[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 123 (Wednesday, September 27, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S10303]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KENNEDY (for himself and Mr. Menendez):
  S. 3954. A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to 
require monthly reporting regarding the number of individuals who have 
fallen into the part D donut hole and the amount such individuals are 
spending on covered part D drugs while in the donut hole; to the 
Committee on Finance.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, more and more seniors are waking each day 
and learning they've fallen into the dreaded ``donut hole''--the gap in 
prescription drug coverage that leaves them with large drug costs to 
pay by themselves until coverage resumes. As a result, millions of 
seniors can't afford the drugs they urgently need, even though they're 
paying for Medicare coverage.
  It's important to have a full accounting of how many seniors are 
affected, so that Congress and the public can make sensible choices 
about Medicare. Senator Menendez and I intend to introduce legislation 
to require Medicare to track and publicly report how many enrollees 
fall into the donut hole, and how much they are spending themselves for 
their needed prescriptions.
  We wouldn't be facing this problem if the administration and the 
Republican Congress had cared more about seniors than about drug 
industry profits when Medicare prescription drug coverage was enacted. 
They refused to let Medicare negotiate drug prices, which the Veterans 
Administration is allowed to do for veterans. Instead of allocating 
adequate Federal funds to the drug benefit, they made sure that HMOs 
received large overpayments, which enable them to force Medicare 
beneficiaries into their plans by offering extra benefits, while still 
allowing the plans to make large profits.
  It's long past time to correct this glaring defect in Medicare drug 
coverage. Once we have up-to-date information on the damage being done 
by the donut hole, we can correct the problem and give seniors the 
Medicare coverage they deserve.
  I ask by unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 3954

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Honest Medicare Act of 
     2006''.

     SEC. 2. MONTHLY REPORTING REGARDING THE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS 
                   WHO HAVE FALLEN INTO THE PART D DONUT HOLE AND 
                   THE AMOUNT SUCH INDIVIDUALS ARE SPENDING ON 
                   COVERED PART D DRUGS WHILE IN THE DONUT HOLE.

       Section 1860D-1 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
     1395w-101) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
     subsection:
       ``(d) Information Regarding Individuals Who Have Reached 
     the Initial Coverage Limit.--Not later than the 15th of each 
     month (beginning with February 2007), the Secretary shall 
     make available to the public information on--
       ``(1) the number of individuals enrolled in a prescription 
     drug plan or an MA-PD plan who have reached the initial 
     coverage limit applicable under the plan but who have not 
     reached the annual out-of-pocket threshold specified in 
     section 1860D-2(b)(4)(B); and
       ``(2) the amount such individuals are spending on covered 
     part D drugs after they have reached such limit and before 
     they have reached such threshold.''.
                                 ______