[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16225]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   PRESCRIPTION DRUG PLAN SHOULD BENEFIT SENIORS, NOT DRUG COMPANIES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask Congress to pass a 
prescription drug bill for our senior citizens, not for the insurance 
and the pharmaceutical industries. The Bush administration continues to 
sell our Federal domestic programs to corporations and to industry 
donors.
  Today, hundreds of seniors stood against the Republican prescription 
privatization plan. They blew the whistle on this. They blew the 
whistle on this deceptive legislation; and tonight, we too are blowing 
the whistle. Their bill will dismantle Medicare as we know it.
  This prescription drug bill does not provide affordable drugs under 
Medicare. Instead, it leaves seniors, particularly women, to pay the 
price for pharmaceutical advertising and insurance industry lobbyists. 
Democrats have been fighting against these industry economics for 
years, and we know what a good Medicare prescription drug benefit looks 
like. It is affordable and available to all. It is inclusive and 
provides drug coverage for all communities, rural and urban. It 
includes all seniors and all walks of life without establishing a means 
tests or a voucher system.
  Last week, the House Republicans under the leadership of really the 
Bush administration released their prescription drug benefit. The 
Republicans contend that seniors should be forced to use private 
insurance companies for drug coverage rather than Medicare in order to 
force competition. But the bottom line is the Republicans are really 
providing a benefit to the insurance industry and to the pharmaceutical 
industry.
  The industry would have the ability to design their own prescription 
drug plan. The industry would decide what to charge and which drugs 
seniors can get. The Republican plan exploits seniors and the disabled 
by requiring private insurance plans to stay in the program for only 1 
year. This could leave seniors vulnerable to unavailable plans, 
rotating doctors and shifting prescriptions. Just thinking about all of 
these threats to our seniors really does make me sick.
  Tonight I want to focus on women and remind the Republicans of the 
voters really that they are ignoring. Women in this country will suffer 
first hand if the Republican prescription privatization bill passes, 
not only because we live longer, but because we pay into the Medicare 
system longer. Almost eight out of 10 women on Medicare use 
prescription drugs regularly, though most pay for these medications out 
of pocket. Women on Medicare spend 20 percent more on prescription 
drugs than men. And in 1999 alone, women on Medicare spent $430 more a 
year on medications than men. The Republican bill puts women, it puts 
our seniors, our disabled really on the industry's chopping block. It 
should make you really cringe to witness the corporate welfare that the 
Republicans are creating for the insurance and pharmaceutical industry 
in their bill.
  Since 1980, drug prices have increased by over 256 percent, while the 
consumer price index on which Social Security's cost-of-living 
adjustments are based rose just 98 percent. And in their bill they will 
not even allow our Secretary of Health and Human Services to discuss 
and negotiate lower prices for their medications. How shameful that is.
  In the Bay Area, specifically in my home town of Oakland, California, 
my elderly and disabled constituents are paying up to $2000 more a year 
for basic drugs than in Canada, Europe and Japan. These disparities may 
seem bad now; but under the Republican plan before us, they will only 
get worse. I could go on and on, but the point is that seniors and the 
disabled are paying on average 89 percent more than our international 
counterparts. This is just dangerous and downright unfair. It is bad 
public policy.
  Our senior women are having to make hard decisions about which drugs 
they can afford and if they should really buy drugs or pay for food. 
There is a better way.
  Democrats have a low-cost prescription drug plan that does not pit 
seniors against one another, but makes access to prescription drugs a 
reality for all. The plan has incorporated many of the components of 
another plan called the Meds Plan, which many of us are supporting.
  Under this plan, we ensure that seniors and people with disabilities 
have affordable, comprehensive and guaranteed access to prescription 
drug coverage. The proof is in the details. A $25 a month premium, a 
$100 a year deductible, an 80/20 cost-sharing between Medicare 
beneficiaries, a $2,000 minimum for Medicare beneficiaries, and a 
sliding scale for low-income individuals for up to 150 percent of the 
median.
  Under the Republican plan, let me state that the bill that the 
Republicans have put forward will really punish people for getting 
sick. The Democrats will not punish our seniors for getting sick. The 
Republican plan gives authority to insurance companies and HMOs to 
really prey on Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. The Democratic plan 
reduces the costs of drugs. The Republican plan does not. The 
Democratic plan does not end Medicare. The Republican plan does.
  The Democratic plan does not end Medicare. The Republican plan does.
  The Democratic plan reduces the costs of drugs. The Republican plan 
does not.
  In short, the Democratic plan brings our country one step closer to 
insuring access to all people for much needed care, while the 
Republican Prescription Privatization plan is a divisive tool that will 
enrich the insurance and pharmaceutical industry.
  The Republican plan gives authority to insurance companies and HMOs 
to prey on Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.
  Unlike the Republican bill, the Democrats won't punish you for 
getting sick.
  I urge my colleagues to vote against the Republican Prescription 
Privatization bill.

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