Issue Position: Medicare

Issue Position

Originally created in 1965, Medicare provides our seniors and certain individuals with disabilities health care insurance. The program services approximately 1 in 7 Americans and virtually all those over age 65. Medicare provides an important health care safety net for over 44.6 million Americans, and Congress must continue to improve the program to ensure access to quality health care. The program began with only two parts - Part A, which covers inpatient hospital care and Part B which covers outpatient medical costs. The first significant change in the program was the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act of 2003, which included the enactment of the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug program.

While the concept behind a comprehensive senior prescription drug program is laudable, the Part D program enacted by the prior Congress needs to be fixed. In April, I introduced the Medicare Part D Improvement Act of 2007, H.R. 2056, to modify the program so that it begins to work for the people it was designed to help. The legislation strives to remove the "Donut Hole' (out of pocket expenses); allow seniors the ability to change health plans; removes low income subsidy requirements; and decreases late enrollment penalties.

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