Please explain what, if anything, is wrong with medicare and
what needs to be done to fix it.
Response:
Medicare must be preserved for future generations. I will work to save
Medicare from bankruptcy, just as I worked for legislation that saved
Social Security from bankruptcy in the early 1980's.
Like most mainstream Republicans and Democrats, I support slowing the
growth of federal spending, including Medicare. I have, however, long
maintained that Social Security and Medicare must be treated separately
and differently from other budget areas, and that they must grow at a
higher rate than other budge areas to account for the significant
demographic trends affecting these programs.
Furthermore, by encouraging economic growth we can ensure that Medicare
remains on as firm a footing as possible for generations to come.
First, we simply must build-down our massive national debt and balance
the federal budget. No head of a household would tolerate unbridled
spending on vaguely-defined, bloated programs, and as stewards of our
national economy, you should demand the same "bottom-line approach" from
you political leaders.
Balancing the budget must not, however, mean cutting Medicare, and I
won't vote for that.
Second, we must grow our economy by *reducing the enormous tax burden*
facing our families and small businesses. More than anything, tax cuts
will stimulate responsible government spending, because, as each of you
knows, a tight budget demands a strict and unflinching prioritization of
expenditures.
Third, we need to *eliminate the red-tape of government over-regulation*
which creates such inefficiency in our national business climate. It
used to be that American businesses had a leg-up on their European
counterparts in bringing new products to market and in meeting government
regulatory standards. But this is no longer the case. In 1993 our
taxpayers spent over $14.4 billion to run 59 separate regulatory
bureaucracies at the federal level. A recent study estimated that
America's small business owners spend close to a billion hours each year
filling our government forms. A sophisticated economy needs a modicum of
standards, to be sure, but, in our case, that modicum has been long
surpassed.
Fourth, our nation must continue to *expand exports to emerging markets*
around the world. I have always been a proponent of freetrade. Under
NAFTA and GATT, America's farmers have experienced great growth in
exports of their products. These expanding exports have translated into
solid grain prices. To the extent that we have better grain and a
stronger dollar, it's natural for Canadian farmers to try to break into
our markets. But I will stand guard against the unfair dumping of
foreign grain on American markets.
Fifth, we need to *make health care more affordable and more accessible*
by relying on the decisions of individual consumers, not government
bureaucrats. I support the creation of Medical Savings Accounts (MSA's),
the passage of substantive insurance reform, and the elimination of
rampant law suit abuse. These changes -- particularly MSA's, which
encourage younger Americans to save their future medical needs -- will
help maintain the high quality of our nation's health care system while
controlling rising costs.
Medicare must remain solvent and effective for future generations, and I
am committed to policies of fiscal responsibility and economic growth
that will offer the Medicare program real security and success.