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REMARKS BY:		DONNA E. SHALALA, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
PLACE:			Press Conference to Release 1997 Annual Report of the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees, Washington, D.C.
DATE:			April 24, 1997

Thank you Secretary Rubin. Thank you Acting Commissioner Callahan for joining us today.

Let me begin with a word of reassurance to the 38 million Americans who rely on Medicare to pay for their medical care. There is no immediate crisis facing the Medicare trust fund. In fact, there currently are $120 billion dollars in the trust fund, enough money to pay all claims that are submitted.

Secretary Rubin has laid out for you the basic findings of the trustees' report. The good news is that the health of the Medicare trust fund has not gotten any worse in the last year. The Hospital Insurance trust fund will remain solvent until 2001 -- that's the same message we had last year.

That is not to say that we do not have a very real problem to resolve. The bad news is that 2001 is one year closer today than it was when we issued our last report. What is very clear is that we cannot afford to debate and delay. It is time for action. It is time for an agreement. It is time for us to provide the American people -- especially senior citizens and those with disabilities -- the peace of mind they deserve.

So, to all those officials responsible for the future of Medicare -- Democrats and Republicans -- this report has a simple message: Just do it!

Our history is filled with examples of bipartisan action to preserve and protect what is most dear to our hearts. Medicare is a tremendous success story. It has lifted a generation of senior citizens and people living with disabilities out of poverty and provided them with high- quality health care. None of us want to see this record diminished and I am sure that we will see action this year to prevent it.

Let me say a few words about what we, as trustees, believe must be done.

First, we must address the short-term financial problems that face us. The President has placed on the table a package of proposals that would save $100 billion dollars over the next five years. Using the new assumptions in today's report, Medicare's actuaries now estimate that the President's original budget package will extend the solvency of the trust fund into 2008 -- 11 years from now.

Those proposals are now the basis of good, constructive, bipartisan discussions with members of Congress from both parties. It is a strong proposal to both strengthen and modernize the Medicare program for the future. It builds on a record of action by this Administration to protect the Medicare trust fund.

In his first budget, President Clinton successfully proposed Medicare savings that extended the life of the trust fund for three years.

And, in each of the last four years, the President has proposed further Medicare savings to extend the solvency of the trust fund. Unfortunately, we have not been able to achieve bipartisan agreement on those proposals. That, I hope, is about to change.

Second, the trustees make clear that we must use the time gained by this short-term package to address the long-term financing problems that face the Medicare trust fund. As we have in each of the past four years, the trustees recommend the creation of a bipartisan advisory group to help us sort through the critical issues that confront us.

Like Secretary Rubin and my other colleagues, I am heartened by the progress being made in the discussions over the budget. Our differences are much fewer than our common cause. We have come together in the past to make these promises to our most vulnerable citizens. Now we must come together to keep them.

If we do that -- no, when we do that -- we will ensure that the next time the trustees report to the public, we will be able to deliver a much different, and much better prognosis.

Thank you.