Bush on Medicare Feb. 27th. 2001
Text of President Bush's address to a joint session
of Congress on Tuesday night, as delivered:
SNIP
Another priority in my budget is to keep the vital promises of
Medicare and Social Security, and together we will do so.
To meet the health care needs of all America's seniors,
we double the Medicare budget over the next 10 years.
My budget dedicates $238 billion to Medicare next year alone,
enough to fund all current programs and to begin a new
prescription drug benefit for low-income seniors.
No senior in America should have to choose between buying
food and buying prescriptions.
To make sure the retirement savings of America's seniors
are not diverted to any other program ? my budget protects
all $2.6 trillion of the Social Security surplus for Social Security
and for Social Security alone. My budget puts a priority on
access to health care without telling Americans what doctor
they have to see or what coverage they must choose.
Many working Americans do not have health care coverage.
So we will help them buy their own insurance with refundable
tax credits.
And to provide quality care in low-income neighborhoods,
over the next five years we will double the number of people
served at community health care centers. And we will address
the concerns of those who have health coverage yet worry their
insurance company does not care and will not pay.
Together, this Congress and this president will find common
ground to make sure doctors make medical decisions and
patients get the health care they deserve with a patients'
bill of rights. When it comes to their health, people want to
get the medical care they need, not be forced to go to court
because they didn't get it. We will ensure access to the
courts for those with legitimate claims, but first, let's put in
place a strong independent review so we promote quality
health care, not frivolous lawsuits.
SNIP
http://www.ocregister.com/politics/bush0227.shtml

Bush Nixes Band-Aid for Medicare
NewsMax.com - Thursday, March 1, 2001
http://newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/3/1/100726.shtml

Radio Address of the President to the Nation - March 3rd.
We will spend more on Medicare, as well, nearly doubling its
budget in 10 years. But just as important, we will modernize
Medicare, to provide a prescription drug benefit for senior citizens.
http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/0303-101.html


WASHINGTON, March 5 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following
is a transcript of today's press briefing by Ari Fleischer:

SNIP
Q    The purpose today of the meeting with leaders from
 Congress, about Medicare -- what's the idea here?
 
MR. FLEISCHER:  The President wants to start building the case
 for fundamental Medicare reform and he's holding a bipartisan
 meeting today with several leaders on the Hill to discuss that
 important issue.
 
Congress came very close in the last session to having a
 bipartisan recommendation.  There was a Congressional Commission
 set up of 17 members. And, if I recall, either 10 or 11 voted
for  the Commission recommendations in a strong bipartisan showing.

The President continues to believe that it's very important to
 our nation's seniors, and also to a lot of middle aged Americans
 who care about what is going to happen to their parents upon
 retirement, that they get the health care they deserve.

The Medicare system is in need of reform and modernization
and that's  why he's going to work with this group of
Congressmen and Senators.  
     
Q    What is wrong with Medicare now?

MR. FLEISCHER:  Jim, did you have a follow up; and I'll come  
back to Helen.

Q    The Commission effort dealt mainly with poorer seniors.  
The President campaigned on a much broader plan.

MR. FLEISCHER:  The Commission effort?  No the Commission  
effort dealt with Medicare generally.  The Commission effort was  
broad and encompassed all of Medicare reform.  The President's  
Immediate Helping Hand provision dealt with low income seniors,
to  get them prescription drugs.  But the Commission that the
President  has referred to, saying that they generally had a very
sound  approach to America -- although there are some things he
wants to  take a second look out -- the Commission was
fundamental Medicare  reform.

Q    So the President has decided there are two ways to go  here. 
One is to go with Helping Hand; one is to go for  comprehensive
 reform.  It sounds as if he has decided to try to  invigorate the
effort to move toward comprehensive reform?        

MR. FLEISCHER:  As the President said in his address to the  
Congress last Tuesday night, he thinks that no senior should
have  to choose between prescription drugs and their food. 
Many seniors, unfortunately, in our society are faced with that
choice.

So what the President has sent up to the Hill is a proposal to  
have an Immediate Helping Hand, so low income seniors can
get  immediate relief through the states for their prescription
drug  needs.

He also recognizes that there are many people on Capitol Hill  
who prefer, instead, to work forward on comprehensive reform
plan,  and that's a group of the people he's going to meet with
today.  Of  course, any comprehensive reform plan would
include prescription  drugs for seniors, as well as take other
steps to modernize  Medicare.  And I'll get into some of the
 reasons on that in just a  moment.

SNIP

Helen had a question on Medicare

Q    What is the core reason of changing the Medicare system?
 And I don't say "reform," because reform indicates you make it
 better.
 
MR. FLEISCHER:  Well, there are two reasons.  One is, Medicare
 is going broke, the amount of money coming in for Medicare exceeds  -
going out from Medicare exceeds the amount of money coming in.        
And the second fact is that Medicare remains a 1965-style  program at
its core.  It's been very cumbersome, very difficult for  a lot of
seniors to get the health care they need.  For example,  while there are
some 37 million, 38 million Medicare beneficiaries  in this country, the
majority of them are forced to get Medigap  insurance, because the
benefits they qualify under Medicare are  insufficient:  prescription
drugs, eyeglasses.

Q    -- the benefits, under your plan?  

MR. FLEISCHER:  Well, certainly, many of the proposals on the
 Hill that dealt with Medicare reform did allow seniors to have more
 options and more choices, so they could get a package of health  
care benefits that suited their individual needs.

The other interesting thing about Medicare today that was so  
different from when Medicare was created in 1965, is the fastest  
growing group of Americans are octogenarians, people in their 80s.  
And in the 1960s, that just wasn't the case.  And you have  
tremendous differences in health care needs between somebody
who  just turned 65, for example, and someone who is in their 80s. 
They  have different needs from a health care system.

The Medicare system, though, currently really remains a
one-size-fits-all system.  But there are many people who had a
tremendous number of options in the work place when they were
64 years old and 364 days old.  They could have a medical savings
account; they could have HMO coverage; they could have PPO  
coverage, a variety --  

Q    You want to get privatization in.

MR. FLEISCHER:  We want more choices and more options for  
seniors, so what seniors are able to enjoy when they're 64 years  
old, they're still able to enjoy when they're 65 years old, while  
still protecting 80-year-olds and other seniors who want no change  
whatsoever, by maintaining the current Medicare system.  And that  
really is what the bipartisan reforms on the Hill have focused on,
in terms of Medicare.
SNIP
http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/0305-136.html

Bush seeks to spark Medicare reform momentum
March  5, 2001
Web posted at: 12:41 PM EST (1741 GMT)
http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/03/05/bush.medicare.reut/index.html

The Advocate Online
Joan McKinney - Published on 3/5/01
U.S. Rep. Jim McCrery, R-Monroe, says he has a health-care,
tax-credit proposal for the poor that's more generous than
President Bush's plan.
http://www.theadvocate.com/opinion/mckinney.asp

Bush calls for reform of Medicare this year
Tuesday, March 6, 2001
http://www.bergen.com/morenews/medic620010302.htm

Bush urges Congress to restructure Medicare
By ANJETTA McQUEEN, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (March 6, 2001 9:06 a.m. EST
http://www.nando.com/noframes/story/0,2107,500460388-500701309-503818677-0,00.html

Sen. Hatch Headlines Conference on Healthcare Reform
U.S. Newswire - 6 Mar 14:02
http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/0306-126.html

The Administrative Law Practice Group of the Federalist Society
presents "Does Current Law Reduce the Availability and
Quality of Health Care?"
March 7, 2001  U.S. CAPITOL Building, room SC-5
http://www.fed-soc.org/healthcare.html

Bush: Tax Cuts Before Medicare Reform
NewsMax.com Wires - Tuesday, March 6, 2001
http://newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/3/6/75145.shtml

Bush's Unintended Tax Strategy
NewsMax.com - Tuesday, March 6, 2001
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/3/6/110552.shtml

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