[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 24048]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



             CHANGING THE PRESCRIPTION CO-PAY FOR VETERANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simmons). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Strickland) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. STRICKLAND. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to take a few moments this 
evening to explain something that is happening to veterans that I think 
many Members of this House may not be aware of and would like to 
correct.
  Currently, a veteran who receives prescription medications as an 
outpatient for a service-connected disability is charged a $2 copay per 
prescription, and the Veterans Administration is contemplating 
increasing that copay from $2 per prescription to $7 per prescription, 
a 250 percent increase in one fell swoop.
  Why are we doing this? I have checked with the Chilicothe, Ohio, 
Veterans Hospital and talked with their CEO. He tells me that, at that 
hospital, the average veteran who gets prescription medications takes, 
on average, at least 10 prescriptions per month. If we take $7 per 
prescription and multiply it by 10, that is $70 a month; and then many 
veterans get their prescriptions for 3 months at a time. So 70 times 3 
finally starts adding up to a sizeable amount of money, especially for 
a veteran with a service-connected disability who is trying to live on 
a fixed income.
  It is unconscionable to me that at this time in our Nation's history, 
when we are paying honor to those who are fighting for us and for those 
who have fought for us, that we would increase the costs of 
prescription medications; and we are doing it at a time, quite frankly, 
when we are making huge, multibillion dollar tax breaks available to 
wealthy corporations.
  Who do we care about in this House? Wealthy corporations or the men 
and women who have served this country honorably and who are sick and 
in need of medication and who oftentimes cannot afford that medication, 
even with a $2 copay?
  I have introduced H.R. 2820, and it is a simple bill. It just simply 
says that the Secretary of the Veterans Administration cannot increase 
this copay amount beyond the $2 for the next 5 years. Surely, surely, 
we can find the resources to do this good thing. I am calling upon my 
colleagues, and I am doing this on behalf of those who have served our 
country, the men and women who have paid the price, given of their 
time, given of their bodies and been willing to give of their very 
lives to make sure that those of us who serve in this Chamber can do so 
in freedom.
  So I call upon my colleagues to join me in cosponsoring H.R. 2820. It 
is the least we can do for those who have done so much for us.

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