[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 23, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H5627]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            EMPHASIZING PREVENTIVE CARE IN MEDICARE PROGRAM

  (Mrs. CAPITO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight the importance of 
preventive care in the Medicare program.
  As we all know, the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 made many 
important and much-needed changes to the Medicare program. The creation 
of the Medicare prescription drug benefit was a critically important 
modernization of the program and has been especially successful in my 
home State of West Virginia, with 287,000 beneficiaries.
  But the prescription drug benefit is just one component of the 
overall changes in Medicare. If we can encourage more seniors to 
actually use the preventive benefits, we can help them prevent more 
costly procedures and longer stays in the hospital.
  That is why the ``Welcome to Medicare'' screening is so vitally 
important. Many of the elements that seniors face today can be 
effectively managed with prescription medicine and regular visits to 
their physicians. However, disease management is only effective if we 
catch the disease early.
  I would like to encourage my colleagues to educate their constituents 
about these important modernizations to the Medicare program so we can 
all better serve our senior citizens.

                          ____________________