[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 142]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     REGARDING THE NEW MEDICARE LAW

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, in last year's State of the Union 
address, President Bush called Medicare ``the binding commitment of a 
caring society.'' Last night in his State of the Union address, the 
President said the Medicare prescription drug bill that was enacted 
last year ``kept a basic commitment to our seniors.''
  The new Medicare law kept a basic commitment all right, but as the 
tens of thousands of seniors who have quit AARP would likely agree, the 
commitment was not to America's seniors. The new Medicare law means an 
additional $139 billion in profit to the drug industry over the next 8 
years. The President did fulfill his commitment, a commitment he had to 
the drug industry. The new Medicare bill the President signed means an 
additional $14 billion in subsidies to the insurance industry over the 
next 10 years, again a commitment the President fulfilled to his 
insurance company backers and contributors. But the President's 
commitment meant virtually nothing to seniors, many of whom will not 
have access to any benefit until 2006 and after that will have access 
to only a very inadequate drug benefit. The new benefit will cover less 
than half of a senior's drug costs. The average senior would do better 
traveling to Canada to purchase her prescription drugs. Of course the 
Bush administration has been busy pressuring Canadian pharmacies to 
stop selling medicine to American consumers.
  Again, the President's commitment to the drug companies won out. The 
reason drug prices are lower in Canada is because the Canadian 
government negotiates price with the drug industry. But the new 
Medicare law expressly forbids the U.S. Government from negotiating 
with the drug industry to bring drug prices down. Get that. This new 
drug bill prohibits the government from using its buying power, 
representing 40 million Medicare beneficiaries, this new law prohibits 
the government from negotiating with the drug industry to bring prices 
down. That is why the drug industry's profits are set to explode under 
the President's new Medicare privatization bill. Again, it is a 
commitment not to America's seniors but a commitment President Bush 
made to his drug company contributors. If seniors had asked the 
President and the Congress to shortchange them on drug coverage while 
giving the drug industry a free ride, it would be accurate to say that 
yes, he really has fulfilled his commitment to them, but that is 
clearly not what seniors asked us to do.
  Medicare HMOs enjoyed a 118 percent increase in profits last year. 
Yet we are about to hand them an additional $14.3 billion. According to 
the General Accounting Office, we already overpay HMOs by 20 percent. 
This new law will ensure we shower them with more money, we waste even 
more taxpayer dollars subsidizing the insurance industry, again a 
commitment to the insurance industry and the President's financial 
contributors in the insurance industry and HMOs, a commitment he made 
to them when they were so supportive in his campaign.
  Mr. Speaker, in the end, we have a President who always consistently 
makes a choice. If it is a choice between corporate interests and the 
public interest, this President chooses corporate interests every 
single time.

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