[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 11391]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          NEW PRESCRIPTION DRUG CARD REDUCES COSTS FOR SENIORS

  (Mr. KINGSTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, effective June 1, each senior on Medicare 
who would like one could get a Medicare prescription drug discount 
card. This card will be good for about a 20 percent discount in most 
local pharmacies.
  What the senior could do is dial 1-800-Medicare or go to 
WWW.MEDICARE.GOV and find out which of the local drugstores has the 
best deal on Lipitor or Glucophage or whatever he or she uses on a 
regular basis, and then, if it works, if it is a good idea, invest 
anywhere from $20 to $30, in that neighborhood, and choose which card 
is the best and start enjoying a 20 percent discount.
  This is a program that precedes the 2006 voluntary program which was 
signed by President Bush, passed by this House and the Senate and 
endorsed by the AARP to give seniors on Medicare a prescription drug 
benefit.
  It is a voluntary program, it reduces drug costs by about 50 percent, 
and it is something that we did not have in Medicare as an option 
before. It is a very good program, and I invite seniors to call 1-800 
Medicare and take a look at it.

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