| |  | | | | Join me at the Congressional Art Contest and Gallery opening!
Tomorrow afternoon, please come celebrate the talent of some of the District's best young artists, as we open the gallery at the beautiful Kansas City Public Library Central Branch in downtown Kansas City.
This year, we have over 140 entries in the Congressional Art Contest: A Voyage of Artistic Discovery. The judges have already selected those who will be honored tomorrow, and I am excited to announce the finalists and winner at tomorrow's opening.
The winner will receive a plane ride for his/her family to Washington, where they will be on-hand for the unveiling of his/her work of art in the U.S. Capitol. Every Member of Congress walks past the artwork representing each Congressional District every day, and I am always proud to point our winner out to visitors and colleagues.
The gallery viewing begins at 1:00 p.m. and the program will begin at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, April 16, at the Kansas City Public Library Central Branch, 14 West 10th Street in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Hope to see you there!
11,268 local seniors share concerns about ending Medicare
Congressman Cleaver speaks with 11,268 residents of Missouri's Fifth District via tele-town hall this afternoon.
This afternoon, it was my pleasure to speak with 11,268 senior citizens in our community on a tele-town hall regarding the plans passed today by House Republicans to dramatically change the Medicare program.
Joining me on the call was expert Marc Steinberg, the Deputy Director of Health Policy at FamiliesUSA. For 25 years, FamiliesUSA has served as a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to studying policy issues and advocating for high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.
We have used tele-town halls over the last few years to reach and have a conversation with large numbers of constituents. Each time, I am gratified by the hundreds and often thousands of you who stay on the line to listen to one another as we work through the difficult challenges facing our nation.
Today's call was no different.
Like me, many of you have serious concerns about plans to privatize Medicare. The Republican budget, passed today, would end Medicare as we know it now and replace it with a voucher system where seniors go out into the private market to buy their own health insurance. As I shared with thousands of seniors on the phone this afternoon, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) states that, under the House Republican plan, seniors "would bear a much larger share of their health care costs than they would under the traditional program."
According to the non-partisan CBO, the plan passed by Republicans today would more than double the typical senior's out-of-pocket health care spending by 2022, compared to what their costs would be under traditional Medicare – increasing their out-of-pocket costs by more than $6,000. In addition, according to CBO, by 2030, the GOP plan would nearly triple the typical senior's out-of-pocket spending.
Under the House Republican plan, everyone currently under age 55 would miss out on Medicare but would be enrolled in this new, yet to be formed, voucher system.
But there are further concerns for both seniors and the nation's fiscal health under this plan. Unlike the actions taken last year in the Affordable Care Act, the measure passed today would increase health costs across the board for two reasons: a private health insurance plan covering the standardized benefit would be more expensive than traditional Medicare; and 2) as the CBO points out, "the government's contribution would grow more slowly than health care costs, leaving more for beneficiaries to pay."
As it was clear on today's phone call, seniors are concerned about the uncertainty they would face under the House Republicans' plan; private insurers would have flexibility -- to limit benefits, change co-payment arrangements, change which doctors are in their network, and manage utilization – that does not exist in traditional Medicare. These changes would be great for businesses--and very dangerous for seniors who depend on the coverage they receive through Medicare.
Under the House Republicans' plan, the Medicare payroll taxes a senior paid throughout their working life would go to a private insurance company, rather than to a guaranteed benefit.
Just as a very popular provision in the Affordable Care Act is reducing prescription drug costs for seniors, the House Republican plan would raise prescription drug costs for millions of seniors. It would get rid of our health reform's provisions providing a 50% discount for brand-name drugs for seniors in the ‘donut hole' and completely closing the ‘donut hole' by 2020.
In addition, literally months after it went into effect, the House Republicans' plan also raises costs for seniors by getting rid of the new free preventive care benefit under Medicare, which went into effect on January 1st.
Finally, the plan that passed on the floor today (on a party line vote), phases in an increase for the age at which seniors are eligible for the new voucher program that replaces Medicare from 65 to 67, beginning in 2022.
The seniors I spoke with this afternoon seemed to share my grave concerns about the elimination of Medicare. Say what you will about the rather protracted process surrounding the passage of last year's health care reform measure, but at least it can be said that input was taken from all sides. It is also clear that all the conversations and negotiation led to a consensus bill that achieved passage.
The measure that passed the House today (by a partisan vote of 235-193) and caused great concern among the seniors I spoke with this afternoon, has zero chance of becoming law. No bipartisan effort was made to reach out and compromise with members of my party, whose votes in the Senate and signature from the President are needed for any measure to become law, let alone this sweeping measure.
So, as I assured seniors today, the House Republican budget and plan to gut Medicare is a political exercise full of sound and fury that only signifies something meaningful to the hard core base of the Republican Party.
Lyndon Johnson signing Medicare bill, with Harry Truman, July 30, 1965 at the Truman Library in Independence, Mo.
What's Being Proposed—and What Would It Mean for Missouri?
Here are a few documents specific to this bill's effect on Missouri that you may find helpful:I also wanted to share what other non-partisan groups are saying about the House Republican plan to privatize Medicare, conceived and sponsored by Budget Committee Chairman, Paul Ryan (WI-1):- "The [Republican] proposal, rather than tackling skyrocketing health care costs, would simply shift these costs onto the backs of people in Medicare. It would undermine Medicare's promise of secure health coverage – a guarantee that future seniors have contributed to through a lifetime of hard work."
AARP, 4/5/11
- "The Ryan plan would replace the current Medicare program with vouchers and leave seniors and the disabled … hostage to the whims of the private marketplace. Over time, this will destroy the only health insurance program available to 47 million Americans. Vouchers are designed not to keep up with the increasing cost of health insurance … that is why they save money. Destroying Medicare and leaving millions of Americans without adequate health coverage is not a path to prosperity for any except for-profit insurers and the American people understand that."
National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, 4/5/11
- "The budget resolution would eliminate the current Medicare program and replace it with a defined contribution, "premium support," or "voucher" program that would significantly raise health care costs for people with Medicare and reduce the current guaranteed benefit package. …The amount of the voucher would not reflect the growth in health care costs overall, leaving Medicare consumers vastly underinsured."
Leadership Council of Aging Organizations, 4/13/11
- "The Budget Resolution turns Medicare into a voucher program, with a set payment for each beneficiary going directly to private insurance companies, and with no guarantee that specific benefits like hospital coverage, skilled nursing facility care, doctors' visits, durable medical equipment, home health care, and preventive services would be covered by the private insurance."
Center for Medicare Advocacy, 4/7/11
- "The math of the proposed House budget … is really quite simple – Medicare consumers (those over 65 and people with disabilities) pay more for health care and the federal government pays a lot less. The proposal ends Medicare as we know it today, replacing Medicare's guaranteed benefits with a ‘premium support' payment or voucher that consumers can use to buy private insurance."
Medicare Rights Center, 4/5/11
- [The Ryan] plan tries to hide cold-hearted details behind seemingly innocuous buzzwords like ‘vouchers' … But the reality is that ‘voucher' is Ryan-speak for turning Medicare over to the big insurance companies… People of all ages have seen what happens when the insurance companies call the shots – they choose their profits over our health, the corporate interest over the public interest."
Alliance for Retired Americans, 4/5/11
The President's Proposal
The President laid out his priorities for reducing the deficit and investing in our future in a speech on Wednesday. I was asked to react to the speech on NPR's Talk of the Nation. If you have a moment, it is a fairly comprehensive examination of the President's speech and includes comments from my friend Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah. Neal Conan hosts the conversation.
Listen here >>>
The Congressional Black Caucus unveils its "Alternative Budget" for next fiscal year 2012 during a Washington news conference yesterday.
Members shown: (L to R) Rep. Charles Rangel, Rep. Al Green, Rep. Donna Christensen, Chairman Cleaver, Rep. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, and Rep. Marcia Fudge
Continuing Resolution
The House passed a six month extension that will fund the government until the end of the current Fiscal Year. While the measure certainly represented the best efforts of negotiators on all sides, the final list of cuts was too scatter-shot, too draconian, and in the end, just too ill-conceived to earn my vote.
However, the bill is now the law of the land, and I wanted to pass along some specifics of the measure that will fund the government through September. Details of this deal were not widely known, even to Members of Congress until hours before the vote.
- The Pentagon received $513 billion, which is $5 billion more than last year, but $2 billion less than what Republicans wanted. And there's nothing for the continued development of an alternative engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which I hope means that particular boondoggle will come to an end.
- The Homeland Security Department will see a 2 percent cut, mostly from grants to local first-responders — the first spending reduction since the department's creation nine years ago. There's also a $414 million cut from the Justice Department grants to state and local police.
- The EPA's budget will bear a huge portion of the cuts. It will lose 16 percent, or $1.6 billion, mostly from suspending clean-water grants to cities. That's about half what the House Republicans initially proposed.
- Renewable-energy programs from the Department of Energy will be cut 20 percent, or $407 million.
- The Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees flood control and river dredging, will be cut 10 percent, or $578 million.
- The maximum Pell grant will remain at the current level of $5,550; House Republicans had proposed a 15 percent trim. (Pell grants for summer school will be cut, though.)
- The National Institutes of Health will take a 1 percent cut of $260 million, one-sixth of what the House Republicans proposed. But $600 million will be cut from a separate community health center program.
- The National Science Foundation will get $6.9 billion, $307 million more than the House Republicans voted for back in February.
- Family planning aid will be cut 5 percent-- not totally eliminated, as Republicans wanted.
- Obama's "Race to the Top" competitive education grants will be given a $700 million boost. The President also will get a combined $110 million more to help the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission start implementing the financial services regulatory changes enacted last year. And the FDA will get the money it needs to begin implementing last fall's overhaul of food safety laws. House Republicans had previously voted against all of that.
- Earlier legislation would have ended funding for AmeriCorps and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. But both will survive under the bill.
I spoke to Steve Kraske this week on this subject and invite you to listen here >>> My friend, Rep. Kevin Yoder (KS-3) also joined Steve.
Listen here >>>
Follow me on Twitter!
You can now follow me @repcleaver. As always, I look forward to hearing from you.
Click here to add me >>> https://twitter.com/repcleaver
,
Emanuel Cleaver, II
Member of Congress
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