Date: 2000-09-14
Speaker: DICK ARMEY (republican)
Chamber: S

"Medicare has no place in a free world. Social Security is a rotten trick. and I think we are going to have to bite the bullet on Social Security and phase it out over time." This is the House majority leader. DICK ARMEY. What my friend from North Dakota has said is right: The majority has never felt good about Medicare. As my friend has said. in 1965 when Medicare came into being. there really wasnt a need for prescription drugs because prescription drugs were in their infancy and it didnt matter the vast majority of the time whether someone was going to live or die. be comfortable or not. Now. how can we. the only superpower in the world. a nation that is leading the world in research and medical products. how can we have a Medicare program. a program for health care for senior citizens. that does not include the prescription drug benefit? We cant do that. I also say to my friend. the reason we are here is this morning a Senator came over and gave this presentation and said what my friend from North Dakota said: Sure. we want to do something about Medicare. but I have gotten letters from my constituents saying "Im against the big government plan." This is exactly what we hear on the radio advertisements and the television advertisements that are paid for by the health care industry. They want the American people to think that the program the Democrats are propounding is a big government plan. There could be nothing further from the truth. What does this have to do with big government? A woman by the name of Gail Rattigah. from Henderson. NV writes: I am a registered nurse who recently cared for an 82yearold woman who tried to commit suicide because she couldnt afford the medications her doctor told her were necessary to prevent a stroke. It would be much more cost effective for the Government to pay for medications that prevent more serious illnesses and expensive hospitalizations. These include but are not limited to blood pressure medications. antistroke anticoagulants. and cholesterol medications. The governments current policy of paying for medications only in the hospital is backward. Get into health promotion and disease promotion and save money. This is a registered nurse from Henderson. NV. I want everyone on the majority side to know they are not going to be able to come over and make these statements as if there is no opposition to it. What my friend from Tennessee says is wrong. He states he has gotten all of these letters saying: I am against the big government plan. That is because of the radio and TV advertisements from the powerful health insurance industry. But the real people are like the 82yearold woman who wanted to commit -suicide because she couldnt get medication. Also. I want to spread across this record that my friend from Tennessee. who came and said. "We need the Republican plan." makes the statement that he wants to involve Senator BREAUX in this. The majority cant have it both ways. They either support the Bush plan. the plan of the person running for the President of the United States on the Republican ticket. or they dont support the nominee. It appears what my friend from Tennessee is doing is trying to have it both ways because the Senator from Louisiana does not support Governor Bushs plan. The majority realizes that their medicare plan simply can not work because of their nominees $1.6 trillion tax cut proposal. Senator BREAUX pointed this out quite clearly today. My point is. I say to my friend from North Dakota. people who come here and make statements on the floor need to have substantiation. I say the Senator from- Louisiana does not support the Bush Medicare plan. I also say the majority has introduced a proposalso we understand it. but it is a Medicare prescription drug benefit in name only. A New York Times writer states: * * . all indications are that this plan is a nonstarter. Insurance companies themselves are very skeptical. there havent been many cases in which an industrys own lobbyists tell Congress that they dont want a subsidy. but this is one of them. I take just another minute or two of my friends time. The GOP plan subsidizes insurance companies. not Medicare beneficiaries. Health insurance companies continue to say the Republican plan is unworkable. The majority tries to give this to the insurance industry. but the insurance industry doesnt want it because it wont work. Charles Kahn. President of the Health Insurance Association of America. has stated: ... we continue to believe the concept of the socalled drugonly private insurance simply would not work in practice. I dont know of an insurance company that would offer a drugonly policy like that or even consider it. Mr. President. I say to my friend. from North Dakota. we know there needs to be something done about the high cost of prescription drugs. No. 2. we know there has to be something done with Medicare to help senior citizens of this country be able to afford prescription drugs. That is all we are saying. And we want everyone to know the program put forth by the minority is a program that helps senior citizens. It is not something that is means tested. but a program that helps all senior citizens. not people who make less than $12.000 a year. It is a program that is essential. It is essential because people. as we speak. such as Gail Rattigan. who is a registered nurse. who wrote to me. write that people are considering suicide. If they are to take one pill a day. they are splitting them in two. they are asking if they can get half a prescription filled because they simply cant afford it. We need to change that.