Repealing Mandatory Funding for Graduate Medical Education

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chairman, I do support the Foxx amendment.

I've listened to all the discussion on the floor, much of it dealing, most recently, with not the Foxx amendment, but actually with Medicare, which always catches my attention. You see, Mr. Chairman, I actually have, before I came into this position in Congress just a little over 2 years ago, 3 years ago now, I actually worked in the health care field. I worked specifically serving individuals that utilize Medicare. I was a therapist, a licensed nursing home administrator and manager of rehabilitative services.

At the time of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, I actually was recruited by the Medicare agency--it was the Health Care Financing Administration then. Now it is the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services--to serve on the technical expert panel. So that's why, when I hear this rhetoric on the other side that the Republicans are trying to end Medicare, I find that just not accurate. And that's based on 30 years of experience of working with Medicare and developing an expertise with the Medicare policy, to be invited to be a part of the technical expert panel on Medicare.

The fact is, when I came to Washington in January 2009, I thought all 435 Members of Congress understood that the looming crisis in Washington was Medicare, Medicare was one of them, and that Medicare, frankly, was going to go bankrupt. It was going to become insolvent, and if we didn't reform Medicare, it would go away. And how immoral is that, for all the Americans out there that contribute to Medicare, pay for their Medicare, invest in their Medicare, and that it would not be there when it came time for them to get Medicare?

And so I'm actually just a little shocked, Mr. Chairman, by the rhetoric.

And the fact is, if we want to save Medicare, we need to do exactly what the Republicans are proposing, and that is to reform it, to save it. Even the Medicare trustees just 2 weeks ago came out and they said that the Medicare program was going to be insolvent 5 years sooner than what they originally predicted.

Now, what does insolvent mean, Mr. Chairman? Insolvent means going bankrupt. Insolvent means going away. Insolvent means that for all the seniors that have paid into the system, it won't be there for them.

We have a duty and an obligation, a fiduciary responsibility to make sure that Medicare is there. This side of the aisle is the only one that is working on keeping Medicare for our seniors. What we're proposing, really, is premium support. It's not vouchers. It's not privatizing. It's premium support. And premium support is the best model that you can look at, for that is Medicare part D, the pharmaceutical program.

Medicare part D gives seniors the opportunity to pick from plans that work for them that are customized to their needs. Medicare part D, for those who don't know it, has to do with prescriptions for pharmaceuticals. And we provide premium support so that they can pick the plans that work for them, so they can make sure they get the prescriptions that they need to have.

Frankly, it is one of the few government plans that has ever come in under budget. Most government plans don't come in under budget. They come in way over budget. Medicare part D did.

It also speaks to me as Medicare part C, which is Medicare managed care. Medicare managed care, Medicare Advantage, which unfortunately the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act attacked and went after, that Medicare part C program provides for wellness and prevention. Medicare part C has been a program that has been allowed to emphasize prevention and wellness. And the statistics show that the people engaged in that program have been hospitalized fewer times and that those hospitalizations have been for fewer days. And do you know what? It keeps them well. It keeps them healthy. And that's what health care should be all about, keeping people healthy. And the other thing it does is it saves taxpayer dollars. That's a win-win, as far as I'm concerned.

So we're talking about premium supports that take concepts from Medicare part D and Medicare part C, and we're going to apply those premium supports to the Medicare program.

Mr. Chairman, I think it is important that people understand that if we do not reform Medicare, Medicare will go bankrupt, Medicare will be insolvent, and Medicare won't be there. If we don't do this, the fact is that Medicare will go bankrupt. Medicare will be insolvent. And in the end, that is just immoral.

We have a great opportunity here, and we need to address Medicare. I think premium supports are a great way to do that. And I appreciate the opportunity to be able to speak.

The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).

The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes appeared to have it.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source