[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 14584-14585]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         GOOD DEAL FOR SENIORS

  (Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because I 
understand that the minority leader is calling the Medicare 
prescription drug card ``a bad deal for seniors.''
  With passage of the Medicare bill last year, hundreds of thousands of 
seniors can now take advantage of the voluntary prescription drug 
discount cards and finally have relief with their prescription drug 
costs.
  Is giving them choice and control over their prescription drug costs 
a bad deal for seniors? I think not.

[[Page 14585]]

  A CMS study showed that seniors using the prescription drug discount 
cards are saving between 46 and 92 percent on commonly used 
prescription drugs through the use of generic drugs.

                              {time}  1030

  Is cutting in half their prescription costs a bad idea for seniors? I 
think not. Furthermore, in my district, 21,000 of the poorest seniors 
will receive an additional $600 cash subsidy to help them with 
prescription costs. Is helping our Nation's deprived seniors with the 
thing that they need most a bad deal for seniors? I think not.

                          ____________________