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CARA, Mr. MATSUI, Ms. MCCARTHY, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCHALE,
Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. MEEHAN, Mrs. MEEK, Mr.
MENENDEZ, Mr. MFUME, Mr. MILLER of California, Mr. MINETA, Mr.
MINGE, Mrs. MINK, Mr. MOAKLEY, Mr. MOLLOHAN, Mr. MONTGOMERY,
Mr. MORAN, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. NADLER, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts,
Ms. NORTON, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. OBEY, Mr. OLVER, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr.
ORTON, Mr. OWENS, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. PAYNE of New
Jersey, Mr. PAYNE of Virginia, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. PETERSON of Florida,
Mr. PETERSON
of Minnesota, Mr. PICKETT, Mr. POMEROY, Mr.
POSHARD, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. REED, Mr. RICHARDSON, Ms.
RIVERS, Mr. ROEMER, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO´, Mr. ROSE, Ms. ROYBAL-
ALLARD, Mr. RUSH, Mr. SABO, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SAWYER, Mrs.
SCHROEDER, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. SCOTT, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SKAGGS,
Mr. SKELTON, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr.
STOKES, Mr. STUDDS, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. TANNER, Mr. TAYLOR of North
Carolina, Mr. TEJEDA, Mr. THOMPSON, Mr. THORNTON, Mrs. THURMAN,
Mr. TORRES, Mr. TORRICELLI, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr. TUCK-
ER, Mr. UNDERWOOD, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. VENTO, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Mr.
VOLKMER, Mr. WARD, Ms. WATERS, Mr. WATT of North Carolina, Mr.
WILLIAMS, Mr. WILSON, Mr. WISE, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. WYDEN, Mr.
WYNN, and Mr. YATES) submitted the following resolution; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Rules
RESOLUTION
Providing that consideration in the House of Representatives
and its committees and subcommittees thereof of any
legislation changing existing law with respect to medicare
or medicaid pursuant to the reconciliation instructions
of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal
year 1996 shall be preceded by adequate time for public
examination of such legislation and public hearings there-
on, and expressing the sense of the House that the
Senate should similarly provide for such public examina-
tion and hearings.
Whereas the conference report on the concurrent resolution
on the budget for fiscal year 1996 (H. Con. Res. 67,
104th Congress) and the accompanying statement of
managers contain reconciliation instructions to the Com-
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mittee on Ways and Means and the Committee on Com-
merce that assume reductions in spending on medicare of
approximately $270,000,000,000 below what would be
spent on medicare under current law during fiscal years
1996 through 2002;
Whereas that conference report and statement of managers
contain reconciliation instructions to the Committee on
Commerce that assume reductions in spending on medic-
aid of approximately $182,000,000,000 below what would
be spent on medicaid under current law during fiscal
years 1996 through 2002;
Whereas that conference report and statement of managers
contain reconciliation instructions to the Senate Commit-
tee on Finance that assume reductions in spending on
medicare and medicaid totalling $452,000,000,000 below
what would be spent on those programs under current
law during fiscal years 1996 through 2002;
Whereas approximately 37,000,000 elderly and disabled
Americans rely on medicare for their health insurance
and health security;
Whereas more than 36,000,000 women, children, and elderly
and disabled Americans rely on medicaid for their health
insurance and health security, and for protection against
the cost of nursing home care;
Whereas hundreds of thousands of doctors, hospitals, labora-
tories, and other health care providers participate in the
medicare and medicaid programs and receive direct or in-
direct reimbursement for their services from the Federal
Government in connection with these two programs;
Whereas administrative and overhead costs are less than two
percent of total program costs for medicare and less than
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four percent of total program costs for medicaid, far
smaller percentages than any private sector health insur-
ance enterprise currently in operation in the United
States;
Whereas achieving the level of reductions in medicare and
medicaid assumed by the concurrent resolution on the
budget for fiscal year 1996 cannot therefore be achieved
solely by reducing waste, fraud, and abuse;
Whereas achieving reductions of the magnitude contemplated
by the budget resolution can only be accomplished by (1)
increasing the payments required from women, children,
elderly, and disabled beneficiaries, (2) reducing payments
to physicians, hospitals, nursing homes, and other health
care providers, (3) reducing coverage for current or fu-
ture beneficiaries, or (4) some combination of the fore-
going three strategies;
Whereas the budget resolution requires committees to submit
their reconciliation recommendations to the Committee on
the Budget by September 22, 1995;
Whereas as of the date of the introduction of this resolution,
no legislative language to achieve the medicare and med-
icaid cuts contemplated by the budget resolution has been
introduced or otherwise made public, so that members of
the public and their Representatives in Congress have not
had the benefit of adequate time to examine, analyze, and
understand the impacts of the changes that will have to
be proposed to achieve the contemplated reductions;
Whereas the Congress should serve as a partner with the
American people in addressing the Nation’s health care
needs and problems;
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Whereas with the exception of national security matters,
there are few reasons for Congress to act behind closed
doors in formulating policy that will directly and dramati-
cally impact more than 73,000,000 Americans and their
families and will indirectly impact every American;
Whereas there is concern that the lack of public and media
access to the formulation of changes in the existing medi-
care and medicaid laws in connection with the reconcili-
ation process threatens the ability of all affected Ameri-
cans and their Representatives to evaluate such changes
adequately when they are finally made public;
Whereas public hearings on the consequences for the United
States and its health care system of any such changes in
medicare and medicaid are necessary to educate the pub-
lic who must live with those consequences and their Rep-
resentatives in Congress who must act on the forthcom-
ing medicare and medicaid changes: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That—
(1) any markup in the committees of the House
of Representatives or any subcommittees thereof of
any legislation changing existing law with respect to
medicare or medicaid pursuant to the reconciliation
instructions of the concurrent resolution on the
budget for fiscal year 1996 shall be preceded by a
minimum of four weeks for public disclosure of the
legislative text of such changes, during which time
additional and thorough public hearings on such text
shall be held;
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(2) no such legislation shall be considered in
the House of Representatives until the requirements
of paragraph (1) have been met; and
(3) it is the sense of the House that the Senate
should guarantee public and media access to and
consideration of the legislative text of any changes
to be considered in that body by adopting a similar
schedule for public disclosure and hearings.
Æ