. There is value in having eye care, dental care, hearing care. There are advantages to wanting to stay healthy, to keep down the cost of care.
Mr. McCAIN. So you are making the case that even though it may cost more, the fact that you have a weller and fitter group of senior citizens, you, in the long-run, reduce health care costs because they take advantage of the kind of care that, over time, would keep them from going to the hospital earlier or having to see the doctor more often.
Mr. BARRASSO. That is one of the reasons that Medicare Advantage was brought forth. I know a lot of Senators from rural States supported it because it would allow people in small communities to have this advantage to be in a program such as that. It could encourage doctors to go into those communities to try to keep those people well, work with prevention. The 11 million people who are on Medicare Advantage know they are on Medicare Advantage. They have chosen it. It is the fastest growing component because people realize the advantages of being on Medicare Advantage. If they want to stay independent, healthy, and fit, they sign up for Medicare Advantage. I would think people all across the country, who are seniors on Medicare but are not on Medicare Advantage, would want to say: Why didn't I know about this program? As seniors talk about this at senior centers--and I go to centers and meetings there and visit with folks and hear their concerns--they are converting over and joining, signing up for Medicare Advantage because they know there are advantages to it. For this Senate and the Democrats to say: We want to slash over $100 billion from Medicare Advantage, I think the people of America understand this is a great loss to them and a peril to their own health, as they lose the coordinated care and the preventive nature of the care.
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Mr. BARRASSO. I would concur that this is actually taking a step backward. That is why the Senator from Florida has demanded they make accommodations for the people of Florida. The people of Wyoming want those same accommodations, as do the people of Arizona and Texas. Because 11 million Americans have chosen the Medicare Advantage Program because it does help coordinate care. It has preventive care. It keeps it more patient centered as opposed to government centered, insurance company centered. That is the way for people to stay healthy, live longer lives, and keep their independence.
We have seen cuts across the board on Medicare, whether it is home health, nursing homes, hospice care, Medicare Advantage. And across the board, they are cutting Medicare in a way that certainly the seniors of this country do not deserve. They have paid into that program for many years and they deserve their benefits.
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