[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 66 (Tuesday, May 21, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H2665]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       PRESCRIPTION DRUG BENEFIT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 23, 2002, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, it is shameful that our seniors are still 
without a workable prescription drug benefit program. Because of the 
rapid increase in the price of prescription drugs, and the costs 
related to medical care, the price of medicine is now out of reach of 
millions of seniors. Tragically, many of our seniors are now faced with 
a choice between food and prescription drugs.
  I go home, and every weekend people continue to reach out and tell me 
they have a problem with buying their prescriptions. I had a lady come 
to me and say I have to buy the prescription for my husband, and I 
choose not to buy for myself. We continue to hear that day in and day 
out. It is shameful that we have not taken a position on this.
  As Democrats, we support a prescription drug benefit plan that covers 
all seniors that is voluntary and universal. No senior would be faced 
with a prospect of not being able to afford medicine regardless of 
income. We understand back in the 1960s when we established Medicare 
that if Lyndon B. Johnson had known that prescriptions were needed at 
that time, and now we know that they are needed for care, they would 
have been included in the Medicare process.
  We also know that the insurance companies, even back then, the reason 
why we have Medicare is because the insurance companies, as soon as the 
elderly were getting sick, they were being dumped. As soon as they were 
not making a profit on the senior citizens, they were being let go. We 
know now that the proposal that the Republicans have, and that is to 
try to provide an additional insurance to our seniors who have a fixed 
income who cannot afford additional insurance, who the insurance 
companies do not want because if they get sick, they are going to be 
dumped again, very similar to what the HMOs are doing now in those 
situations where they are not making a profit.
  We looked at Medicare, and we know that we tried to bring down the 
cost and we established HMOs so that we would bring down the cost, but 
we know now that the HMO has actually cost us more than Medicare 
services. We need to stop playing around and respond to this serious 
issue before us, and that is meeting the needs of our seniors and the 
prescription drugs that they need.
  We also recognize that those same prescriptions, and this is a crime, 
those same prescriptions are sold outside this country for cheaper 
prices, and our seniors who can least pay for them are the ones that 
are having to carry the burden. This is where the profits are being 
made from the pharmaceutical companies. It should be a crime for this 
to be occurring.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to pass a meaningful prescription drug plan that 
uses Medicare to make drugs affordable and provide universal voluntary 
benefits for all seniors. Congress can vote to bail out Enron, and they 
can also vote to help the most wealthy of this country by providing 
them tax cuts, but we do not take care of our elderly, and that is 
shameful. While the Republican proposals claim to help seniors, it does 
not cover all seniors, and it provides no real guarantees for coverage.
  The much more narrowly constructed House Republican plan would not 
reach many middle class Americans. Less than 6 percent would be 
covered. The reality is when you get sick and are in need, those 
private companies are not going to be there for us. They are not going 
to be there for our seniors. We need to make sure that Medicare 
provides this service. We need to make sure that we treat our seniors 
in an appropriate manner when they reach their twilight years.
  Also, the Republican plan forces seniors to shop and buy a private 
insurance plan, making it a hassle for older Americans who will have to 
contend with insurance plans which come and go. As I have indicated, 
even the insurance companies are going to be trying to get those more 
healthy seniors out there so they can make a profit. We know most of 
our seniors, when they get ill, are going to need not 1, not 2, but 
some cases up to 8 to 10 prescriptions. Insurance companies are not 
going to want to cover those. The administration knows that, and we 
need to recognize that and be able to do the right thing when it comes 
to our seniors and treat them in a manner of dignity as we should.
  In addition, the Republican plan does not address the rising cost of 
prescription drugs. We have talked about those costs. The 
pharmaceutical companies, it angers me because we know they are selling 
that same prescription in Canada and Europe for much less than what it 
is sold for to our seniors here. We ask and plead that we pass a 
prescription drug plan that benefits all.

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