[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 41 (Tuesday, April 4, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H1425-H1426]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG PROGRAM

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time of 
the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel).
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Ohio?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to address the confusing new 
Medicare Prescription Drug Program, in light of yesterday's visit to my 
Ohio congressional district by Bush administration Health and Human 
Services Director Michael Leavitt. Yesterday, Monday, April 3, 
Secretary Leavitt arrived hours late in a blue bus after people had 
waited and waited in very cold weather. He spent only a few minutes, 
shook the hands of a couple of staff people, and spoke briefly with 
only two hand-picked seniors, and, by the way, spoke to them in front 
of the news cameras, before making his prepared remarks to the press.
  To the one senior that had a chance to ask the Secretary a question, 
explaining that they could not afford their medicines, he towed the 
administration line saying, ``This is a good program that helps a lot 
of people.''
  When asked by one senior about the program not covering his wife's 
medication needs, incredibly, the Secretary answered in the same way, 
and this was to the one person, ``This is a good program that helps a 
lot of people.''
  Now, the Secretary had his picture taken. It was on the front page of 
our newspaper, but of the 79 people in the room, he shook hands with 
only two, spoke to only one and left. I guess he is doing this all over 
the country.
  The Secretary says, yeah, this program has had a few bumps in the 
road. It is a new program but we fixed them. No, Mr. Secretary, you 
have not fixed them and they are more than bumps in the road. The one 
thing that is guaranteed is that the pharmaceutical companies are 
making billions.
  Here are a couple of comments that have come from consumers and 
seniors in my district. A husband and wife team says they take five 
prescriptions each. Under their old plan they had a 20 percent co-pay, 
but by this summer they will have reached the $2,250 cap. And the new 
drug plan is a farce and an insult to seniors of this country because 
now they are going to have to pay the amounts beyond that and they ask, 
``Is there anyone that cares or is listening in Washington?''
  Another husband wrote, ``It is costing my wife and me more per month 
for

[[Page H1426]]

the new Medicare coverage premium. The only way we have any coverage is 
to purchase an insurance policy from a private insurance company. On 
top of that there are the ridiculous amounts that Medicare has set that 
won't cover any meds until we reach some huge amount in the thousands 
of dollars. My wife informed me today she is going off her psychiatric 
medicine. We used to receive patient assistance directly from the drug 
manufacturers through a clinic and we can no longer receive the drug 
samples or any patient assistance. We cannot afford to purchase our 
meds, Congresswoman. Isn't it wonderful how the Bush government has 
helped us?''
  Another senior writes they find that their medical costs increase at 
every turn in the road. They currently pay nearly $6,000 annually for 
prescriptions of which insurance pays $600. ``For the first four months 
of the year,'' this senior says, ``I have to pay $5 for generic drugs, 
$18 for preferred drugs, with a cap of $35 for the brand name drugs. 
But under this new plan that will increase to $10, $25 and $50. And 
believe it or not, of the eight prescription drugs I need, only two are 
on the preferred list for $25 each and the rest will each cost $50 
each. Congresswoman, please do your part in righting this wrong.''
  Health professionals have been writing to us. Another senior wrote 
us, ``When I went to the pharmacy to pick up my prescription I brought 
$20 with me because that is what I always paid. I couldn't believe it 
when the pharmacist said I had to pay $260. I had to leave the pharmacy 
without medicine. It was embarrassing. How am I going to afford $260 a 
month? I just don't have it. I guess the people who are for this plan 
want us to die.''
  Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight not just to outline problems with the 
program, because they are significant, but also to place in the Record 
what we can do to fix it. First of all, to let the government negotiate 
the prices that seniors have to pay with these pharmaceutical 
companies. They can't stand up to these big companies. We need to 
extend the deadline this year so that they can try to get qualified for 
the program, but there is so much confusion out there. Why should there 
be a May deadline? We ought to cushion that.
  We ought to standardize plans like we did for Medicare part B so 
there is only 10 standard plans and people know what is in them. We 
ought to ban the gifts that these pharmaceutical companies are giving 
to people as lures in order to try to sign them up for these inadequate 
programs.
  We ought to disclose coverage gaps. Companies which do not offer gap 
coverage should be required to make that fact known in writing.
  We ought to disclose plan changes. It should be stated clearly that a 
company might drop a drug from coverage. We ought to create uniform ID 
numbers, simplify the application, expand extra help eligibility, and 
require broad formularies.
  There are many other ways to fix this program, Mr. Speaker, but we 
surely should not put that burden on our seniors.

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