I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1590

To require the Trustees of the medicare trust funds to report recommendations on resolving projected financial imbalance in medicare trust funds.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 9, 1995

Mr. ARCHER (for himself and Mr. THOMAS) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To require the Trustees of the medicare trust funds to report

recommendations on resolving projected financial imbalance in medicare trust funds.

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

3 SECTION 1. TRUSTEES’ CONCLUSIONS REGARDING FINAN4 CIAL STATUS OF MEDICARE TRUST FUNDS.

5 (a) HI TRUST FUND.—The 1995 annual report of

6 the Board of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance

7 Trust Fund, submitted on April 3, 1995, contains the fol-
2

•HR 1590 IH

1 lowing conclusions respecting the financial status of such

2 Trust Fund:

3 (1) Under the Trustees’ intermediate assump4 tions, the present financing schedule for the hospital

5 insurance program is sufficient to ensure the pay6 ment of benefits only over the next 7 years.

7 (2) Under present law, hospital insurance pro8 gram costs are expected to far exceed revenues over

9 the 75-year long-range period under any reasonable

10 set of assumptions.

11 (3) As a result, the hospital insurance program

12 is severely out of financial balance and the Trustees

13 believe that the Congress must take timely action to

14 establish long-term financial stability for the pro15 gram.

16 (b) SMI TRUST FUND.—The 1995 annual report of

17 the Board of Trustees of the Federal Supplementary Med18 ical Insurance Trust Fund, submitted on April 3, 1995,

19 contains the following conclusions respecting the financial

20 status of such Trust Fund:

21 (1) Although the supplementary medical insur22 ance program is currently actuarially sound, the

23 Trustees note with great concern the past and pro24 jected rapid growth in the cost of the program.
3

•HR 1590 IH

1 (2) In spite of the evidence of somewhat slower

2 growth rates in the recent past, overall, the past

3 growth rates have been rapid, and the future growth

4 rates are projected to increase above those of the re5 cent past.

6 (3) Growth rates have been so rapid that out7 lays of the program have increased 53 percent in ag8 gregate and 40 percent per enrollee in the last 5

9 years.

10 (4) For the same time period, the program

11 grew 19 percent faster than the economy despite re12 cent efforts to control the costs of the program.

13 SEC. 2. RECOMMENDATIONS ON RESOLVING PROJECTED

14 FINANCIAL IMBALANCE IN MEDICARE TRUST

15 FUNDS.

16 (a) REPORT.—Not later than June 30, 1995, the

17 Board of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance

18 Trust Fund and the Board of Trustees of the Federal

19 Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund shall sub20 mit to the Congress recommendations for specific program

21 legislation designed solely—

22 (1) to control medicare hospital insurance pro23 gram costs and to address the projected financial

24 imbalance in the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust

25 Fund in both the short-range and long-range; and
4

•HR 1590 IH

1 (2) to more effectively control medicare supple2 mentary medical insurance costs.

3 (b) USE OF INTERMEDIATE ASSUMPTIONS.—The

4 Boards of Trustees shall use the intermediate assumptions

5 described in the 1995 annual reports of such Boards in

6 making recommendations under subsection (a).

Æ