The bill transfers federal estate tax revenues to the Medicare Hospital Trust fund where those monies will be earmarked to a separate outpatient prescription drug account. Seniors in my state of Minnesota have had to travel to Canada to purchase prescription drugs because those drugs are too expensive in our own country. It is sad, but true that in 1999 in the United States of America seniors are being forced to choose between food and the prescribed medication they need to lead healthy lives. Seniors' prescriptions often go unfilled because the cost is far too high. It is time to bring Medicare into the modern age of medicine.
Seniors rely on prescription drugs for their health more and more each year.
We should honor our nation's seniors and help make their medicine affordable by providing a Medicare prescription drug benefit. The Minnesota Senior Federation has sponsored bus trips to Winnipeg, Canada for seniors to purchase prescription drugs at affordable prices, well below the cost of the same drugs in Minnesota. It would do the job and cover everyone eligible for Medicare. As we know, many members of Congress have argued that we no longer need the estate tax in light of the projected federal budget surplus. But good public policy argues that we turn those revenues around to fund this vital benefit for older Americans.