II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 222 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to stabilize the amount 

of the medicare part B premium. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 31, 2005 

Ms. STABENOW (for herself, Mr. KENNEDY, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. LAUTENBERG, 

Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mr. DAYTON, and Mr. CORZINE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to stabilize 

the amount of the medicare part B premium.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Keep the Promise of 

5 Medicare Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STABILIZATION OF MEDICARE PART B PREMIUM. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Senate finds the following: 
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1 (1) The 2005 Medicare part B premium is 17.5 

2 percent higher than the 2004 Medicare part B pre3 mium. 

4 (2) Medicare part B premiums have increased 

5 nearly 45 percent over the last 4 years. 

6 (3) The increase in the 2005 Medicare part B 

7 premium is the largest dollar increase in Medicare’s 

8 history and the largest percentage increase in more 

9 than a decade. 

10 (4) The increase in the 2005 Medicare part B 

11 premium increases annual costs for each Medicare 

12 beneficiary by almost $140. 

13 (5) The 2005 Social Security COLA increased 

14 only 2.7 percent. 

15 (6) An average retiree with a Social Security 

16 benefit of $914 will spend 47 percent of his or her 

17 2005 Social Security COLA on the increase in the 

18 2005 Medicare part B premium. 

19 (7) 2,100,000 Medicare beneficiaries nationwide 

20 have had their entire 2005 Social Security COLA 

21 consumed by the increase in the 2005 Medicare part 

22 B premium. 

23 (8) Almost 13,000,000 Medicare beneficiaries 

24 will have over 50 percent of their 2005 Social Secu-
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1 rity COLA consumed by the increase in the 2005 

2 Medicare part B premium. 

3 (9) The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improve4 ment, and Modernization Act of 2003 directly con5 tributed to the increase in the 2005 Medicare part 

6 B premium by including provisions to privatize the 

7 Medicare program, making the program less effi8 cient. 

9 (10) The Medicare expenses that beneficiaries 

10 must pay will increase from 37 percent of a bene11 ficiary’s Social Security check in 2006 to nearly 50 

12 percent in 2021. 

13 (b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the 

14 Senate that Congress should enact legislation to protect 

15 Medicare beneficiaries from dramatic increases in the 

16 Medicare part B premium. 

17 (c) STABILIZATION.—Section 1839(a)(3) of the So18 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395r(a)(3)) is amended by 

19 adding at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘Notwith20 standing the preceding sentences, the monthly premium 

21 rate determined under this paragraph for each month in 

22 2005 may not exceed an amount equal to the monthly pre23 mium rate determined under this paragraph for each 

24 month in 2004 adjusted by the percentage change in the 

25 average Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners 
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1 and Clerical Workers (CPI–W) for the third quarter of 

2 2003 to the third quarter of 2004.’’.

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