Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor Sam Page wants to know where Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder stands on a federal Medicare bill.
President Bush has signaled he'll veto the AARP-supported legislation, and Page said Kinder should urge him not to. The measure would replace a scheduled 10.6 percent cut to Medicare’s physician pay rates with 18 months of stable payments. The cost would be offset by cutting bonus payments to private Medicare plans known as Medicare Advantage, according to CQ Politics.
"Forty-four million seniors and nine million military personnel will be hurt if they lose access to medical care," Page said. "Too many of Missouri's seniors have already been denied the opportunity to visit a doctor by the Blunt-Kinder healthcare cuts of 2005. This is the worst time for the President to veto a bill that will protect our seniors and veterans," he added in a statement.
Page also used today's news of Kinder's endorsement of Congressman Kenny Hulshof for Governor to highlight the issue. Hulshof was one of only 59 Congressmen to vote against the Medicare bill when it passed the House on June 24.
"I ask my opponent, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, as the state's designated advocate for seniors, to disagree with his choice for governor and stand up for Missouri's seniors," Page said.
The bill passed overwhelmingly in the U.S. House of Representatives 355-59 and U.S. Senate 69-30. Bush is expected to veto the bill Tuesday.
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