Patriot Sunsets Extension Act of 2011

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Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I commend my colleague, Senator Stabenow, for the great work she has done over a long period of time for women and families in her State of Michigan and throughout the country. I remember her telling me she got involved in politics in order to address a nursing home issue, which disproportionately affects women--just as this budget that passed the House disproportionately affects women and children. I am pleased to be able to join her on the floor, along with my other colleagues.

I also appreciate Senator Mikulski's leadership in bringing us together today.

There is no doubt that everybody in the Senate--and those who spoke today--understands we need to deal with this country's debt and deficit. There is no question about that. But the question is, Are we going to do that in a way that is fair to everyone? Unfortunately, the House Republican plan would disproportionately impact women and, in particular, older women.

Make no mistake about it, the Republican budget that passed the House will end Medicare as we know it today. Since women are a majority of all Medicare beneficiaries, any radical change to the Medicare system will disproportionately affect women, and it will, in the long term, hurt so many women in this country. For example, if we take a typical senior on Medicare in my home State of New Hampshire, under the House Republican plan that senior's out-of-pocket health care costs are going to double to $12,000 a year.

As time goes on, those out-of-pocket costs are going to continue to increase. This health care impact on senior women is especially hard because, during most women's working years, they earn less than men. That is still true today--women earn less than men. Women often work part time or leave the workforce while raising families. As a result, they have less retirement savings, on average, and lower Social Security benefits.

So for women who already have earned less, Medicare is a critical source of financial security. It keeps many women out of poverty. The House-passed Republican budget will end that security for seniors who rely on prescription drugs--a real improvement we made when we passed the affordable health care plan because we made great progress toward closing that doughnut hole and helping seniors with the cost of prescription drugs. But what the House Republican plan will do is dramatically increase those costs. Again, in New Hampshire, we have 15,200 seniors who will pay $8.5 million more in just 1 year for their medication. Of course, we all know women tend to live longer than men. As a result, women represent three-quarters of our most vulnerable Medicare beneficiaries--those who are living in nursing homes and assisted living or other long-term care facilities.

When their savings run out--which happens often, given the costs of long-term care--seniors must turn to Medicaid to pay their bills. However, the House Republican budget would also make radical changes to the Medicaid system. So their proposal not only threatens Medicare but it threatens long-term care for millions of women who rely on Medicaid.

The House Republican proposal eliminates the current Medicare system and puts private insurance companies in charge of the health benefits seniors receive. The Republican plan does nothing to reduce the cost of health care. It just shifts that cost of health care onto seniors. What is going to happen when we shift the cost to seniors who can no longer afford to pay for their health care is that they are going to go to emergency rooms, and emergency rooms are not only the most expensive care because we would have eliminated the preventive care that is part of the new Medicare proposal we passed for health care, but everybody who has health insurance winds up paying for those emergency room costs that seniors would not be able to afford to pay. So it is a double cost shifting--a shifting to seniors for the cost of their health care and a shifting of those health care costs to everybody who has insurance.

The House Republican budget will hurt all seniors, but it will especially hurt women because they are the most vulnerable. I hope all our colleagues will join us in voting against the House Republican budget that is on our desk that we expect to take up this week.

I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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