[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 6 (Thursday, January 26, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S230]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. CLINTON (for herself and Mr. Nelson of Florida):
  S. 2203. A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to 
eliminate cost-sharing under part D of such title for certain full-
benefit dual eligible individuals; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, today I rise to introduce legislation to 
address yet another serious flaw in the Medicare prescription drug 
benefit that has come to light.
  On January 1, the new Medicare prescription drug benefit went into 
effect. Overnight, millions of seniors and disabled Americans found 
themselves thrown into a confusing and complex transition.
  Some of our poorest and most vulnerable beneficiaries, those in 
assisted living facilities, have found themselves suddenly forced to 
produce copayments to get the medications they need.
  These are beneficiaries with serious mental illnesses who have been 
stabilized on medications, and people with developmental and physical 
disabilities who have little or no incomes and no way to afford the 
medicines that they depend on.
  The bill I am introducing will fix this problem by waiving copayments 
for this group of vulnerable beneficiaries and reimbursing them for any 
copayments they have already been forced to shoulder.
  This is just one of so many problems we have seen plaguing this 
program. The first 26 days of this program have been a disaster for far 
too many seniors and disabled across New York and across the country.
  We have heard reports from our poorest seniors, who were being 
charged hundreds of dollars for drugs. We have heard reports of 
disabled individuals asked to provide doctor's notes certifying a need 
for their medications and of beneficiaries leaving pharmacies without 
the drugs they depend on to keep them healthy.
  As a result of problems with computer systems, phone lines, and the 
inability of Medicare and private plans to provide correct information 
to those on the front lines of care, millions of people around the 
country have faced problems receiving this new benefit.
  I am working on all fronts to help Medicare beneficiaries weather 
this transition. Before this program went into effect, it was clear 
that those dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, our poorest and 
most vulnerable seniors and disabled, would have a particular challenge 
navigating this transition. I was very concerned that many these 
Medicare recipients would walk up to their pharmacy counters on January 
1 and be unable to get their prescriptions filled.
  In anticipation of these problems, I introduced legislation in 
December to keep these Medicare recipients from falling through the 
cracks by stepping up outreach and education to pharmacists and 
providing reimbursement to pharmacists who are charged a transaction 
fee to access beneficiary information through Medicare. I also 
cosponsored legislation to give Medicare beneficiaries more time to 
enroll in the new program.
  And I issued a resource guide, now available in both English and 
Spanish, to help New Yorkers navigate this new program. To date more 
than 75,000 copies of the guide have been distributed.
  Since the new program went into effect, I have repeatedly urged the 
Bush administration to address the problems plaguing this program. And 
last week, I introduced comprehensive legislation along with several of 
my Senate colleagues, that includes my bill to help pharmacists help 
their customers, and makes the other fixes I have been calling for: 
provisions to improve outreach and education, fix problems with drug 
plans transition programs, protect the benefits of seniors who also 
have coverage from a retiree drug plan, and make sure that States and 
low income beneficiaries are reimbursed for excessive costs they have 
been forced to shoulder by the inept implementation of the new benefit.
  We owe it to our seniors and disabled Americans to get this right. 
And I will keep fighting to ensure that we do.

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