Date: 2003-03-04
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. this morning. President Bush announced his prescription drug benefit plan tor senior citizens in this country. When It was all said and done. at the end of the speech iL became clear that there really is no plan for prescription drugs from the Bush administration for the seniors In this country. The President said he wanted to give seniors more rights to choose and it be more flexible. but the fact is. there Is nothing to choose and nothing to be flexible about. He promised comprehensive benefits. but he refused to define what a comprehensive benefit was. He said he wanted to protect against high drug costs. but he refused to say what a high drug cost was. He said he wanted to provide catastrophic care. and yet he refused to say what that catastrophic figure would be so that the seniors could take benefit of it. Why is that so? Because the prescription drug benefit announced by the President today is no different than the one that was announced Just a few months ago. that is. he does not use prescription drugs to benefit the seniors of this country that need it to maintain their health. to prevent dseases and illnesses. and to help them recover from illnesses. rather. he uses prescription drugs to beat down the Medicare system. The plan he announced today is the same as he announced before: seniors must leave the Medicare system. In order to get a prescription drug benefit. they must leave the Medicare system that has served millions and millions of seniors so well over the last 40 years. It has provided them the health care they would not have otherwise been able to have. and it also kept millions of them out of poverty. because it provided that health care. It has improved all of the health statistics with respect to seniors. Now the President says if they want a prescription drug benefit. they have to leave that system. They- have to go into the HMO system. In the last several years. millions of senior citizens went Into the HMO system. They enticed them with glasses. hearing aids. with prescription drug benefits. Only later did the seniors find out. as they read in the newspaper. that their HMO was going bankrupt. that their HMO was withdrawing service from that area. Millions of rural seniors have found out that the HMOs are not available to them If they do want to take advantE.ge of them. Hundreds of thousands of seniors in northern California participated in the HMOs. Now those HMOs have gone. and they are looking for health care somewhere else. Why would we do that again? Why would we rerun that history of trying to bait and trick the seniors out of the Medicare system. where every day they have health care coverage. where every day they are able to choose their doctor. where every day they are able to choose their physician. where every day their physicians should be able to do what is best for them? The President wants to use prescription drugs to trick the seniors out of that system. That is not the answer. That is not the answer. Later this morning. the Democrats introduced a prescription drug benefit. It has no tricks. it has no sleightofhand. it has no gaps. it has no secret thresholds. it has no small print. It simply says that we will provide a prescription drug benefit to the seniors of this country in the Medicare system. all of those who are eligible. for $25 a month with a deductible of $100 a year and coinsurance. The beneficiary will pay 20 percent of all drugs. and Medicare will pay 80 percent. After one reaches $2.000. the government will pick up the rest. That is the prescription drug benefit that essentially Federal employees and Members of Congress enjoy. That Is what the President stood here and said he wanted for Americas seniors. but that is not the plan. that is not the plan that the President offers to Americas seniors. Instead. what he offers them is a plan to dismantle the Medicare system. to do away with It. and for those who stay in the Medicare system. he offers them a discount card. a discount card. That is not a prescription drug benefit. So for those seniors who leave and join an HMO. lose the choice of their doctors. lose the choice of their pharmacy. lose the choice of their drugs. for those seniors. they will get a prescription drug benefit of minimal coverage. of minimal coverage. When the HMO goes bankrupt or refuses to see them. they will come back and they will not have their drug coverage. He wants to make whether or not your drugs are covered based on where you get your health care as opposed to what your illness is. as opposed to what the doctor says you need. as opposed to what all of the indices say you might need for a particular illness. His determination is whether or not you are in Medicare. That simIly does not comport with the health care needs of Americas seniors. Americas seniors today need prescription drugs. just as they need coverage for octors visits. for surgery. for outpatient and inpatient care. It is part of the continuum of health care. The President should not. the President should not do a bait and switch with Americas seniors so that they can get a prescription drug benefit. Every Medicare beneficiary should be covered for prescription drugs. and that is what the Democratic bill does that was introduced today.