Today the Health and Environment Subcommittee will discuss this country’s most popular social insurance program, Medicare. I thank Chairman Bliley and Subcommittee Chairman Bilirakis for scheduling a hearing on such a crucial topic.

Since its inception, the Medicare program has provided high-quality health care to our nation’s senior citizens and people with disabilities. Once the age group with highest uninsurance rates, seniors today are the only population in our country with nearly universal coverage.

Recently, we made a number of changes to the Medicare program which have introduced new challenges. For example, we must now determine how to provide continuity and stability for seniors when plan participation in Medicare is based on a variety of factors, some of which are beyond the control of the program. Another challenge will be modernizing the program to keep pace with the rapidly changing health care system.

One way to accomplish this goal is to focus our efforts on modernizing the Medicare benefit package for all seniors and people with disabilities. The President’s Medicare plan would include a prescription drug benefit for all seniors who chose to enroll, modernize the Medicare fee-for-service program, and extend the life of the Medicare trust fund until 2027 by setting aside nearly 800 billion dollars of the federal surplus. This responsible and equitable proposal would strengthen Medicare well into the next century, so that the 30 million baby boomers who will become beneficiaries over the next few decades can depend on the same program that their parents do today.