February 25, 1998 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS 1937 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS INTRODUCTION OF THE PRIVATE Mr. Speaker, we have scarcely had time to aluminum hard hat of the man who was in CONTRACTING CLARIFICATION understand the impact of the existing private charge of the design and construction of this ACT OF 1998 contracting provisions on the Medicare pro­ plant and partially responsible for its oper­ ation during the first four years-my father, gram. The Congressional Budget Office has Edward H. "Ted" Robinson. His most trusted HON. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN already stated that private contracting holds a and valued co-worker at that time, Arnold OF MARYLAND "serious potential for overbilling." Congress re­ Graham, still lives in Victoria, remembering IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES cently created a commission to examine ways their efforts. Wednesday, February 25, 1998 to ensure the long-term financial stability of Ted Robinson went on to lead teams of en­ Medicare. To vastly expand the scope of this gineers who designed and built similar Union Mr. CARDIN. Mr. Speaker, today I introduce provision on the basis of inaccurate claims Carbide plants in Puerto Rico, Scotland, Bel­ the Medicare Private Contracting Clarification about its effect on doctors is a grave mistake, gium, Brazil, Japan, and India. He is buried in an alpine glacier near the top of Mont Act of 1998. This legislation clarifies a provi­ especially during this crucial period in the his­ sion of the Balanced Budget Act which, for the Blanc on the border between France and tory of the program. Italy, which contains the remains of the Air first time, allows doctors to privately contract If we must pass legislation on the private with Medicare beneficiaries for services nor­ India Boeing 707 that crashed there on Janu­ contracting issue, let us focus our attention on ary 24, 1966. The cause of this crash is not mally covered by Medicare. My bill will make clarifying current law to assure seniors that known for certain. It is believed to have been clear that nothing in this provision prevents their Medicare coverage will be there for them the work of assassins that killed the Indian Medicare beneficiaries from privately paying when they need it. BBA allows doctors to pri­ physicist Bhaba, who was then head of the for services not covered by Medicare. This vately contract with Medicare beneficiaries, nuclear energy program of India and was has always been true for our seniors, and it also on the airplane. while preserving the balance billing limits, remains true under current law. The original plant at Seadrift produced Prior to passage of the Balanced Budget fraud and abuse controls, and patient protec­ primarily polyethylene. It now produces ad­ Act (BBA), federal law did not address the tions of the Medicare program. I would hope ditional products. This plant is a part of the issue of private contracting between Medicare our priority in Congress would be to preserve vast infrastructure of chemical plants, built beneficiaries and their doctors. The Kyl our commitment to our senior citizens and by the generation of Americans now in their 80s and the generations before them, that amendment to BBA explicitly allows doctors to their health care. Let's keep the Medicare pro­ gram in tact. supplies the chemicals upon which our tech­ reject Medicare and privately contract with nological civilization depends. Along with their patients for Medicare-covered services. the dams, bridges, foundries, mines, wells, For patients entering into private contracts, ACCESS TO ENERGY mills, factories, railroads, research labora­ this means that they will be unable to use ei­ tories, computers, and other technological ther their Medicare or Medigap coverage for installations that have been built by the their care. HON. RON PAUL past several generations of Americans, these However, BBA includes assurances that pri­ OF TEXAS plants form the technological superstructure vate contracting will not destroy the balance IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES upon which our science, technology, and eco­ billing limits and other patient protections of nomic freedom depend. Wednesday, February 25, 1998 The capital required to build these things the Medicare program. Most importantly, BBA Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, recently, a national was supplied by the savings of tens of mil­ bars physicians who choose to privately con­ lions of people, who set aside part of the tract from the Medicare program for two years. newsletter focusing on science, technology and energy policy highlighted the small town money they had earned and invested it in the This means that patients will know in advance free market in hopes of making a profit. It whether or not their Part B insurance is valid of Seadrift, Texas located in my District. was also built by the profits retained by the for a doctor's care. It means that Medicare pa­ While focusing on Seadrift this newsletter corporations themselves. Capital alone did tients can expect consistent and timely care article {Access to Energy) went on to make not, however, build the industries- people from a physician, regardless of the patient's important points regarding the contributions did. These people were led by unusual indi­ ability to pay out-of-pocket for a Medicare ben­ which science and technology have made to viduals whose love of science and technology freedom and industry and to the quality of life dominated their personal lives and drove efit under a private contract. In sum, seniors them and those around them to ever greater can rest assured that their Medicare coverage of people everywhere. Moreover, the article outlines how certain accomplishments. will be there for them when they need it. Archibald MacLeish told me many years Unfortunately, false claims are being made radicals would shut off technological benefits ago that the thing that impressed him most about BBA's private contracting provisions. in the name of protecting earth at the expense about human beings was their amazing abil­ Proponents of private contracting are seeking of the humans who live on this planet. I com­ ity to love-and he was not thinking of the to remove the two year exclusion period in mend this article to every Member and insert shallow phenomenon that dominates the BBA. In an effort to vastly expand doctors' it in the record as an extension hereof. lyrics in the cacophony of "pusic" (word in­ ability to engage in private contracting, they vented by a musician friend) which pollutes [From Access to Energy, February 1998) most of America's radio stations. claim that doctors will need private contracts SEADRIFT Each person has an enormous capacity to for all services, even those not covered by Near the Gulf of Mexico, on the road be­ love-in many different ways. In some indi­ Medicare. This is simply not true. Nothing in tween Houston and Corpus Christi, is the viduals, a part of this love is intensely di­ the Balanced Budget Act affects the ability of town of Victoria, Texas-one of the oldest rected toward science and technology. My fa­ seniors to privately pay doctors for services settlements in the western United States. ther, for example, was simply head-over­ that Medicare does not cover. Thirty-five miles southeast of Victoria, ris­ heels in love with chemical plants (and with Despite this fact, some groups continue to ing out of the mists that roll in from the my mother, but that is another story). He wage misinformation campaigns. My bill will Gulf near the town of Seadrift, is one of lived and breathed their design and construc­ put an end to this false rhetoric by clarifying America's great petrochemical plants, built tion. When not in use for food, our kitchen that no private contract is required for a serv­ by Union Carbide in 1954 and later expanded table was covered with blueprints. He had no several times. hobbies or avocations-the building of chem­ ice that Medicare does not cover. It will elimi­ I feel that I know this plant well, since I ical plants was his vocation and all of his nate the confusion surrounding this much-de­ have a large framed aerial photograph of it avocations combined. And, as a result of this bated issue, to assure seniors that their con­ on the wall beside me along with a matching all-consuming love, he built superb plants. tract with Medicare, a public contract, will con­ framed artist's drawing of the plant before it I have seen this sort of love in a few other tinue to be honored. was built. Under the artist's drawing is the individuals. Mrs. Merrifield, the wife of R. e This "bullet" symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. 1938 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS February 25, 1998 Bruce Merrifield, who was the first man to ern California desert. It was created by acci­ candid revelations of this leader in the electric synthesize an enzyme, described her hus­ dent of man, and over the years it has be­ power industry. band's love affair with each of the 20 natu­ come an attractive, if unlikely, home and rest­ rally occurring amino acids-a love that en­ Contrary to what you've heard from sup­ abled him to link them together in ways ing area for migratory birds and many species porters of retail wheeling, this issue isn't never before accomplished. of fish. about rate cuts-because there's no guar­ Linus Pauling, regardless of the low state Now, nearly one hundred years after the antee on rates.