Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 3436 - Medicare Long-Term Home Care Catastrophic Protection Act of 1987

(Revised)

(House)
(Pepper (D) Florida)

The Administration opposes H.R. 3436. If this bill were to reach the President's desk, his senior advisers would recommend that he veto it.

H.R. 3436 attempts to address the complex, difficult issue of long-term health care without the benefit of careful deliberation or public hearings. Before the House considers any major new policy departure for the Medicare program like H.R. 3436, thorough congressional hearings should be held and all of the bill's fiscal and other implications should be carefully considered.

H.R. 3436 is seriously objectionable because:

• inadequate funding of the services promised by the bill would add $9 billion to the FY 1990 deficit, increasing to more than $26 billion in FY 2000.
  
  
• it would require increased taxes on a selected group of Americans and may violate the spirit, if not the letter, of the 1987 Bipartisan Budget Agreement between the President and the Congressional Leadership.
  
  
• it is inappropriate as a means of providing income protection from long-term care expenses. The Medicare program was designed to provide the elderly with access to adequate acute medical care. H.R. 3436 would expand Medicare to cover non-acute, non-medical care (custodial care and social services).
  
  
• the Medicare program would be expanded at a time when the Medicare trust funds are under severe financial stress.
  
  
• the development of the private long-term care insurance market would be severely curtailed, although this market offers the greatest degree of flexibility, choice, and innovation, which are particularly important attributes to promote in today's rapidly evolving long-term care industry.