WEEK OF NOVEMBER 22, 1999
U.S. Rep. Phil English Washington Hotline
1410 Longworth
House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
With the budget finally in place, Congress adjourned for the year
so that we could return to our districts to meet with constituents.
This also gives us the opportunity to hold various forums and
meetings that will have a local, national and international impact.
Congress stops 30-year raid on Social Security
Northwestern Pennsylvania workers, seniors, students and
low-income families are among the winners at the end of the budget
debate. We’ve stopped the raid on Social Security and that was one
of my top priorities. This marks the first time since 1969 that the
federal government has not touched the Social Security surplus to
fill in holes in the budget. And finally after 30 years, we were
able to leave those funds alone while still strengthening education
and Medicare and ensuring training for our workers and heat for
low-income families.
The $390 billion budget package covers the final five of the 13
annual spending bills that I’ve been updating you on each week. It
covers financing the departments of Interior, Health and Human
Services, foreign aid and scores of other programs, agencies and
departments. President Clinton has signed the eight other bills into
law. This budget shows our commitment to fiscal responsibility. Last
year, we almost balanced the budget without touching Social
Security. But with the economy going well and the tough budget
decisions we made a few years ago, we were able to balance the
budget without touching those funds earmarked for seniors. And
that’s something of which we should all be proud.
While the budget increases federal spending, Congress applied a
.38 percent across-the-board spending cut to all aspects of
government except for Social Security, Medicare and military
salaries. The cut was applied to the congressional pay increases.
That .38 percent is our guarantee that the Social Security surplus
will be protected. The across-the-board cut compensates for $6
billion in new spending demanded by the Clinton administration.
The budget re-authorizes Trade Adjustment Assistance for an
additional two years. The program lends a helping hand through
unemployment benefits and job training to workers injured by the
impact of foreign trade. It has been re-authorized through Sept.
2001. It also provides $1.4 billion for the Low-Income Heating
Energy Assistance Program, which provides funds to help more than 4
million people heat their homes. Money for education increases by
16.8 percent over last year’s budget figures bringing spending to
$38 billion. In addition to funding special education and Title I
programs, the plan increases spending for the Pell Grant program to
$7.7 billion. Current allotments for the Pell Grant would double to
$6,000 by the year 2003. Education is the key to the future. We must
take strides to ensure that those future leaders do not go deep into
debt trying to get that education.
The plan also allows the federal government to begin brining down
the $5 billion national debt by $ 147 billion. With a projected
budget surplus, there is no reason to touch the Social Security
Trust Fund, after all this is the largest surplus in 45 years. This
common sense fiscal policy strengthens the government’s finances and
allows us to work on paying down the national debt.
Security Blue fixes approved
Seniors will reap the rewards of this legislation included in
Thursday’s budget because it increases their access to
rehabilitative therapy, cancer-fighting drugs and other vital
programs. This legislation also increases payments for hospitals,
nursing homes, home health agencies and managed care plan so that
they can continue to serve seniors while keeping their costs down.
The bill provides some relief for Medicare supplemental programs
such as Security Blue. It also increases the formula for payments to
HMOs, which will return about $200 million to the Medicare+Choice
program, which funds programs such as Security Blue.
Congress has directed the Health Care Financing Administration
(HCFA) and the Department of Health and Human Services to stop
making a profit from Medicare+Choice and instead return that money
to the programs. The bill slows the implementation of the risk
adjustment system, which the administration uses to determine the
reimbursement rates. It also orders HCFA to collect more updated,
accurate data. HCFA 's reimbursement system uses a complicated
series of “factors” to determine the amount of money they will
reimburse an HMO for Medicare+Choice clients. The factors are based
on information from 1996 and include such things as the average
number of hospital visits, length of stay, costs for senior
hospitalizations and average doctor costs in any given county. Final
rates are then calculated by employing a “risk adjustment system”
which “fine tunes” reimbursements to reflect actual medical claims
by individual seniors. The risk adjustment system was to be phased
in this year.
Unfortunately, because of the opposition from President Clinton
there is nothing that can be done for seniors facing an increase in
the Security Blue rate in January. But what we have done is put a
halt to the erosion of the program’s offerings and have stabilized
the situation so seniors can continue coverage into the future. This
promotes fairer funding for Medicare+Choice plans such as Security
Blue in places such as Crawford, Erie and Mercer counties.
Talking trade in Seattle
This time next week I will be writing you from the World Trade
Ministerial Congressional Advisory Group. The bipartisan group
consists of members of Congress such as myself who have a long
interest in the global trading system and share an interest in a
successful ministerial. The Advisory Group consists of the Chairmen
and Ranking Members of seven committees, the Washington State
Congressional delegation, and an additional group of about 20
members selected by the Speaker and Minority Leader Dick Gephardt
(D-MO).
I am excited by this opportunity to serve on the Ministerial as a
continuation of my efforts to improve trade. I have sponsored nine
pieces of legislation dealing with trade including the Fair Trade
Law Enhancement Act of 1999 (H.R. 1505), which is designed to
prevent unfairly traded imports from undermining the country’s
agricultural and manufacturing base. The major provision of the bill
is to strengthen U.S. trade laws to allow domestic importers and
workers to take advantage of a fuller array of protections against
unfair trade. I am also the cosponsor of many other bills dealing
with trade issues. I believe that I will be able to offer sound
advice on the agenda. I look forward to the opportunity to work with
other nations to improve the world economy. Next week’s e-mail will
just be full of trade information.
If you would like to offer suggestions or be taken off of this
list please contact my press secretary Jennifer Hall at
Jennifer.Hall@ mail.house.gov or through the “Write Your Rep”
section of my homepage at www.house.gov/english Anyone interested in
being added to the mailing list should also contact Jennifer or go
to the sign-up form available on my web page. To ensure that you are
a constituent, please include your zip code and county.
And if you ever need to contact me feel free to do so through the
“Write Your Rep” link. Unfortunately for the time being, making
e-mail contacts to my office through the “Write Your Rep” link is
the only way to guarantee that your views and concerns will be
forwarded properly.
Enjoy a great week,
Phil | 
