Dingell Comments On Republican Claims To Protect Seniors

Statement

Dingell Comments On Republican Claims To Protect Seniors

Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) made the following remarks after claims from several Republicans, including Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, began promoting what they called a “Seniors' Health Care Bill of Rights.” Many of these same Republicans opposed the “Patients' Bill of Rights” which Congressman Dingell got passed in the Republican-controlled House in 1999.

“I'm proud to say that I was one of the authors of Medicare more than 43 years ago. In my office sits the gavel that I held as Speaker pro tempore during that historic vote cast on the House floor. I also still have a pen that President Johnson used when signing that bill into law. I watched from the Speaker's chair as Republicans fought furiously to kill Medicare before Johnson's pen ever touched the paper. Bob Dole used to brag that only 13 Republican Congressman voted for the bill. The Republicans who've come to the House after that have been fighting to turn back the clock. Newt Gingrich led a 1995 effort that would have cut 14% from Medicare spending over seven years and forced millions of elderly recipients into managed health care programs or HMOs. Gingrich is just one of the conservative cabal including Reagan, Dole, both Bushes and other Republicans that have worked constantly to kill or dismantle Medicare. Now, they are trying to scare seniors in the hope that it will kill the health insurance reform bill.

“Here are the facts:

* HR 3200 will actually extend Medicare's solvency by five years.
* Over time, H.R. 3200 will fill that horrendous Medicare prescription drug donut hole left behind by the Bush Administration. It will also bring immediate relief to seniors by cutting the costs of many drugs in the donut hole in half.
* It will make premiums more affordable for seniors. It will give patients more time with primary care doctors they trust and count on for medical advice.
* It will prevent physician reimbursement rates from being cut 21.5 percent next year and reform the sustainable growth rate, the physician payment mechanism in Medicare.

“Republicans want seniors to forget 40 years of their efforts to demolish Medicare. They are interested in driving seniors off of Medicare and into other plans that don't provide the same quality service. They had the chance to vote for the Patients' Bill of Rights, a bipartisan bill that would have provided meaningful reform of managed care with significant protections for consumers. But it was Republicans that killed that bill. Don't be fooled -- the faces may have changed, but the Republican ideas of today are the same as those pushed by Republicans who wanted to kill Medicare before it started. I want to save Medicare and make sure the quality care seniors enjoy today is available to their children and their grandchildren. That's why I'm proud to be the author of H.R. 3200, a bill that will continue Democratic traditions of ensuring seniors get the best medical care our nation has to offer.”

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