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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 -------