[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 16]
[House]
[Page 22356]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG REFORM

  (Mr. PRICE of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, over our recent break, I visited 
with various groups of seniors in my district, and we provided 
information and education about the biggest change to Medicare in the 
40-year history of the program.
  Beginning this January, for the first time, prescription drugs will 
be covered under Medicare, and over 40 million senior Americans will 
have the opportunity to receive their needed medications through a new 
program designed to assist them with payment. This is an exciting and 
hopeful time for these citizens.
  As a physician, I understand the importance of providing appropriate 
medications and the imperative of preserving the physician-patient 
relationship and being certain that decisions about which medications 
are needed be made by patients and their doctors, not decisions made by 
Washington bureaucrats.
  This new program holds great promise but also has potential 
difficulties. I urge my colleagues to assist in educating all seniors 
about the upcoming Medicare reforms. Their familiarity and knowledge 
about these changes are imperative if we are to have a successful 
program, one that follows the medical model of first doing no harm.

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