[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 81 (Wednesday, June 4, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7270-S7271]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       PRESCRIPTION DRUG BENEFIT

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, there are many issues that will be before 
us this morning and during the course of this week, such as the Energy 
bill, which, of course, is of great importance to the security of the 
United States of America. We have had amendments on that bill over the 
last several days. But we will also be considering an important issue 
for millions of Americans, and that is the cost of prescription drugs. 
It is an issue which families face all the time, particularly if they 
have someone in the family with a serious illness. It is particularly 
difficult as well for senior citizens on a fixed income.
  There are two different issues that are going to be tested in this 
Chamber. There is a Republican approach which suggests we need to 
basically privatize Medicare, that we need to basically abandon the 
system of health insurance protection for seniors which has been 
effective for over 40 years.
  There are many on the Republican side of the aisle from a 
conservative political viewpoint who really do not care much for our 
Medicare system. They have been fairly outspoken about it. One of them 
is Senator Santorum of Pennsylvania, one of the leaders on the 
Republican side. This is what he said recently about Medicare:

       The standard benefit, the traditional Medicare program, has 
     to be phased out.


[[Page S7271]]


  ``Has to be phased out,'' he said. That was a statement by Senator 
Santorum, a Republican leader, in the New York Times on May 21.
  What the Republicans will bring us in terms of prescription drugs is 
really the first and critical step toward phasing out Medicare. It is 
their belief that Medicare should be eliminated and replaced with 
private insurance coverage, but most American families know, if they 
have been at the mercy of a health insurance company, that, frankly, 
that is not a very wise tradeoff, nor a very fair one. That is why we 
come down to some fundamental differences between Democrats and 
Republicans when it comes to prescription drugs.

  We on the Democratic side believe that a prescription drug benefit 
should be part of Medicare; that it should be a voluntary program; that 
there should not be any coverage gaps; that there should be reliable 
coverage all across America; and that we ought to lower the cost of 
medicine for everyone by ensuring access to generic drugs.
  On the Republican side, they have serious gaps in coverage in 
prescription drugs. If you are paying for prescription drugs on a 
monthly basis for a serious illness and expect to pay for it throughout 
the course of the calendar year, there are periods in the beginning 
when Republicans would protect you for a short period of time and then 
long periods of months when there is no protection whatsoever before 
your bills get so huge you qualify for catastrophic coverage. That is 
not very much protection for a family or a sick person.
  They also, on the Republican side, will force seniors out of Medicare 
and into unreliable HMOs where seniors will not be able to choose their 
own doctors. Do you remember the debate we had over 10 years ago about 
the future of health care in America? Wasn't one of the serious issues 
we talked about one's ability to choose one's own doctor? The 
Republican approach on prescription drugs, the suggestion we privatize 
Medicare, that we move people into HMOs, will take away the ability of 
seniors to choose their own doctors, their ability to choose the 
doctors they trust. That is pretty fundamental.
  Also, the Republicans suggest spending billions to privatize Medicare 
and turning this over to big insurance companies. Have you spoken 
recently to someone who has had to deal with health insurance 
companies, the rates they charge, and the conditions on coverage? I 
have; I sat down with small business people in Illinois. I find it 
absolutely scandalous what is going on. These insurance companies are 
cherry-picking. They are deciding who they will insure and who they 
will not insure. They are deciding the length and duration of coverage 
and the type of coverage.
  If you, during the course of the calendar year when you are covered, 
turn in any claim relative to any part of your body or any illness, you 
can virtually bet that next year, when you go to sign up for health 
insurance, it will be excluded; you are on your own. Is that the kind 
of coverage which we want to see in America?
  The Republicans say that is a choice; we are giving people a choice. 
Let me tell you, Mr. President, the seniors of America have chosen for 
over 40 years the right choice, and that choice is Medicare. Medicare 
is a system which protects all Americans. It is a system with low 
administrative costs. It is a system which has worked. It has worked 
because the life expectancy of seniors has increased. It has worked 
because hospitals across America provide benefits to seniors. That is 
what is at stake in this debate.
  I say to my colleagues who argue this is just a question of choice, 
it is the wrong choice. The best choice is to stick with Medicare, to 
stick with protection.
  In closing, I wish to speak about cost. There will be those who come 
to this Chamber and say: You Democrats and those who support a plan 
under Medicare have to understand how expensive it is.
  They will say, you do not understand the expense of your proposal. I 
wish those same critics could remember the debate just 2 weeks ago on 
the Senate floor when the Bush administration came in and asked for us 
to provide over $350 billion in tax breaks for some of the wealthiest 
people in America. Two years ago, that same administration asked for 
over $1 trillion worth of tax breaks for the elite investors in 
America. The money was there for tax breaks for the wealthiest people 
in America but, sadly, when it comes to providing health insurance 
coverage, when it comes to prescription drug coverage, time and again 
the same people who voted so willingly for tax breaks for the wealthy 
will not come up with the dollars necessary for real prescription drug 
coverage that will cover our seniors across America.
  That is what this debate is about, the future of Medicare, a fair 
program to protect all senior citizens and to provide for cost of 
prescription drugs.
  I yield the floor.

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