[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 115 (Wednesday, September 22, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S9487]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        LOBBYING ABOUT MEDICARE

  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I felt compelled to come to the Senate 
floor today to respond to something I read today that was in the 
newspaper, the Hill, that relates to another effort to confuse people 
about what happened with the Medicare prescription drug bill, the 
Medicare cards that I hate to even call discount cards because they are 
not discounts. In fact, we are now seeing an effort to pay people to 
reach out and say something nice about the Medicare prescription drug 
bill and to get seniors to do it. Let me read to you some of this 
article.

       A Republican lobbying firm is offering healthcare 
     consultants almost $4,000 each to find senior citizens who 
     are willing to speak out in favor of the Medicare drug 
     discount card and write letters to Congress thanking members 
     for saving them money on pharmaceuticals.

  Obviously, it is difficult to find people to do that, so now they are 
paying people to go out in the form of headhunters, if you will, to 
find people who are willing to say something nice about the new 
Medicare prescription drug bill.

       The DCI Group, a Washington, DC-based lobbying shop that 
     advertises to potential clients that it can treat ``corporate 
     issues like campaigns,'' is offering healthcare consultants 
     $3,750 plus expenses over six weeks [between now and the 
     election] to generate positive news stories about the drug 
     card and offer support to Congress for voting for the 
     Medicare drug law . . .
       A recent e-mail sent from the DCI Group's Starlee Rhoades 
     to healthcare consultants says that the campaign will run 
     from September 15 to October 31 and that the client is 
     RetireSafe, which has sponsored the hiring of healthcare 
     consultants . . .

to go out and say good things about the Medicare prescription drug 
bill.

       The DCI Group represents the Pharmaceutical Research and 
     Manufacturers of America--PhRMA.

  That is not surprising.

       Tony Feather, who helped found the DCI Group, has close 
     ties to President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove.

  Also not a surprise.

       The DCI Group e-mail to healthcare consultants, obtained by 
     The Hill, stipulates a number of ``minimum deliverables'' 
     that come with the job of touting the drug card.

  Or duties, if you will.

       The e-mail says that RetireSafe wants seniors, families of 
     seniors and healthcare community leaders ``to send letters to 
     their congressmen and senators thanking them for supporting 
     the Medicare benefit, or asking for that support in the 
     future.'' [And by the way] ``We have help available to write 
     letters if the signer is not comfortable drafting the letter 
     entirely on their own.''

  For $3,750 plus expenses, health care officials must be available as 
an expert source of information to the media and that community and 
personally stop by the offices of their Congressman and Senators and 
thank them.
  This is also very important as part of the deliverability. They must 
bring at least one senior or health care community leader to stand up 
at a townhall meeting and thank the lawmaker. I look forward to that.
  The DCI group also asked the health care consultant to speak out on 
their own in support of the drug card.
  Finally, every Wednesday from now until the 31st they are expected to 
send a report to the DCI that answers many questions, including how 
many events they attended. Did you speak in favor of the card and 
benefit? How many health care leaders did you ask to stop by the office 
of their Congressman or Senators? And how many actually did.
  Then it says you will be responsible for acting as a local 
spokesperson at community events and media to get health care 
professionals' opinions, which goes a long way in making the story seem 
credible to the general public.
  Reached yesterday, the lady involved initially denied she was 
involved in this campaign. But when told that her e-mail had been 
distributed widely, she said, ``I can't talk about it.''
  I feel compelled to talk about this and to take a moment and say that 
$3,750 will buy a lot of Medicare for seniors. In fact, I am tempted to 
actually encourage seniors in my State and around the country to offer 
to say something nice between now and the election because they can buy 
a lot of medicine with this. That would be a better way to put it if, 
in fact, we were giving it directly to seniors.
  The truth is, this was a good bill. If the discount cards were really 
a discount, if the Medicare prescription drug bill was really good for 
seniors, you would not have to pay consultants $3,750 plus expenses for 
6 weeks. And the truth is, it doesn't matter how much you pay. Seniors 
know. They are the ones who have to write the checks. They are the ones 
who have to go to the counter every day and every month to look at what 
the bill is and decide if they walk away with their medicine or leave 
it there at the counter. They are the ones who decide whether they take 
them every other day, cut them in half, share them with their spouse, 
maybe don't get the medicine, pick it up today or get their medicine 
another day.
  This is real for people. No matter how many consultants are paid 
$3,750 plus expenses, people know. It is unfortunate that there are 
those who underestimate the intelligence of older people in our 
country, their families, or the disabled. They know.
  I hear stories every day of people who have gone to the Web site for 
Medicare and tried to wade through all of the cards--up to 70-some 
different cards--to figure out how to get some kind of discount. Then 
they look at prices continuing to go up.
  I had a lady the other day tell me she bought the card, paid $25, and 
a couple of weeks later the medicine she was taking no longer had the 
discount, and she didn't get her money back.
  People know. That is the great thing about our country. It doesn't 
matter what you have or how much you spend. People know whether they 
are better off. People know what is really happening.
  We need to get about the business of getting this Medicare 
prescription drug bill right. We need to go back and do it over again, 
and do it right. Pharmacists need to have the ability of doing business 
with pharmacists in Canada who can really cut prices in half. Then we 
don't have to pay consultants $3,750 plus expenses to go find the 
senior citizen who would say something nice about a Medicare bill. 
People would say it because it would be true and it would be real.
  But in the meantime, I say to folks who are today trying to figure 
out who to pay for their medicine, you might want to try offering, 
during the next 6 weeks, to say something nice about the Medicare bill 
for $3,750 plus expenses. I know it would buy my mom a lot of medicine. 
It would buy a lot of folks a lot of medicine, and it would be a better 
way to spend it than have more lobbyists trying to tell folks something 
that is not true.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time has expired.
  The Senator from Kansas.
  Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
remainder of the morning business time be reserved.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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