Health Care

Floor Speech

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Mr. FLEMING. Well, I thank the gentleman, Mr. Akin, for the question.

Of course, I, among all of our Republican colleagues and our Democrat colleagues, was here to hear the President make these statements, and it's very interesting when he said not one dime would be spent, and yet I don't know of anyone in America who agrees with that. Even the CBO, who is led by someone who was actually appointed by him, says that even with all of the razzle dazzle and the sleight of hand and pulling rabbits out of the hat, still there's $256 billion that's not covered, and that's after the $500 billion that's being gutted from Medicare, as you adroitly pointed out.

Mr. AKIN. Say that again. How much was gutted from Medicare?

Mr. FLEMING. Well, it is a two-step situation. About $350 billion.

Mr. AKIN. That is more than the deficit he inherited from the Bush administration. He is going to take that much out of Medicare?

Mr. FLEMING. That is the first step. The second step is nearly another $200 billion that comes out of Medicare Advantage. So the total comes to something well over $500 billion, half a trillion dollars.

Mr. AKIN. $500 billion taken out of Medicare. That is a pretty gutsy move, it seems like to me, to be taking $500 billion out of Medicare. And he is calling that, what his statement was: Most of the plan would be paid for by finding savings within the existing health care system, a system that is currently full of waste and abuse.

I guess he is looking at the waste and abuse would be $500 billion out of Medicare; is that correct?

Mr. FLEMING. Well, $350 billion would be from the so-called fraud, waste and abuse. The other $150 or so billion, almost $200 billion, would be to directly tear down, dismantle, if you will Medicare Advantage.

Mr. AKIN. I have heard politicians going along on this line, and it sounds like to me that there is a line item, or there are three line items, waste, fraud and abuse, and you can just cut the numbers out of those lines. Is that how it works?

Mr. FLEMING. It seems to me that it is easy to do on paper, but this program is over 40 years old. And every politician that has come along has promised to do away with fraud, waste and abuse. Not one has been able to do it, and our President nor our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have even hinted how that would be accomplished.

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