Congress could begin considering Medicare reform proposals as early as next month.[@@]
The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee probably will begin work on Medicare in October, in spite of all the attention that will be devoted to recovery from Hurricane Katrina, according to Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.
Blackburn, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, spoke here Tuesday at a conference organized by America's Health Insurance Plans, Washington.
The House plans to adjourn for the first 2 weeks of October, and the Senate plans to be out during the second and third week of October. Those scheduling considerations heighten the uncertainty that Katrina has added to the congressional agenda, Blackburn said.
But the current Medicare system is a 1965 system that delivers 1965 health care, Blackburn said.
Blackburn criticized the failure of the basic Medicare program to provide preventive care, such as care that can help people with diabetes avoid serious complications.
