[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 16 (Tuesday, February 22, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S657-S658]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG COVERAGE

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, my first elected job was as a member of the 
board of trustees of then the largest hospital district in the State of 
Nevada, Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital. During the time I was on the 
board, we were gratified to see Medicare come into being because 40 
percent of the senior citizens coming to our hospital had no insurance. 
People arrived at the hospital with their husband, their wife, their 
sons and daughters, and they had to sign papers agreeing to pay the 
bill. If patients did not pay the bill, a collection company pursued 
people to see that the bills were paid. We garnished wages and made 
sure the government institution received the money to which it was 
entitled.
  Approximately 35 years later there are some problems, but of course 
it is a great medical program. Now instead of 40 percent of seniors 
having no health insurance when they come into a hospital, virtually 
all seniors have some type of health insurance when they come to the 
hospital. That is a result of Medicare.
  In 1965, when I was a member of that hospital board, coverage was 
important to pay a hospital bill and to be able to see a doctor. What 
we did not cover and was not necessary when Congress passed the act was 
prescription drug coverage. Now we need prescription drug coverage. It 
is a tremendous lacking in the Medicare program.
  We have had breakthroughs in the interim years in the pharmaceutical 
industry that are among the greatest advances in medical history. 
Today, prescription drugs alone have the power to reduce heart attacks 
by lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, using all kinds of drugs, 
including aspirin. Drugs such as Zocor, Mevacor, Inderal, Corgard, and 
Calan are great in lowering cholesterol and blood pressure. These are 
lifesaving. Drugs can minimize death from cancer. These include Taxol 
and Tamoxifen. They slow the progress of AIDS with AZT and other 
protease inhibitors. They treat depression and mood disorders with 
Prozac and Zoloft. Bacterial infections can be cleared up, including 
ear and bladder infections, with a string of antibiotics called 
Cephalosphorin. We can reduce the possibility of organ rejection. We 
could not have organ transplants until they came up with something 
called Cyclosporin. Now people can have kidney transplants almost 
routinely. Other transplants are becoming more common.
  The Presiding Officer and I served in the House of Representatives 
with a Member of Congress who had a heart and lung transplant many 
years ago. He leads a very productive life. That is because of the 
pharmaceutical industry.

  For migraine headaches, I am sure, Mr. President, you have, as I 
have, had family members who benefited tremendously from something 
called Imitrix. People would go to doctors and use all kind of special 
pillows and heat and cold and all kinds of things, but what has worked 
well is this thing called Imitrix. It really, basically, takes away 
headaches.
  For enlarged prostate, there is something called Proscar. To treat 
arthritis pain, one wonder drug is called Imuran; for allergies, 
Caritan, Allegra, and other things. Allergies take tremendous amounts 
of time away from the workplace. At certain times of the year they can 
be debilitating.
  To slow the progression and control the symptoms of Parkinson's 
disease--we have a long way to go; about 50 percent of the people in 
rest homes are there because of Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's--
but we have made some progress treating Parkinson's disease with drugs 
called Amatadine and Deprenyl. There are drugs to reduce muscle 
spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis.
  There are things there we need to work on, but we are making 
progress. I had a hearing a number of years ago where a doctor said we 
are making great progress, and indeed progress has been made since 
then.
  Mr. President, 75 percent of older Americans, 3 out of every 4 
seniors,

[[Page S658]]

lack decent, dependable private-sector coverage for prescription drugs, 
and at least 13 million Medicare beneficiaries have absolutely no 
prescription drug coverage at all. That is wrong. That is why the 
Medicare legislation, which passed in 1965, needs to be updated.
  Many seniors, and especially senior women, struggle to meet the 
rising cost of filling their prescriptions. Why do I say women? 
Because, according to the Older Women's League, total prescription drug 
spending for women on Medicare averages about $1,200 a year, 20 percent 
more than that for men. In many cases, seniors simply do not take the 
drugs their doctors prescribe because they cannot afford them.
  You do not have to be a doctor to understand this is bad medicine. 
Without access to important medication, seniors run the risk of 
developing complications that require expensive treatments and hospital 
stays. While some seniors enroll in Medicare managed care plans because 
they provide some drug coverage, we cannot depend on this option, and 
many of these plans are no longer around. The Medicare managed care 
plans have found they cannot afford them, so they are dropping seniors. 
This is an unstable source of coverage because many Medicare managed 
care plans have decreased their drug coverage. The number of 
beneficiaries enrolling in these Medicare plans is declining because 
the promises are not what they are supposed to be.
  Prescription drugs are the largest out-of-pocket health costs for 
seniors. On average, seniors fill 18 prescriptions a year and take 4 to 
6 prescription drugs a day. Because of the high cost and lack of 
coverage, one study shows that one in eight seniors is forced to choose 
between buying food and buying medicine. That is drastic. One in eight 
seniors is forced to choose between buying food or medicine. Every day 
this takes place in America. To make matters worse, studies show that 
seniors without drug coverage pay more for drugs than those who have 
insurance.
  Prescription drugs are a necessary component of modern medicine, and 
our seniors are dependent on them to maintain a healthy, active 
lifestyle. This is something that has come about in the last 35 years. 
The special health needs of our seniors are often those that respond 
best to treatment by prescription drugs. For millions of seniors, 
prescription medicines are lifesavers. It is time to show our seniors 
we are serious about creating a Medicare prescription drug benefit, and 
I hope we can work together to do that as quickly as possible. We need 
Medicare to include prescription drugs.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum for one 
moment, and then I will call up the bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________