| Washington D.C.- Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Chairman of the Republican Study Committee, issued the following statement after the Trustees for Medicare and Social Security issued their annual report detailing the worsening financial condition of both entitlement programs:
“Medicare must be reformed in order to preserve benefits for over 200 million Americans under age 54. The trustees warn that Medicare faces collective unfunded obligations of more than $85 trillion—and their report today again indicates that the problem is getting worse, not better.
“In 2003, my Republican Study Committee colleagues and I worked to include a funding trigger mechanism in the Medicare Modernization Act. That funding trigger has helped to ensure that Medicare’s claims on general budgetary revenues would not overwhelm other federal budgetary priorities or add to the national debt.
“Each time Republicans have tried to put forth a plan for entitlement reform, Democrats irresponsibly proclaim it dead on arrival. The funding warning issued by the Medicare trustees today provides yet another opportunity for Congress to put the next generation above the next election and work together to provide real solutions to both our health care and entitlement problems.
“Medicare must be reformed in order to preserve benefits for over 200 million Americans under age 54 – two of whom happen to be my children. In order to preserve Medicare for both my children and yours, Congress is going to have to put partisanship aside and work together to provide real solutions to this growing problem. Families across America are clamoring for change and yearn for leaders who will not only speak the truth about the problems facing our nation, but work to provide solutions to them. We stand ready to do just that, and I hope that Democrats will use this opportunity to join us and to work together to enact comprehensive entitlement reform.”
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