Rep. John Kline (R-MN), the top Republican on the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, today joined colleagues to warn against harmful benefit cuts and federal intrusion into seniors’ health care decisions that would result from a government takeover of the nation’s health care system. With Democrats proposing hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to the Medicare program, Kline cautioned that seniors could see a decline in their quality of care even as the long-term viability of the program remains in question.
“Seniors are being asked to pay the price for a government takeover of health care," said Kline. “Democrats are proposing hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicare cuts while failing to enact the necessary reforms to bring down costs and improve the quality of care. Americans in their golden years deserve better than benefit cuts and federal intrusion."
Kline joined Republican colleagues and senior citizens today at a press conference in which they highlighted the harmful consequences of pending legislation for members of the greatest generation. Pressing for commonsense, bipartisan solutions to bring down health care costs and protect the doctor-patient relationship, Kline criticized Democrats’ legislation for failing to reevaluate how Medicare and private sector providers pay for health care services. Kline warned that without meaningful reform, providers will find it difficult to remain in business, putting seniors at risk of losing access to the care they need.
“More than 10 million American seniors rely on Medicare Advantage - including more than 230,000 in my home state of Minnesota," said Kline. “We know Democrats have failed to produce policies that will bend the cost curve downward and get health care costs under control. As costs continue to rise, government bureaucrats will have no choice but to ration care. Seniors who rely on Medicare Advantage will be the first - but not the last - Americans to lose access to the care they depend on today as a result of Democrats’ flawed approach to health care reform."
NOTE: Kline spoke on the floor of the U.S. House yesterday about how seniors in his congressional district would be harmed by legislation to slash funding for Medicare Advantage. Watch his remarks here.
