Rep. Brady Calls for Immediate Action on Medicare

The April 24 release of the Medicare Trustees report on the impending bankruptcy of Medicare has prompted first term Congressman Kevin Brady to call for immediate action to help reform the ailing program. The report, authored by several of President Clinton’s cabinet members, concluded that the Medicare Part A Trust Fund will begin running a $23 billion deficit by the year 2001.

Currently, the Part A Trust Fund pays the hospital portion of 37 million seniors’ Medicare bills. By law, when the Fund is empty, those bills will no longer be paid. According to actuarial estimates, the Fund is losing $40 million a day.

"It’s unfortunate that President Clinton ignored past warnings of his own Medicare trustees board. I call on the administration to work with this Congress to improve Medicare and make sure the system is solvent into the next century," stated Brady.

During the 104th Congress, Republicans in Congress devised a plan to improve Medicare and expand options for senior citizens already in the program. The measure was defeated by the Clinton Administration during the late 1995 showdown over the federal budget. Opponents of Medicare reform have so far resisted any change to the program despite constant warnings of its demise.

As a supporter of the Medicare Preservation Act, Brady believes that it is possible to save the program without increasing premiums. The plan would allow overall Medicare spending to increase at about 7 percent a year and would increase the per person benefit from about $5000 a year to over $7000 a year by 2002.

"This recent trustees report is a wake-up call to those who think typical Washington solution will suffice. Senior citizens deserve more than politics as usual. They deserve the peace of mind that will come from an honest, no gimmicks solution. Hopefully, this year will produce that solution," said Brady.