[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11257]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG BENEFIT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Strickland) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STRICKLAND. Mr. Speaker, the House is confronted with a major 
decision this week, and that is, whether or not to provide a 
prescription drug benefit for our senior population, and if we are to 
provide a benefit, what that benefit will look like.
  In my district in southern and southeastern Ohio, I am continuously 
confronted by seniors who tell me of their difficulty in being able to 
get the medicines they need at an affordable cost, and so it is 
incumbent upon this House to take the action necessary to prevent our 
seniors from choosing between buying food and buying medicine or paying 
other essential bills. Nearly every Member of this House during the 
last election process made a commitment to their constituents that they 
would pass a meaningful, affordable prescription drug benefit; and if 
we do not do it, then shame on us.
  The issues, though, that confront us are not only whether or not to 
provide the benefit but what kind of benefit. Sadly, the majority party 
in this House is proposing a benefit that, in my judgment, is worse 
than no benefit at all. It would be the first step toward the 
privatization of the Medicare system. It would rely on the private 
insurance market to provide the benefit; and coming from a rural area, 
my fear is that there would be no company that would be willing to 
provide a drug-only policy for the constituents that I am charged to 
represent.
  In my district, we used to have some Medicare+Choice programs, some 
HMO Medicare programs. We do not have them anymore because they did not 
make as much money as they wanted to make; and so they withdrew, 
leaving literally thousands of my constituents without that coverage. I 
think the same thing would likely happen with this proposed 
prescription drug benefit.
  What seniors need and want is a benefit that is a part of the 
Medicare benefit package. They want a program that is as predictable 
and as reliable as is traditional Medicare; and they want a program 
that provides them with the benefit that is affordable, that has a 
defined package of benefits, which they know about and can depend upon; 
and they want a prescription drug benefit that gives them choice. And 
that is what the Democratic proposal will do.
  There are differences between the Democrat and Republican proposals, 
and I would like to mention just a few of them. Our proposal would have 
a $25-per-month premium. The Republican proposal would have a $35-per-
month premium, with no guarantee that that premium would not escalate, 
$65 or $85 or even more. So there is no predictability to the 
Republican premium as to affordability.
  The program that I and my colleagues on this side of the aisle 
support has a $100 deductible. The Republican proposal has a $250 
deductible. My side, the Democratic side, has a copayment of 20 
percent, meaning that Medicare would pay 80 percent, and that is the 
same as the Republican side. However, on our side, we have a 20/80 
copay for all of the drugs that a senior may need; and on the 
Republican side, there is an 80 percent copay for the first $1,000 in 
medication. Only 50 percent would be paid by Medicare for the second 
$1,000; and then there would be a huge gap and until a senior paid over 
$3,700 out of their own pocket would the catastrophic plan kick in and 
then all the drugs would be paid for.
  What is especially problematic is the fact that a charitable group or 
a friend, a church, would not be able to voluntarily contribute to that 
senior's medication costs to enable them to reach the catastrophic 
coverage; and in my district, many times local churches will recognize 
seniors who are having a difficult time getting the medicines they need 
and will voluntarily take up a collection or in other ways provide 
needed assistance.
  So I hope the American people are watching because this is the 
defining issue of this session of the House of Representatives, and I 
hope they pay attention because there are vast differences between the 
two bills that will be considered on the floor this week.

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