Concurrent Resolution On The Budget For Fiscal Year 2008

Floor Speech

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2008 -- (House of Representatives - March 28, 2007)

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Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the ranking member for yielding me this time.

I appreciate Mr. Hensarling's comments as well. My comments this evening are going to be directed toward the entitlement program known as Medicare. It does seem that the budget, before this evening, the budget we are debating, does lack a lot. It has a significant deficiency.

The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling) has already pointed out the lack of any real entitlement reform; but there is a missed opportunity in this budget which is disturbing. Yesterday in the Rules Committee, I offered an amendment which was not made in order. This amendment was relatively simple. It would have provided for reconciliation instructions, require the House Judiciary Committee to take up and report to the full House a bill that would reform our medical justice system, and limit the number of lawsuits of questionable merit in order to achieve an overall savings of $2 billion over 5 years.

By capping noneconomic damages at $250,000 per provider, $500,000 per case for noneconomic damages, the CBO estimates that this amendment would save nearly $2 billion over 5 years, $4.5 billion over 10.

Because the practice of defensive medicine is so pervasive, this amendment would establish a liability safety net for many States. It would also insulate providers from lawsuits of questionable merit while ensuring just compensation for those who have been truly injured.

Defensive medicines increases the cost of medical care. It reduces access for patients, and increases the cost of programs like Medicare and Medicaid for the United States taxpayer. This is doubly important as costs increase in Medicare and Medicaid year after year, and we seek savings to make certain that these programs are solvent and viable for those who depend on them now and well into the future.

Medicare and Medicaid represent a growing expenditure of over $600 billion a year for the Federal Government. As the medical liability crisis grows, a large fraction of these dollars will be spent on inefficient health care services provided more to protect the provider from a lawsuit than to improve the patient's health.

Effective medical liability reform would constrain the growth of vital programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, and ensure their long-term viability.

I am happy that the Republican substitute addresses this issue in a responsible manner. Once again, it is an example of a missed opportunity by the budget before us tonight. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the budget and ``yes'' on the Republican substitute.

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