Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act Of 2009

Floor Speech

Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act Of 2009

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Mr. BARRASSO. I agree with the Senator from Arizona. I looked at another one of his favorite newspapers, the New York Times, today because we--

Mr. McCAIN. My absolute favorite.

Mr. BARRASSO. On this floor have said the Democratic proposal is cutting the Medicare the seniors of this country depend on for their health care. We pointed out that they have taken $120 billion away from Medicare Advantage. Mr. President, 11 million seniors use Medicare Advantage. One out of four seniors is on Medicare. The reason they signed up for Medicare Advantage is because there is an advantage for the seniors--preventive care, coordinated care, things we know are important.

Yesterday on this floor, the Democrats voted to cut away from home health care. This is a lifeline for homebound patients. It helps keep them out of the hospital and out of the nursing homes. Yet in spite of all the letters we have read from patients, as well as home health care communities in all of our States, they have cut back.

Yet the majority whip came to the floor at the opening of the session today and said: Oh, we have handled all of that. He said: We have handled all of that with a wonderful resolution of the Senate by Senator Michael Bennet.

The New York Times today, about that resolution, said:

Democrats decided to respond to the Republicans saying: Hey, you are cutting Medicare for our seniors. ``Democrats decided to respond ..... with a meaningless amendment.'' The New York Times editorial today, ``a meaningless amendment.'' We knew it was meaningless, and we know they are cutting Medicare from the seniors who depend on it--Medicare Advantage from hospitals, from nursing homes, from hospice, from home health care. This is robbing the people who need this care, deserve the care.

If you said maybe we should take a look at Medicare, then do it, Mr. President, to save Medicare, to save Medicare that we know is going broke.

I see the Senator from New Hampshire is here. He has been an expert on this topic of the budget and ways we can save Medicare. I say to my friend from New Hampshire, is this not true that Democrats have proposed a meaningless amendment but they are cutting the guts out of the Medicare Program on which the seniors of this country are dependent?

Mr. GREGG. As usual, the Senator from Wyoming is absolutely true. The sense-of-the-Senate amendments we have had from the other side of the aisle on Medicare are political amendments meant to make a political statement, but they have no substantive effect. That is why I brought forward my amendment which hopefully will be voted on in the next couple of days or so which says specifically what the Senator from Wyoming has asked for.

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Mr. BARRASSO. When I talk to other doctors, they tell me, across the board they order a number of tests, expensive tests--call it defensive medicine--tests that do not necessarily help a patient get better, get well, but just to make sure they get covered in case they are sued. It is not unusual, when you look at the numbers, that we are talking $100 billion a year in tests that are done that do not necessarily help somebody get better, but they are doing it because of the legal atmosphere in this country.

Here we are on the Senate floor on a Sunday afternoon. The President is less than 100 yards away, a former Member of this body. He ought to be involving all Senators. He is meeting behind closed doors, possibly cutting deals, trying to come to arrangements, twisting arms, asking people to march, follow his marching orders right off a cliff that I think is going to be coming for health care in America.

I think he ought to be involving all Americans. We are talking to the Americans in this country. We are not hiding behind closed doors. People who aren't part of those discussions are completely cut out.

I know my colleague from Tennessee has been outstanding and outspoken on these very issues, but we are here, and we want to visit with people because we do have solutions that work; that will not increase the cost of care, which is what we are seeing now; that are not going to cut Medicare, which is what the Democrats are proposing; that are not going to increase taxes, which the Democrats are proposing; and they are not going to drive up the premiums.

The whole idea behind this was to get the costs under control. Senator Ensign's amendment does that by taking a look at the lawsuit abuse that we look at in this country. But I want to turn to my colleague from Tennessee, who I know has some more points he wants to make.

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Mr. BARRASSO. Standing on the Senate floor, looking at so many colleagues from States with a lot of rural areas, it is a challenge to have people who can provide these excellent services, who are very well trained, know how to do it, how they can provide the services in these small communities. We have dealt with that in Wheatland, WY, and New Castle, WY, where the expense for the malpractice insurance for those physicians was so high that even though they didn't deliver that many babies in these small communities, they could not afford and the hospital could not afford to allow them to continue to deliver any babies. The amount of money they would receive from delivering babies was not enough to cover the insurance. In New Castle, WY, there were three physicians qualified to deliver, but the number of deliveries was such they ended up with no one delivering because they wanted to take one night and the next and the next. So you have communities all across our country that are losing highly qualified medical practitioners--whether it is cardiologists, surgeons, trauma surgeons, whether it is obstetricians, gynecologist. We are seeing this all over our communities.

The Senator from Tennessee is here. There are a lot of small communities where they are going to lose those. We are seeing it in the cuts yesterday for home health. Those people are not going to be available to deliver small community care, lifeline, homebound, keeping them out of nursing homes, keeping them out of hospitals.

There are real consequences of this bill, not just with the junk lawsuits--that is a big part of it--but also with the Medicare cuts, also with the increased taxes we are seeing in this bill and how that is going to affect small businesses, which are the engines that drive the economy of this country--and profoundly.

We heard the Senator from South Dakota show the premiums families are going to have to pay for insurance are going to climb faster if this bill becomes law than if nothing were passed. Even though the President promised that families in this country on average would see a $2,500-per-year decline in premiums, the President's own numbers people say: Sorry, it is going to go up $2,100. That is a $4,600 shift for every family who tries to buy their own health insurance. That is what we are seeing in Wyoming.

I ask my colleague from Tennessee if he is seeing the same things at home.

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