Not linked on Ron Paul’s Congressional Website.
HON. RON PAUL
OF TEXAS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
2009 Ron Paul 6:1
Mr. PAUL. Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce
the Seniors’ Health Care Freedom Act.
This act protects seniors’ fundamental right to
make their own health care decisions by repealing
federal laws that interfere with seniors’
ability to form private contracts for medical
services. This bill also repeals laws which
force seniors into the Medicare program
against their will. When Medicare was first established,
seniors were promised that the program
would be voluntary. In fact, the original
Medicare legislation explicitly protected a senior’s
right to seek out other forms of medical
insurance. However, the Balanced Budget Act
of 1997 prohibits any physician who forms a
private contract with a senior from filing any
Medicare reimbursement claims for two years.
As a practical matter, this means that seniors
cannot form private contracts for health care
services.
2009 Ron Paul 6:2
Seniors may wish to use their own resources
to pay for procedures or treatments
not covered by Medicare, or to simply avoid
the bureaucracy and uncertainly that comes
when seniors must wait for the judgment of a
Center from Medicare and Medicaid Services
(CMS) bureaucrat before finding out if a desired
treatment is covered.
2009 Ron Paul 6:3
Seniors’ right to control their own health
care is also being denied due to the Social
Security Administration’s refusal to give seniors
who object to enrolling Medicare Part A
Social Security benefits. This not only distorts
the intent of the creators of the Medicare system;
it also violates the promise represented
by Social Security. Americans pay taxes into
the Social Security Trust Fund their whole
working lives and are promised that Social Security
will be there for them when they retire.
Yet, today, seniors are told that they cannot
receive these benefits unless they agree to
join an additional government program!
2009 Ron Paul 6:4
At a time when the fiscal solvency of Medicare
is questionable, to say the least, it seems
foolish to waste scarce Medicare funds on
those who would prefer to do without Medicare.
Allowing seniors who neither want nor
need to participate in the program to refrain
from doing so will also strengthen the Medicare
program for those seniors who do wish to
participate in it. Of course, my bill does not
take away Medicare benefits from any senior.
It simply allows each senior to choose voluntarily
whether or not to accept Medicare benefits
or to use his own resources to obtain
health care.
2009 Ron Paul 6:5
Forcing seniors into government programs
and restricting their ability to seek medical
care free from government interference infringes
on the freedom of seniors to control
their own resources and make their own
health care decisions. A woman who was
forced into Medicare against her wishes
summed it up best in a letter to my office,
“. . . I should be able to choose the medical
arrangements I prefer without suffering the
penalty that is being imposed.” I urge my colleagues
to protect the right of seniors to make
the medical arrangements that best suit their
own needs by cosponsoring the Seniors’
Health Care Freedom Act.
