[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 8418-8419]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG DISCOUNT CARD

  (Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, this week nearly 15.4 million seniors 
across the Nation are eligible to apply for a Medicare-approved 
prescription drug discount card. This is good news for older Americans, 
especially for those in my home State of New Jersey.
  With the new discount card, over 300,000 more seniors in my State 
alone will be able to receive immediate medicine assistance. Most of 
the beneficiaries will save an average of between 10 and 25 percent off 
the retail price of their prescription drugs while low-income seniors 
will receive an additional $600 of Federal credit towards the purchase 
of their medicines.
  With the passage of this new Medicare law last November, we ensured 
that New Jersey and other States were not penalized, especially for 
having a preexisting drug assistance program that, quite frankly, is 
one of the most comprehensive and generous in the country. As a result 
of our efforts, not only will seniors save on their prescription 
medicines as promised, but our State of New Jersey will save an 
estimated $4 billion over the next 10 years.

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