Ensign Votes To Keep Medicare Savings In Medicare

Press Release

Senator John Ensign today voted for an amendment, authored by Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH), that would ensure that if there are any Medicare savings in the healthcare reform law or the reconciliation bill those savings will be kept within the Medicare program and not used for other programs. The amendment to the Senate healthcare reconciliation bill was defeated on procedural grounds.

"We need to protect and improve the Medicare program for the more than 45 million seniors across the country who depend on Medicare for their healthcare needs," said Ensign. "This amendment would make sure we won't use Medicare as a piggy bank for new entitlement spending."

The healthcare law and reconciliation bill cut a combined $529 billion from Medicare. The Gregg amendment prohibits using these Medicare cuts to pay for new government spending in the underlying bill.

Ensign also won support for a similar amendment that he authored in the Senate Finance Committee during the healthcare reform bill markup last September. His amendment would have kept any Medicare savings within the Medicare program, which could be used to improve the current program for seniors. The savings could also be used to begin to reduce the tremendous unfunded liabilities that currently exist. His amendment was stripped from the Senate bill before it hit the floor.

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