Bill to Expand Medicare Benefits Rallies Support
With Medicare on the brink of financial crisis and complex policy issues to be resolved, Republicans and Democrats did agree on one point Thursday: Expand benefits.
Even House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) made a rare appearance before the House Ways and Means health subcommittee to support increased preventive benefits in Medicare, saying lives and dollars are saved when diseases such as cancer and diabetes are diagnosed early.
He promised quick action on a bipartisan bill that would allow Medicare to pay for mammograms, Pap smears and screenings for diabetes, colorectal cancer and prostate cancer.
Unlike other Medicare issues, this bill involves spending, not cutting, money and is unlikely to generate much opposition. It would cost an estimated $3.5 billion over five years.
President Clinton wants similar preventive measures. His budget proposes using some money taken from Medicare providers to pay for the new benefits.
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