[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 99 (Tuesday, July 8, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1422]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


        MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG AND MODERNIZATION ACT OF 2003

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. DAVE CAMP

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 26, 2003

  Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1, the 
Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act of 2003.
  We're hearing a lot about the year 1965 today. Let me remind my 
colleagues of some of the other things from that year. Herb Alpert and 
Tijuana Brass won a Grammy for `Album of the Year' and Tom Jones earned 
one as `Best New Artist'. Sonny and Cher had a hit song in `l Got You 
Babe' and `Bonanza' was the top show on television. A postage stamp 
cost a nickel and a gallon of regular gasoline was 31 cents. And the 
Dow Jones Industrial Average reached a high of 969 points.
  We've come a long way since then.
  Also in 1965 Medicare, which has provided health care security for 
millions of Americans for almost 40 years, was created. When it was 
launched, the program was designed to focus on a different set of 
needs, needs that did not include prescription drug coverage and 
preventive care. It was designed to fit the needs of 1965.
  Well my friends this isn't the mid-sixties anymore. Just as a postage 
stamp is no longer a nickel, the Medicare program which doesn't provide 
a prescription drug benefit doesn't work in today's world.
  My friends, times change.
  In 2003, we must honor our commitment of health care to seniors by 
ensuring that seniors have access and when needed assistance to 
prescription drug coverage. Additionally, H.R. 1 allows for other 
modernizations by adding an entry physical, cholesterol screening and 
offers disease management.
  I am pleased that this bill works to address the needs of our rural 
communities. Long overlooked, H.R. 1 provides a permanent fix to 
formulas that have discriminated against health care providers in mid-
Michigan and other rural areas. This is a policy change that goes to 
the heart of the problem and its benefits will be multiplied for years 
to come.
  This legislation will increase to every small urban and rural 
hospital, equalizing their base payment rates with that of large urban 
hospitals. Additionally, H.R. 1 adds a five percent bonus for primary 
and specialty care physicians working in areas where such care is 
scarce; creating a new category of hospitals that are the primary 
hospital in the community to receive payments covering costs plus two 
percent; allowing rural and small-town hospitals that provide graduate 
medical education to receive additional direct medical education and 
indirect teaching hospital funds by moving unused residency slots to 
these hospitals; and adding a five percent increase for all rural home 
health agencies for two years.
  Put simply, it is past time to modernize and improve the Medicare 
system. H.R. 1 will be able to better serve the needs of seniors. I 
urge my colleagues to support the passage of H.R. 1.

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