ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION No. 46

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

 

 

By Assemblymen STEELE and PASCRELL

 

 

An Assembly Resolution memorializing the Congress of the United States to reject proposed reductions in projected Medicare spending as part of its effort to balance the federal budget.

 

Whereas, Members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives, meeting in conference, will soon be negotiating the differences between the budget resolutions recently adopted by each House, which are designed to balance the federal budget by the year 2002 and include major reductions in the projected rate of Medicare spending over the next seven years in order to reach that objective; and

Whereas, Even though the Medicaid budget would still increase between now and the year 2002 under these budget resolutions, the proposed reductions in its rate of growth, which constitute the single largest programmatic contribution to the effort to achieve a balanced budget, would inevitably result in fewer health care services for Medicare beneficiaries because the reduced rate of spending would not keep pace with a growing Medicare population and health care cost inflation; and

Whereas, The proposed reductions go far beyond what is needed to meet the widely acknowledged need for Medicare reform, which will be required to preserve the program's fiscal viability for the current 34 million elderly and 4 million disabled Medicare beneficiaries, and for succeeding generations; and

Whereas, Medicare spending has already been cut during the past decade, reducing its growth rate by nearly half, while private health costs have increased at a faster rate; and the current rate of increase in Medicare spending is a function of the growing senior citizen population in this country and the use of new medical technology which ensures quality health care for Medicare patients; and

Whereas, Federal Medicare payments to New Jersey hospitals do not now adequately cover the cost of providing care to Medicare beneficiaries; and Medicare currently represents more than 40% of a hospital's total revenue in this State on average, but as much as 70% of total revenue for some hospitals, which means that New Jersey residents already incur a significant cost shift associated with the shortfall in Medicare payments to hospitals in the State; and

Whereas, Drastic Medicare funding reductions would have a disastrous impact on the health care system in this State with its large senior citizen population; and New Jersey would be more adversely affected by these proposed Medicare cutbacks than most other states because of the number of Medicare beneficiaries living here; and

Whereas, The need for Medicare reforms should not be used as a pretext to balance the federal budget on the backs of frail and vulnerable senior and disabled citizens, or to use Medicare spending cuts to pay for a reduction in the federal capital gains tax rate which will disproportionately benefit the most affluent taxpayers in this country; now, therefore,

 

    Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

    1. The Congress of the United States is respectfully memorialized to reject the proposed draconian reductions in the projected rate of Medicare spending over the next seven years, which have been adopted by both the Senate and the House of Representatives and will now be debated in conference between the two Houses, as part of its effort to balance the federal budget by the year 2002, and to design a more humane approach to reform of the Medicare program in order to ensure its future solvency and its continued ability to serve the health care needs of millions of senior and disabled citizens across this nation well into the next century.

 

    2. Duly authenticated copies of this resolution, signed by the Speaker of the General Assembly and attested by the Clerk of the General Assembly, shall be forwarded to the presiding officers of the United States Senate and House of Representatives, and to each of the members of the Congress of the United States elected from the State of New Jersey.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    This Assembly resolution memorializes the Congress of the United States to reject proposed draconian reductions in the projected rate of Medicare spending, which have been adopted by both the Senate and the House of Representatives, as part of its effort to balance the federal budget by the year 2002, and to design a more humane approach to reform of the Medicare program in order to ensure its


future solvency and its continued ability to serve the health care needs of senior and disabled citizens.

 

 

 

Memorializes U.S. Congress to reject proposed reductions in Medicare spending as part of its effort to balance the federal budget.