Submitted at the Press Conference

Sponsored by

The Coalition Against Higher Medicare Drug Costs

August 26, 2003

Washington, D.C.—“As Congress considers how to reform Medicare, members should also keep in mind the burden their actions will have on the young people of America,” cautions Fred L. Smith, Jr., president of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

“While a prescription drug entitlement may well increase medical costs and/or decrease health care quality for some seniors, the most damning feature of current Medicare legislation is the massive tax burden it will place on the younger generations.  It will be the young people of America who will bear the massive costs of this most thoughtless legislation.  They must find their voice and speak out against this inequitable wealth transfer.  Does anyone believe that the grandparents of today favor burdening their grandchildren with this crippling responsibility?  Does anyone really believe that further government control over health care will not lead to European-style cost control by rationing and delay? 

“If Congress does enact either the current House or Senate Medicare bills, they will have lost a major opportunity for serious Medicare reform.  Today's retirees are the wealthiest in history—their parents did not shift their health care costs to them. Do they really wish to force their grandchildren to bear their health care burden regardless of their economic status?  To do so would be profoundly unfair to today's youth.

“Americans should learn from Europe where the socialist health care systems have already condemned their youth to a Demographic Dungeon.  The chance for substantive European health care reform has been lost, and America must not follow them over the precipice.  CEI supports the Coalition Against Higher Medicare Drug Costs.  As a member of that Coalition, we hope that the youth and the grandparents of America will find their voice and speak out together against this most inequitable wealth transfer program.”