[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3191]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              THE MEDS ACT

  (Mr. ROSS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, adverse medical effects caused by patients 
misusing or not taking their medicine costs our health care system an 
estimated $170 billion every year. Tragically, much of this cost 
results from seniors simply not being able to afford to buy the 
medicines they need or not knowing how best to take the drugs they have 
been prescribed.
  The prescription drug benefit bill that the gentlewoman from Missouri 
(Mrs. Emerson) and I have introduced, the bipartisan MEDS Act, 
addresses this heavy burden on our Nation's health care system. Our 
bill includes provisions that cover critical medical management 
services to monitor and ensure seniors know what medicines they are 
taking and how to take them properly.
  Some Members are concerned about the cost of providing a prescription 
drug benefit. Health insurance companies are in the business of making 
a profit and even they cover medicine as part of their health insurance 
plan, because they know it helps people to get well quicker, to live 
healthier lifestyles, and to live longer.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to put this issue into perspective and think 
about the cost of not providing a prescription drug benefit and the 
cost our overburdened health care system bears when seniors improperly 
take or simply cannot afford their medicines.

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