Madam Speaker, I rise this evening during this 40th anniversary year of Medicare as a strong supporter of this critical health insurance lifeline to all of America's families. On July 30, 1965,…
Madam Speaker, I rise this evening during this 40th anniversary year of Medicare as a strong supporter of this critical health insurance lifeline to all of America's families. On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare into law, the most important and successful family insurance program our Nation has ever known.
Medicare was created to provide health insurance to the elderly and disabled in part because only about half of our Nation's elderly and almost all of the disabled actually never had had health insurance. Medicare also played a fundamental role, along with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, in desegregating the American health insurance system by assuring access to care regardless of race or age.
Medicare began with 19 million beneficiaries, and since then it has served a total of approximately 105 million people over the last 40 years. Medicare has evolved over time to help beneficiaries maintain health, prevent disease and injury and provide better benefits, including more preventive care, even as inflation pushed the cost of health care higher and higher.
Medicare, which covered about 42 percent of expenditures for the elderly in 1968, covered about 55 percent by 1997. Without it, citizens simply could not cope financially as private companies reneged on their promised health and pension benefit to retirees.
Today, Medicare provides comprehensive health insurance for nearly 42 million Americans, which includes more than 35 million senior citizens and 6 million people under 65 years of age who are permanently disabled. It continues to achieve its purpose of improving health and financial security for beneficiaries by assuring access to affordable health care and contributing to the significant decrease in poverty among the elderly, which has fallen from nearly 30 percent in 1966 to approximately 10 percent in 2002. What a profound accomplishment we have achieved as a people to make the golden years livable, not threatening.
Most recently, however, in 2003, this Congress moved to add a prescription drug benefit coverage program to Medicare. While I have always supported Medicare as an important lifeline for seniors and the disabled, I could not support this particular legislation championed by the current Republican Party and the pharmaceutical industry. It did nothing to lower the exorbitant prices of prescription drugs, and yet it provides windfall profits to these very drug companies.
The bill is known as the Medicare Prescription Drug Modernization Act, and it was passed in this Chamber only after the Republican leadership bent their own rules during an all-night session to hold open the vote past the normal 15 minutes to nearly 3 hours as they twisted arms to get the bill passed.
I supported the Democratic plan that would have really provided an affordable drug plan for our seniors. Among the shortcomings of the law that seniors are now dealing with is that our government is not permitted to negotiate with the drug companies for the best price. I tried to get that amendment included in the bill and waited up in the Rules Committee until 4:30 in the morning and was denied my ability
to offer that particular amendment. I shall never forget that moment.
The current program also prohibits seniors in America from buying reimported drugs from countries like Canada. Does that make any sense? Well, it makes lots of ``cents,'' in fact, millions and millions of dollars for the drug companies that want to bar our seniors, particularly those in the North and in the South who can go to other places to buy the very same drugs that are for sale in this country at exorbitant prices.
The plan that passed here in the Congress was jerry-rigged in that it requires seniors to pay thousands of dollars for prescription drugs before they reach the $5,000 cap. How are they going to get those thousands of dollars?
The bill that passed has a big hole right in the middle that is going to come out of the pockets of our seniors in additional premium costs.
The Bush plan also intends to phase out the traditional Medicare program starting in 2010 for almost 7 million seniors, saying that they would no longer need to have a defined benefit plan, but they would get a voucher and could go on to the private market and try to get affordable prescription drugs.
Well, tell me now, how affordable do you think that can be? The Republican law, in essence, fails to provide a guaranteed prescription drug benefit plan through the traditional Medicare program that is affordable.
Until such full coverage is possible, I would urge my colleagues to support the Pharmaceutical Market Access Act of 2005, H.R. 328, which would allow reimportation.
Finally, in closing, let me say, H.R. 376 would permit the Government of the United States to negotiate the best price for our seniors, and I would urge our seniors to call their area Office on Aging to get advice on what to do in the current situation until we can improve this bill.
Seniors Try To Decipher Drug Options
(By Luke Shockman)
Bob Cain speaks for many senior citizens when the subject
is Medicare's new prescription drug plan.
``It's confusing,'' he said as he stood outside a senior
center in Toledo's Uptown neighborhood. ``I got the big book
[from Medicare], and I looked on the Internet. But I'm a
college graduate, and I couldn't understand it.''
Over and over, in senior centers, nursing homes, assisted-
living complexes, and around kitchen tables nationwide,
senior citizens and their family members are trying to make
sense of Medicare's drug plan.
It hasn't been pretty.
``I don't think I've met any seniors who are [happy] with
it,'' said Julie Dangelo, executive director of Senior
Centers Inc., the senior center where Mr. Cain frequents.
``Everybody is confused.''
That said, Ms. Dangelo and other senior advocates have a
message for the 43 million Americans on Medicare: Yes, this
is confusing, and you are certainly free to complain about
it. But ready or not, the clock on the decision-making
process will begin ticking Nov. 15.
By May 15, seniors will have to decide whether to sign up
for Medicare's drug program. If they participate, they must
determine which drug-plan option is best for them.
Despite all the hassle, the federal government expects
seniors who take part in the program could end up saving
quite a bit on their prescription-drug costs. Those with low
income or on Medicaid likely will have all or most of their
drug costs covered by Medicare--above and beyond the standard
financial help available through the new program.
In an effort to alleviate confusion for seniors and their
family members facing this important decision, The Blade has
gone to experts and senior advocates to answer some basic
questions.
So, what should you do first? Relax.
``You don't need to make a decision right now. There's no
rush,'' said Kathy Keller, a spokesman for AARP Ohio. ``Don't
jump and say, `It's Nov. 15 and I have to make a decision.'
Collect all the information, and get your questions answered
before doing anything.''
The deadline for taking action and picking a plan is not
Nov. 15 but May 15. However, seniors who wait until after May
15 likely will face penalties and have to pay higher premiums
and other costs.
The first thing seniors need to decide is whether they
should even join a Medicare prescription-drug plan. If
seniors get their drug benefits through a retirement plan
from their union or former employer, they already might be
receiving a better deal than what Medicare will provide. By
law, those former employers or unions have to send a letter
telling seniors whether that's the case. Veterans eligible to
receive drug benefits through the Department of Veterans
Affairs get a better deal through the VA, for example, so
they should stick with that.
If Medicare's drug plan does sound like it might be a good
option, the most important thing seniors will need to have
available when picking a plan--or when talking to someone who
will be assisting in selecting a plan--is a list of all the
drugs they are taking, the dosage amounts, and how often they
take the drug. That's a list that doctors say seniors should
have handy whether they choose to go with a Medicare drug
plan or not.
Another key piece of information for seniors to know is
whether they qualify for extra financial assistance. The
Medicare drug program, in its standard form, doesn't cover
all expenses. However, for many low-income seniors, including
those on Medicaid, there is extra financial help available.
Medicaid recipients automatically qualify.
Those not on Medicaid will need to apply for the help,
which is available to those making less than $14,355 annually
($19,245 as a couple). The Social Security Administration
handles applications, and seniors can call 1-800-772-1213 to
learn if they qualify.
And remember, there are many people and places with
resources available to help seniors in need of help in making
these decisions. Use them. While insurance companies will
have a vested interest in the plans that seniors choose, area
senior centers and many pharmacies and doctors offices are
offering assistance, and there's a host of toll-free phone
numbers available.
Perhaps the best advice for seniors right now: Take your
time in making a decision.
