IV 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 213 
Expressing the sense of Congress concerning the vital role of Medicare in 
the health care system of our Nation over the last 40 years. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 21, 2005 
Mr. DINGELL (for himself, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. STARK, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, 
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. 
EMANUEL, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. STRICKLAND, Ms. 
DEGETTE, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Ms. BALD-
WIN, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. DAVIS
of Illinois, Mrs. 
CHRISTENSEN, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. OBEY, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. SCHIFF, 
Ms. WATSON, Ms. NORTON, Mr. FARR, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Ms. KAPTUR, 
Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. ENGEL, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. MCGOV-
ERN, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Mr. BERMAN, Ms. 
MATSUI, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee, Ms. ROYBAL-AL-
LARD, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. MCNULTY, Ms. 
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. CARNAHAN, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. 
KILDEE, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. LARSON of 
Connecticut, Mr. SKELTON, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. ROSS, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. 
FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. ZOE 
LOFGREN of California, Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of California, Mr. 
MICHAUD, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Mr. 
REYES, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. FILNER, Mr. KENNEDY of 
Rhode Island, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. STUPAK, Ms. KILPATRICK 
of Michigan, Mr. NADLER, Ms. LEE, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. KUCINICH, 
Mr. SPRATT, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. SCOTT of 
Virginia, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. 
COSTELLO, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. DICKS, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. TANNER, and 
Ms. SOLIS) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently de-
termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
•HCON 213 IH 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of Congress concerning the vital role 
of Medicare in the health care system of our Nation 
over the last 40 years. 
Whereas Medicare was signed into law by President Lyndon 
B. Johnson in Independence, Missouri, on July 30, 1965, 
as title XVIII of the Social Security Act; 
Whereas Medicare was created to provide health insurance to 
the elderly in part because only about half of the elderly 
population had health insurance; 
Whereas Medicare continues to achieve its purpose of improv-
ing health and financial security for Medicare bene-
ficiaries by assuring access to affordable health care and 
contributing to the significant decrease in the poverty 
rate among the elderly, which has fallen from nearly 30 
percent in 1966 to approximately 10 percent in 2002; 
Whereas Medicare played a fundamental role, together with 
the Civil Rights Act of 1964, in desegregating the Amer-
ican health care system by assuring access to care, re-
gardless of race or age; 
Whereas Medicare has contributed to improvements in life ex-
pectancy for persons over 65 years of age; 
Whereas Medicare began with 19 million beneficiaries, and 
since then has provided for health care services for ap-
proximately 105 million beneficiaries over the last 40 
years; 
Whereas Medicare today provides comprehensive health insur-
ance for nearly 42 million Americans, which includes 
more than 35 million senior citizens and 6 million people 
under 65 years of age who are permanently disabled, and
•HCON 213 IH 
by 2030 the number of Americans who will rely on Medi-
care for their health care is expected to reach 78 million, 
which is nearly double the number today; 
Whereas Medicare ensures coverage along a continuum of 
health care settings such as inpatient hospital care, phy-
sician and outpatient hospital care, and other post-hos-
pitalization benefits such as home health care, skilled 
nursing facility services, and hospice care; 
Whereas Medicare has evolved over time to help beneficiaries 
maintain health, prevent disease and injury, and to pro-
vide better benefits, including more preventive care, such 
that Medicare, which covered about 42 percent of expend-
itures for the elderly in 1968, covered approximately 55 
percent of expenditures by 1997; 
Whereas Medicare serves a diverse population of beneficiaries 
with complex health care needs—71 percent of bene-
ficiaries have two or more chronic health conditions, 29 
percent are in fair to poor health, and 23 percent have 
cognitive impairments; 
Whereas many who depend upon Medicare have modest in-
comes and assets—a majority of Medicare beneficiaries 
have incomes below 200 percent of the Federal poverty 
level—$19,140 for individuals and $25,660 for married 
couples in 2005—and 48 percent of non-institutionalized 
Medicare beneficiaries have assets below $10,000; 
Whereas Medicare provides health insurance for nearly 6 mil-
lion individuals under the age of 65 who live with disabil-
ities or illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, spinal cord in-
juries, depression, and HIV/AIDS, and who are more 
likely than those who are elderly to be in poor health and
•HCON 213 IH 
be unable to live independently and perform basic activi-
ties of daily living; 
Whereas Medicare provides health insurance coverage for 
nearly one-in-five adult women in the United States and 
plays an especially important role in assuring access to 
health care for older women who have lower average an-
nual incomes than men of the same age (average dif-
ference in income being $14,000) and fewer resources to 
pay for health care services; 
Whereas Medicare covers important preventive and health 
maintenance services, including vaccinations, prostate 
and mammography screening, bone mass measurement, 
and glaucoma screening; 
Whereas Medicare has achieved its major purpose of pro-
viding access for the elderly and individuals with disabil-
ities to needed health care such that nearly 98 percent 
of elderly adults report that they have access to needed 
health care; 
Whereas elderly Medicare beneficiaries are more satisfied 
with their coverage than privately insured nonelderly 
adults that Medicare beneficiaries are more likely to rate 
their health insurance coverage as ‘‘very good’’ or ‘‘excel-
lent’’ and to report they were very satisfied with the care 
they received; 
Whereas Medicare is a remarkably efficient program, with 
administrative costs that average less than 2 percent of 
expenditures compared to about 12 percent in private 
plans and average per capita cost increases below those 
of the private sector, further highlighting its efficiency; 
and
•HCON 213 IH 
Whereas the Medicare provider standards, such as those for 
hospital certification and nursing home quality, as well as 
its support of graduate medical education, have greatly 
improved the quality and safety of health care provided 
to all Americans; Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) for the past 40 years, Medicare has made 
significant medical, social, and economic contribu-
tions to our Nation; 
(2) the access to care provided by Medicare has 
changed the course of health outcomes for the elder-
ly and those with disabilities, preventing physical de-
terioration and preventing more individuals from 
slipping into poverty; 
(3) the program standards set under Medicare 
have brought social benefits such as quality certifi-
cation and oversight of medical facilities to the ben-
efit of all Americans; and 
(4) Congress must continue to support and 
strengthen this vital Federal health insurance pro-
gram that guarantees all Medicare beneficiaries af-
fordable quality health care that meets their needs. 
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