[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 20]
[House]
[Page 27265]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      GROWING FRUSTRATION WITH MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG BENEFIT 
                              NEGOTIATIONS

  (Mr. GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my growing 
frustration with the ongoing negotiations to create a Medicare 
prescription drug benefit. This could be the largest expansion of this 
program since the inception almost 40 years ago. Changes to this 
program will affect every senior in every District.
  Unfortunately, leaders of the conference committee only seem 
interested in pushing their own agenda. They are not listening to 
Members on this side of the aisle, and they are not listening to the 
growing numbers of senior citizens.
  We have to find out from media reports that our colleagues are 
considering provisions to increase premiums, means test the program and 
ultimately privatize Medicare. If these media reports are to be 
believed, then the proposed benefit is even worse than what initially 
passed this House floor by one vote.
  Combined costs of the premiums, deductibles and copays amount to 
$1,300 per senior, just for $2,000 worth of coverage. That means that 
the government pays $700 and our seniors pay $1,300, almost twice as 
much.
  Mr. Speaker, my seniors do not like the sounds of any of these 
proposals. They are already paying 22 percent of their out-of-pocket 
costs on health care, and even though they may vote for a Democratic 
Member of Congress, they still deserve to have their voices heard.
  I urge my conferees to listen to their House and Senate colleagues 
and do a bipartisan bill that provides seniors with the relief they 
need.

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