[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 5943-5944]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                       PRESCRIPTION DRUG COVERAGE

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, this morning there is fresh evidence that 
millions of our older Americans cannot afford their prescription 
medicine. I have come to the floor of this Senate on more than 20 
occasions now to make this point. But the news this morning comes at an 
especially important time. On both sides of Capitol Hill efforts are 
underway to develop a practical approach to making sure older people 
can get prescription drug coverage under the Medicare program.
  I have had the opportunity for many months now to work with 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and I am especially appreciative 
of the efforts of Senator Daschle to try to bring Members of the Senate 
together to find common ground in this session to get prescription drug 
coverage for older people. Under Senator Daschle's leadership, 
principles have been developed that every Member of the Senate would 
find appealing and attractive to. We have talked, for example, about 
how this program would be voluntary. No senior citizen who is 
comfortable with their prescription drug coverage would be required to 
do anything if they chose not to. That is something that would be 
attractive to both parties.
  We have talked about making sure this is a market-oriented approach, 
that we use the kind of forces that are available to individuals 
receiving coverage in the private sector through private insurance and 
through health maintenance organizations. We want to make sure the 
benefit is available in all parts of the United States. There are areas 
of this country where there may not be big health plans, but as long as 
there is a telephone, a pharmacy, and a mailbox, we are going to be 
able to get the medicine to those older people in an affordable way.
  Finally, many of my colleagues and I believe coverage ought to be 
universal. It ought to be available to all people on the Medicare 
program.
  The most important point--and it is why I come to the floor today--is 
that we have fresh evidence that millions of seniors can't afford their 
medicine. We have to take steps to make the cost of medicine more 
affordable to the elderly. There is a right way to do this and a wrong 
way to do this. The wrong way is to institute a regime of private 
controls, a Federal one-size-fits-all approach because that involves a 
lot of cost shifting to other groups of citizens.
  If we just have Federal price controls for the Medicare program, a 
lot of women who are 27, single, with a couple of kids will see their 
prescription drug bill go through the roof. We will have to develop a 
market-oriented approach along the lines of what Members of Congress 
receive through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan. That way we 
can give senior citizens the kind of bargaining power that

[[Page 5944]]

folks have in a health maintenance organization or in a private plan. 
We could do it without price controls that produce a lot of cost 
shifting.
  This is an important date in the discussion about prescription drugs. 
Our older people don't get prescription drug coverage under the 
Medicare program. That has been the case since it began in 1965. When 
they walk into a pharmacy and don't have coverage, in effect, they are 
subsidizing the big buyers--the health maintenance organizations and 
the private plans.
  I hope we can come together in the Senate to find common ground. 
Senator Daschle is trying to bring Members of the Senate together. I 
know there are colleagues on the other side of the aisle who feel 
exactly the same. Let's not let this issue go off as campaign fodder 
for the 2000 election. Let's not adjourn this session without coming 
together and enacting this important benefit for the elderly.
  I don't believe America can afford not to cover prescription 
medicine. A lot of these drugs today might cost up to $1,000, such as 
an anticoagulant drug that is so important for the elderly. That is 
certainly a pricey sum. If a senior citizen can get anticoagulant 
medicine to prevent a stroke that would cost upwards of $100,000 or 
$150,000, it is pretty clear that prescription drug coverage is a 
sensible and cost-effective approach for the Senate to take.
  I intend to return to the floor in the future, as I have done on more 
than 20 occasions, in an effort to bring the Senate together. I am 
especially appreciative of Senator Daschle's patience in our effort to 
try to find common ground. I know there are colleagues on the other 
side of the aisle who feel the same.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Carolina.
  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I have a slight difficulty with my balance 
due to a temporary defect in my feet. I ask unanimous consent I be 
permitted to deliver my remarks seated.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________