[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 24005]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



            FREEZING COPAY FOR VETERANS' PRESCRIPTION COSTS

  (Mr. STRICKLAND asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STRICKLAND. Mr. Speaker, I think veterans across this country 
would be upset to learn that at a time when we are giving multi-billion 
dollar tax breaks to wealthy corporations, we are in fact contemplating 
increasing the cost of prescription medications available to our 
veterans by a whooping 250 percent. We are in the process of increasing 
the copay for our veterans from $2 per prescription to $7 per 
prescription.
  Now, many veterans receive 10 or more prescriptions per month. Ten 
times seven is $70 a month. This is absolutely outrageous and 
unacceptable, when we are providing billions of dollars in tax breaks 
to profitable corporations, we would burden the veterans in our country 
by increasing the copay for their medications by 250 percent.
  This House should support my bill, H.R. 2820, which would freeze the 
copay for 5 years at its $2 per prescription level.

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