DELAURO HIGHLIGHTS NEW HOUSE BUDGET THAT PUTS MEDICARE IN JEOPARDY

New Haven, CT — During a visit with seniors today at Ashlar Village in Wallingford, Connecticut, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3), Ranking Member on the Labor, Health, and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, highlighted the threats posed by the recently-passed House Majority budget to Medicare and health care for seniors.

"It used to be there was a bipartisan consensus on protecting Medicare," said Congresswoman DeLauro. "But this House budget ends the Medicare guarantee for tomorrow's seniors. If it passes, Medicare as we know it will not be available for everyone born after 1957. Costs will be dramatically shifted onto future Medicare beneficiaries. Medicare's income-related premiums, including Part B and Part D, will increase. And the eligibility age will be raised to 67. In other words, instead of working to control surging health care costs, this planned budget just shifts them onto seniors and families, who are already struggling to get by on a fixed income at a time of increasing food and gas prices."

Before Medicare was signed in 1965, only half – 51% -- of Americans 65 and older had health care coverage, and nearly 30 percent of seniors lived below the poverty line. Now, virtually all Americans 65 and older enjoy health care coverage, and only 7.5% of seniors live below the official poverty line. Over that time, the average life expectancy of Americans has risen by 8 full years.

Between 1991 and 2009 Republicans in Congress attempted to cut Medicare over ten times and by over a trillion dollars.

The new 2013 House budget ending the Medicare guarantee also converts the Medicaid program into a block grant program and provides $810 billion less funding to the states. Over 5.8 million seniors over 65 years old rely on Medicaid for long-term coverage and medical care. The funding cuts in the House budget will put this support at risk.

Congresswoman DeLauro also discussed the impact of new health care benefits to seniors. To help relieve prescription drug costs, over 32,000 Connecticut seniors in the Medicare donut hole received a one-time check for $250 in 2010, adding to more than $10.5 million for the state. Over 7,000 seniors in the Third District have received a 50 percent discount for brand-name and generic drugs. And, across the country, 32 million Americans on Medicare have utilized the preventive services, such as colonoscopies and mammograms, that are now covered free-of-charge. All of these benefits for seniors will disappear in the House budget.