[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 19 (Wednesday, February 3, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E129]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION

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                         HON. EDWARD J. MARKEY

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 3, 1999

  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce a bill to 
eliminate the preemption of State prescription drug benefit laws in 
connection with Medicare+Choice plans. I am pleased to be joined in 
this endeavor by every member of the Massachusetts congressional 
delegation.
  Mr. Speaker, on January 1, 1999 many seniors in Massachusetts lost 
the unlimited prescription drug benefit available from their Medicare 
HMO due to a provision in federal law that was interpreted by a court 
to override Massachusetts state law. Massachusetts is the only state 
which had a law of this kind--one which required Medicare+Choice plans 
doing business in the state to provide an unlimited prescription drug 
benefit to seniors. Despite the efforts of the entire Massachusetts 
congressional delegation, the Administration, and the Governor of 
Massachusetts to find a legislative or administrative fix at the end of 
last year, which included making it possible for the HMOs to do the 
right thing and extend the benefit, the HMOs refused to provide the 
unlimited benefit. This vital benefit must be restored, and the 
legislation I am filing today will restore the coverage this year.
  Mr. Speaker, my Massachusetts colleagues and I believe that Congress 
did not intend to pre-empt the Massachusetts prescription drug benefit 
law and force seniors in Massachusetts to choose between prescription 
drugs and food or other necessities when it passed the Balanced Budget 
Act of 1997. Congress can clarify its intent by passing the bill we are 
introducing today, and correct the gross injustice perpetrated upon 
Massachusetts seniors enrolled in these plans.

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