Date: 2003-07-08
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. last week the House passed- H.R. 1. the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act. Part of this bill recognizes and seeks to address one of the core concerns regarding adding a prescription drug benefit to Medicare. that is. with the implementation of such a benefit. lead employers who currently offer prescription drug coverage to their employees to stop doing so. Obviously. we do not want to put a government entitlement plan into operation and drive the private plans out of existence. or the costs over the long term to the taxpayers will go off the charts. The bill addressed these concerns by providing subsidies to private employers and unions to encourage them to maintain prescription drug benefits for their retirees. With the help of the gentleman from California (Chairman THOMAS). we were able to clarify that the Office of Personnel Management would also be eligible for these subsidies. something that I believe will lead to lower FEHBP premiums for all enrollees. However. I think it is necessary for us to go one step further. Coming from northern Virginia. I represent over 50.000 Federal employees and retirees. As chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform. I am responsible for issues pertaining to Federal workers and retirees. along with the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Jo ANN DAVIS). the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Civil Service. Thus. not only am I acutely aware of the challenges the Federal Government faces as an employer to recruit and retain quality employees. I am also very aware that Federal retirees are sometimes treated differently than current employees in ways that are not always equitable. For example. current Federal employees are allowed to deduct their health insurance premitims from pretax dollars. but Federal retirees are not. I look at this issue from an employers perspective. Remember: In addition to the large number of retirees already in FEHBP. 50 percent of the Federal workforceis eligible for retirement in the next several years. With *H.R. 2631. we are telling the people that we are going to live up to our end of the bargain. We are saying that with regard to prescription drug benefits. Federal retirees will continue to be placed on par with current employees. that OPM will not reduce their benefits as opposed to the benefit offered to current employees. In crafting H.R. 2631. I thought it was important to continue to allow OPM as much flexibility as possible in negotiating future prescription drug benefits. And for the record. Senator AKAKA. my colleague in the other body. has offered similar legislation on the other side of the Capitol. Thus. H.R. 2631 does not require OPM to offer a specific dollar amount of coverage that has to be maintained. they can raise or they can lower benefits as they see fit through negotiations with individual plans. but they have to do it for all FEHBP enrollees to treat them the same. regardless of their age. In essence. we are simply telling OPM to continue to do what they have always done. Mr. Speaker. in closing. I believe H.R. 2631 sends an important message to both Federal retirees and current Federal employees. It will be a helpful tool in our efforts to build and retain an effective Federal workforce and give these employees a career path and retirement they can depend on. Therefore. I urge all Members to support the passage of H.R. 2631. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.