Christopher Dodd

Mr. DODD

Mr. DODD. I yield the floor.

Mr. DODD. Before we go to our next speaker, I wish to ask if I could request that the next half hour be equally divided; is that OK?

Mr. DODD. Forty minutes, equally divided.

Mr. DODD. Yes. That would be under the same order as we had before, I would ask the Chair.

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, the Senator from Rhode Island wants to be heard.

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I yield whatever time we may have remaining to Senator Kirk of Massachusetts, who has done an incredible job in very difficult circumstances--replacing our beloved former colleague Ted Kennedy from Massachusetts. He has been a valuable contribution over these days he has been here. I know he wishes to say a few words as well.

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I am about to, on behalf of the majority leader, propound a unanimous consent request. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 3:30 p.m. today, the Senate proceed to vote in relation to the following amendments and motion to commit, as listed in this agreement, with no other amendments, motions to commit, or any other motion except a motion to reconsider and table upon the conclusion of any vote, being in order during the pendency of this agreement; further, that prior to the second and succeeding votes, there be 2 minutes of debate, with all time equally divided and controlled in the usual form; that any amendment or motion covered under this agreement be subject to an affirmative 60-vote threshold, and that if any achieve that threshold, then it be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that if it does not achieve that 60-vote threshold, then it be withdrawn; that after the first vote in this sequence, the succeeding votes be 10 minutes in duration: A Senator Whitehouse amendment re: Social Security fiscal responsibility; the Republican leader's designee amendment re: fiscal responsibility; Senator Stabenow's side-by-side amendment re: Medicare Advantage; and Senator Hatch's motion to commit re: Medicare Advantage. Further, that once this agreement is entered, the Republican leader's designee be recognized to call up the fiscal responsibility amendment; and that once it has been reported by number, Senator Stabenow be recognized to call up the Medicare Advantage side-by-side amendment; that upon disposition of the amendments and the motion in this agreement, the next two matters for consideration will be a Senator Lincoln amendment regarding insurance executive compensation, and Republican leader's designee motion to commit regarding home health agencies; that for the remainder of today's session, no further amendments or motions to commit be in order, with the time until then being equally divided between the leaders or their designees, with Members permitted to speak up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, how much time remains?

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I see my colleague from Minnesota. Does he wish to be heard? How much time does my colleague need?

Mr. DODD. Take 4.

Mr. DODD. How much time remains for both sides?

Mr. DODD. The Senator has 4 minutes.

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I yield 4 minutes to the Senator from Michigan.

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to support the CLASS Act and vote against the Thune amendment that would strike the CLASS Act from the bill. As you have heard, I hope, this afternoon, this bill is totally voluntary. There are no requirements by employers or employees to be involved. This is a very creative idea using individuals' money to contribute to their own long-term financial security if they are faced with disabilities. We have now, with the adoption of the Whitehouse amendment, secured that these funds can never be used for any other purpose than for the CLASS Act. That was the concern most of our colleagues had, if these funds would drift off. As a result of the Gregg amendment in our committee, it has now been determined that these programs will be actuarially sound for 75 years. We have fixed the problem CBO raised with it. It is a very creative and solid program that can make a huge difference for millions of Americans to avoid going to Medicare, divesting themselves of their assets, and allowing them to lead independent lives with dignity. It is deserving of our support. I urge the approval of this program.

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote and I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 2899

Mr. DODD

Mr. DODD. If my colleague will yield, I appreciate what the Senator has just done. This is an area where I think there is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding. A lot of it begins with just the branding, the title of something. This was, frankly, a revelation to me, going back a number of weeks ago. I heard the words ``Medicare Advantage.'' I thought this has to be part of the regular Medicare Program because it has that title.

Mr. DODD. If my colleague will correct me if I am wrong, this is not traditional Medicare; this is a private plan, right?

Mr. DODD. In looking back a few years ago, the original reason--and I don't recall the debate as well as my colleague, the chairman of the Finance Committee, does. As I remember, the original idea behind this was--and he said this already, but it deserves being repeated--this was a way of cutting costs, reducing expenditures. In a sense, we were sold this idea on the fact that we could do this better, more efficiently, at far less cost.

Mr. DODD. That is why we supported trying this idea. A couple of things happened since then. One, I think the overpayments, on average, are around 14 percent.

Mr. DODD. So, on average, it is 14 percent in overpayment. Is it also true that roughly 80 percent of Medicare beneficiaries don't get any of these benefits?

Mr. DODD. And that the average Medicare couple over the age of 65 is paying, I am told, about $90 a year more in Medicare payments for benefits they don't get.

Mr. DODD. So here we have 75 to 80 percent of the beneficiaries of Medicare paying more money and not getting the benefits for a program that costs more than 14 percent more, and it is a private plan.

Mr. DODD. Our bill does something that I think our friend from Oklahoma, Senator Coburn, pointed out that is absolutely critical, which is that competitive bidding did not exist in the original. Who was setting these rates originally during this period of time? How did these rates get set? Did Congress set them?