Excerpted from Kennedy's speech before the National Press Club

[papau]

http://kennedy.senate.gov/index_high.html

Excerpted from Ted Kennedy's speech before the National Press Club
on Jan. 12.

We must do more to reduce poverty. It is shameful that in America
today, the richest and most powerful nation on earth, nearly a fifth
of all children go to bed hungry at night because their parents are
working full time and still can't make ends meet. For the millions
who can't find work and the millions more unable to work at all, we
need a strong safety net.

Social Security is fundamental to the integrity of that safety net.
Never before – until now – has any president, Republican or
Democrat, attacked the basic guarantee of Social Security. Never
before – until now – has any president, Republican or Democrat,
proposed a cut in Social Security benefits. Yet President Bush is
talking not just about a cut, but an incredible 33 percent cut. We
must oppose it – and we will defeat it.

We will not let any president turn the American dream into a
nightmare for senior citizens and a bonanza for Wall Street. The
biggest threat to Social Security today is not the retirement of the
baby boomers. It's George Bush and the Republican Party.

To revitalize the American dream, we also need to renew the battle
to make health care affordable and available to all our people. In
this new century of the life sciences, breakthrough treatments and
miracle cures are steadily revolutionizing the practice of medicine
and the quality of life. The mapping of the human genome enables us
to understand far more about the molecular basis of disease, and to
plan far-reaching cures that were inconceivable only a few years
ago.

Sadly, in America today, the miracles of modern medicine are too
often the province only of the wealthy. We need a new guarantee for
the years ahead that the cost of these life-saving treatments and
cures will not be beyond the reach of the vast majority of the
American people. An essential part of our progressive vision is an
America where no citizen of any age fears the cost of health care,
and no employer refuses to create new jobs or cuts back on current
jobs because of the high cost of providing health insurance.

The answer is Medicare, whose 40th birthday we will celebrate in
July. I propose that as a 40th birthday gift to the American people,
we expand Medicare over the next decade to cover every citizen –
from birth to the end of life.

It's no secret that America is still dearly in love with Medicare.
Administrative costs are low. Patients' satisfaction is high. Unlike
with many private insurers, they can still choose their doctor and
their hospital. For those who prefer private insurance, we will
offer comparable coverage under the same range of private insurance
plans already available to Congress. I can think of nothing more
cynical or hypocritical than a member of Congress who gives a speech
denouncing health care for all, then goes to his doctor for a visit
paid for by the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan.

I call this approach Medicare for All, because it will free all
Americans from the fear of crippling medical expenses and enable
them to seek the best possible care when illness strikes. ...

The Democratic Party's proudest moments and greatest victories have
always come when we stand up against powerful interests and fight
for the common good – and this coming battle can be another of our
finest achievements.

To make the transition from the current splintered system, I propose
to phase in Medicare for All, age group by age group, starting with
those closest to retirement, between 55 and 65. Aside from senior
citizens themselves, they have the greatest health needs and the
highest health costs, and need our help the most. The first stage of
the phase-in should also guarantee good health care to every young
child. We made a start with the Children's Health Insurance Program
in 1997. It does a major part of the job, and it's time to complete
the job now.

As we implement this reform, financing must be a shared
responsibility. All will benefit, and all should contribute. Payroll
taxes should be part of the financing, but so should general
revenues, to make the financing as progressive as possible. We can
offset a large part of the expense by a single giant step – bringing
health care into the modern age of information technology. By moving
to electronic medical records for all Americans when they go to the
hospital or their doctor, we can save hundreds of billions of
dollars a year in administrative costs while improving the quality
of care.

Equally important, we should pay for health care based on value and
results, not just the number of procedures performed or days in a
hospital bed. We must also expand our investments in medical
research, so that we can realize even more of its extraordinary
promise. We must confront and defeat the misguided ideology that –
in the name of life – denies life-saving cures by blocking stem-cell
research.

[marcologico]

1. Geat speech. Hope somebody was listening. n/t