Under The Thomas Plan (H.R. 1) Seniors Will
Watch Medicare Fade Away

Dear Democratic Colleague:

Under the House Republican Medicare bill, H.R. 1, Medicare will soon become a distant memory. It’s no secret the Republican party wants to eliminate Medicare for seniors and individuals with disabilities. Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas, R-CA recently said,"To those who say that (the bill) would end Medicare as we know it, our answer is: We certainly hope so."

The House Republican bill takes a number of steps to ensure Medicare will be nothing but a distant memory:

• Privatizes Medicare. Forces all seniors into private plans by starving fee-for-service, new payment cuts.

• Turns Medicare into a voucher. Beginning in 2010, Medicare will only pay a set amount for your coverage. If your HMO or FFS costs more than the voucher, you have to pay 100 percent out-of-pocket.

• Makes seniors pay more for traditional Medicare. Beginning in 2010, seniors will see traditional Medicare premiums increase because of ‘privatization’ -- by as much as 50 percent by some estimates.

• Doesn’t add one year to the life of the Medicare Trust Fund. In spite of the rhetoric about Medicare’s impending financial doom and the need to "reform" and "save Medicare," the Republican bill doesn’t do anything of that sort. Their efforts to dismantle the program save less than one-half of one percent of Medicare spending over the next ten years -- by taking it out of seniors’ hides. The last time this model was put forward, during the 1999 Medicare Commission, the vast majority of the "savings" came from making seniors pay more for fee-for- service and cutting provider payments. Sound familiar?

We urge you to reject this ill-conceived plan.  Seniors need the guarantee that Medicare will always be there for them. Don’t let the sun set on seniors’ Medicare!

Sincerely,