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Ryan Republican Medicare Plan

Floor Speech

Date: April 14, 2011
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Senior Citizens Entitlements and the Safety Net Health Insurance Government Budget and Spending

Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, in 1965, when Medicare was passed, only 50 percent of America's seniors could afford to buy health insurance. That was not an accident. It was because the high risk of people over age 65 made that market basically uninsurable.

I'm from Connecticut. We know a little bit about insurance in the State of Connecticut. Looking at the Ryan Republican Medicare plan which would give seniors vouchers to go out and buy insurance, all we're asking for is to repeat history, which is where this country was in 1965.

We must protect a guaranteed benefit for seniors. We learned that lesson throughout the early 1900s through 1965. The Ryan plan takes us back to a time when seniors will be paying massive out-of-pocket costs. The CBO estimates it will triple out-of-pocket costs for seniors. It is the wrong way to go. President Obama's plan that he laid out yesterday, which is a thoughtful, intelligent approach to lower health care costs but protects a guaranteed benefit for seniors, is what this country needs and what our senior citizens need.


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