Protecting Medicare

Floor Speech

Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, when former President Harry Truman and his wife, Bess, were officially enrolled as the first Medicare beneficiaries on July 1, 1966, only 50 percent of America's seniors could afford private health insurance.

The high risks associated with covering America's over-65 population made seniors basically uninsurable. That all changed 45 years ago last week when Medicare was established as a guaranteed benefit, providing a basic level of care for seniors regardless of income or illness.

From the beginning, Medicare has proven resilient, adapting to rapid changes in medicine and surviving in wartime and peace, economic boom times and in recession. Despite some alarmist claims, Medicare has faced more difficult financial challenges in the past than the ones it faces today. Preserving Medicare's guaranteed benefits for future generations is our solemn duty, and we must stop the push for vouchers, which will ruin America's middle class.

On the 45th anniversary of this landmark program, we must rededicate ourselves to protecting Medicare as a guaranteed benefit for tomorrow's seniors, not butchering it with a voucher program or using it as an ATM for the top 2 percents.

Happy birthday, Medicare. If we stay true to our values, you will have many happy returns.

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